Giants squander one too many rallies in 4-3 loss to Dbacks

Giants infielder Wilmer Flores' hot hitting continued on the final day of July. After Dbacks center fielder Alek Thomas robbed Flores of extra bases in the first inning with a jumping catch against the wall, Flores blasted a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the third inning. It was Flores' 14th homer of the season, breaking a tie with Michael Conforto for the team's lead in roundtrippers.

Dbacks starter Ryne Nelson struggled again in the bottom of the fourth inning. Nelson walked rookie Blake Sabol to start the inning and then rookie Patrick Bailey lined a 2-0 fastball into right-center field for a double. A sacrifice fly by Brandon Crawford allowed Sabol to score and extend the Giants' lead to 2-0.

Rather than giving Jakob Junis or Alex Wood a traditional start, Giants manager Gabe Kapler opted to have the two veterans split duties early in the game. Junis breezed through the first three innings, allowing just one runner to reach base before he was replaced by Wood. Wood issued just one walk in his first two innings of work but stumbled in the top of the sixth inning.

Wood walked Jose Herrera to start the inning and surrendered a two-out RBI single to Corbin Carroll. With the go-ahead run at the plate and right-handed power hitter Christian Walker due up, Kapler removed Wood for righty Luke Jackson. Jackson walked Walker and allowed a game-tying double to Lourdes Gurriel.

The Giants offense consistently put the ball in play against Nelson, often elevating the ball into the outfield. But besides Flores' blast and Bailey's double, San Francisco's contact tended to find its way into the glove of a speedy Dbacks outfielder. Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo removed Nelson from the game with two outs in the seventh inning. He surrendered two runs on five hits and three walks with just one strikeout across his 6.2 innings pitched.

Jackson kept the game tied and did not allow a runner to reach base in the seventh, passing the baton to top setup arm Tyler Rogers. Rogers surrendered a two-run home run on Sunday afternoon but did not allow a baserunner in his third appearance over the past three days.

With the Giants unable to score in the bottom of the eighth, closer Camilo Doval entered in the top of the ninth, making his third appearance in three days as well. As to be expected, Doval's velocity was slightly down, but he remained effective and struck out the side.

Unlike Kapler, Lovullo went to one of his setup arms in the bottom half of the ninth, turning to sinker-heavy righty Miguel Castro. Castro retired the Giants in order.

Giants southpaw Scott Alexander allowed a lead-off single in the top of the tenth, scoring the free runner on second to give the Dbacks a 3-2 lead. Alexander did not allow another run to score though.

Kevin Ginkel tried to record his fourth save of the season in the bottom of the 10th inning. Isan Díaz advanced the free runner to third base on a ground out to lead off the inning. With rookie Luis Matos at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Crawford to score the tying run.

Matos reached base on a walk, and LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a warning track fly out toward right-center field, bringing Austin Slater to the plate with two outs. Slater fell behind in the count 1-2 but worked another walk that pushed Matos into scoring position and brought Flores to the plate. However, while Flores has been one of the best hitters in MLB this month, Ginkel struck him out to keep the Dbacks' hopes alive.

Taylor Rogers replaced Alexander in the top of the 11th, and rookie Casey Schmitt replaced Flores at third base. Schmitt is a better defender than Flores at the hot corner and a faster baserunner, setting the Giants up to have some better speed on the basepaths to start the bottom half of the inning.

Before thinking about scoring runs though, the Giants needed to hold Arizona. Ketel Marte led off the inning with a ground-rule double against Rogers to give the Dbacks a 4-3 lead. Like Alexander, though, Rogers prevented the lead-off hit from leading him to spiral. After Caroll laid down a sacrifice bunt, Rogers intentionally walked Walker and induced an inning-ending double play.

Designated hitter Joc Pederson led off the Giants' bottom of the 11th against new reliever Scott McGough. Pederson struck out on four pitches. Then, Sabol entered the batter's box. A wild pitch allowed Schmitt to advance to third base as Sabol worked a full count. A sacrifice fly would tie the game, but the rookie struck out on a breaking ball. Bailey represented the Giants last chance but was retired to end the game.

With the loss, the SF Giants fell to 58-49 on the season, now 2.5 games back of the Dodgers for the top spot in the National League West. Both teams will continue this four-game series on Tuesday night, returning to Oracle Park with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific, just a few hours after the trade deadline. Right-handed All-Stars Alex Cobb and Zac Gallen are currently listed as the probably starting pitchers.