© Joe Camporeale | 2021 Aug 2
It took forever, it didn’t look great, but the Giants got it done.
San Francisco beat the lowly Diamondbacks 11-8 in Arizona on Monday night, blowing a six-run lead but still managing to beat their Phoenix rivals for the 10th time in 11 tries this season. The Giants (67-32) now lead the NL West by 3 1/2 games.
It was a big night for Alex Dickerson, who hit a grand-slam in the fifth to open up a 7-1 lead for the Giants. Dickerson also added a 415-foot triple in a game that will hopefully help the left-handed slugger break out of a slump that has lingered.
But that lead disappeared after the Diamondbacks tagged the Giants for four and three runs in the fifth and seventh innings respectfully. Arizona might be the bottom feeders of the division, but they showed on Monday they still have talent throughout the lineup. It took extras for the offense and a masterful performance by Jarlin Garcia to seal the deal.
Buster Posey got things started in the 10th, his double knocking home Brandon Crawford to take the lead back with the first at-bat of the inning. D-Backs closer Miguel Aguilar looked to have the advantage in the lefty-lefty matchup with Dickerson up next, but the outfielder’s big game continued, his deep fly out moving Posey to third.
Aguilar then intentionally walked Austin Slater to face another lefty in Steven Dugger. Again it didn’t bear fruit, Duggar singled to right on the second pitch he saw scoring Posey from third. Donovan Solano added a consolation RBI to give the Giants a 11-8 lead they would not relinquish.
The spectacular Garcia deserves a ton of credit too, pitching scoreless ninth and 10th innings to seal the deal. He also showed some impressive athleticism, bare handing a tough toss from Wilmer Flores while covering first to send the game into extras.
Jarlin Garcia barehanded a toss from Wilmer Flores as he beat a runner to first and got the Giants out of the inning. Pretty slick play: pic.twitter.com/Fni2jnJFyG
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 3, 2021
The Giants also saw Tony Watson for the first time this season after he was acquired in a deadline day trade on Friday. He looked like he did in his last go-around in San Francisco, getting the Giants out of a brutal sixth inning after Jay Jackson gave up three-runs, the D-Backs tying the game at eight.
Jackson was one pitch away from getting out of a bases-loaded, no out jam with just a run allowed, but hung a breaking ball for a Christian Walker two-run double.
Wilmer Flores had a homer in the sixth that gave the Giants their 8-5 lead after the Diamondbacks had started chipping away in the previous inning. That was when starter Anthony DeSclafani was chased, not taking advantage of the cushion Dickerson had afforded him. Disco gave up two two-run homers to Josh Reddick and Asdrubal Cabrera respectively, which cut the lead to 7-5.
Mike Yastrzemski opened the game with a two-run shot, his 18th home run of the year, tied for second most on the team.
Though the Giants got the win, there remains bad news. Because the game took four hours, it is unlikely Buster Posey will play in tomorrow’s matchup between Johnny Cueto and old friend Madison Bumgarner.