SF Giants’ woes continue in desert as Diamondbacks win first of four-game set
PHOENIX — The Giants and Diamondbacks both stumbled into their four-game set at Chase Field. San Francisco had just lost two of three to the Chicago White Sox; Arizona had just been swept by the Miami Marlins — the same Miami Marlins who swept the Giants at Oracle Park.
By Monday’s end, one of these struggling teams had another win on their record. That team wore red, black and teal — not orange and black.
San Francisco has now lost six of its last seven — and 11 of its last 15 — with a 4-2 loss to Arizona. The frigid offense wasted another quality start from Logan Webb. Manager Bob Melvin was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. And after losing backup third baseman Casey Schmitt to the injured list, third-string third baseman Christian Koss sustained a left hamstring injury that will keep him out of tomorrow’s game — if not longer.
“It’s pretty tough,” said Webb, who allowed a homer and three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. “If we want to go to the places that we want to go to, we have to get through it. So, just got to dig deep and show up tomorrow.”
Webb, for his part, showed up this month. Over six starts, Webb allowed 10 runs over 40 1/3 innings (2.23 ERA) with 42 strikeouts, all but solidifying a spot on the National League All-Star team. For all of Webb’s excellence, the Giants lost four times when Webb took the mound. That included Monday in Phoenix.
Home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott didn’t aid in San Francisco’s pursuit of an offensive breakout. Wolcott made several questionable strike calls that hurt the Giants, most notably when he rung up Heliot Ramos in the eighth inning on an outside fastball with the tying runner in scoring position. Ramos’ third at-bat also began with an outside fastball that was called a strike.
“Heliot gets the bat taken out of his hands like that the second time in the game,” Melvin said. “(The catcher is) literally set up underneath his armpit and the ball’s off the plate, outside. That’s a tough one. But look, we’re in this position because we’re not scoring enough runs and doing as much offensively.”
One of the few hitters who was showing life offensively was Koss. The rookie entered play with four consecutive two-hit games while filling in for Schmitt — who was already filling in for Matt Chapman. Prior to leaving the game with a left hamstring injury, Koss recorded the strangest hit of his young career.
With one out in the eighth, Koss sent a deep drive to the left-center field fence. Left fielder Tim Tawa gave chase and leapt for the ball. As Tawa reached for the ball, a fan caught the ball by lunging over the fence and into the field of play.
Koss, justifiably confused, wasn’t sure whether to circle the bases, go to second base or otherwise. The umpires called fan interference and ruled Koss was out, but the Giants challenged that call. Following a lengthy review, the call was overturned and Koss was awarded a double.
“Where you place the runner is tough,” Melvin said. “There’s no idea where the ball’s going to go if it hits the fence like that. But yeah, he did reach over.”
Brett Wisely pinch-ran for the compromised Koss, but he wouldn’t advance a single base. Rafael Devers struck out swinging — one of four on the evening — then Ramos struck out on the aforementioned fastball out of the zone. Prior to the ninth, Melvin was ejected from the ballgame.
Come tomorrow, Wisely may again have to fill in for Koss.
Koss tweaked his hamstring in his third plate appearance as he tried to beat out an infield single. He wasn’t able to run as fast as he would’ve liked as he sprinted down the line in the sixth inning but remained in the game.
At the minimum, Koss will miss tomorrow’s game. Given the nature of hamstring injuries, he could very well miss several more. Wisely, who has played 22 career innings at third base, appears next up on the depth chart.
“Frustrating is a good word,” Koss said, “especially with the way that we’ve been playing and trying to get out of the rut. It seems like everything’s kind of piling on, but us as a group, we’re resilient. We’ll find a way to get through it. Whatever this is, we’ll find a way.”
Added Webb: “It sucks that it happens. But look around baseball, there’s a lot of guys going out, especially this part of the year. That’s why they call it the dog days of summer. It’s tough but it’s just next man up. Find a way.”
One of the night’s lone bright spots was second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald, who tied the game with a two-run double in the top of the seventh inning.
Fitzgerald, the Giants’ Opening Day second baseman, was optioned last Monday and slated to spend several weeks with Triple-A Sacramento to reset. Due to Schmitt’s injury, that stint only lasted four games before he was back up with the Giants. Fitzgerald instantly delivered in his first game back, driving in multiple runs in a single game for the first time since April 14.
“It helped me mentally take a step back,” Fitzgerald said of being optioned. “I still watch these guys every day on TV in the clubhouse. I wish I would’ve been here, but just a mental week off from a lot of struggle there. Days were just grinding and results weren’t coming. It was good to get a little bit of a refresher there.”
