SAN FRANCISCO — Dereck Rodriguez has been a revelation for the Giants in 2018, filling in remarkably well as a member of the rotation following injuries to projected starters.
Wednesday night, however, Rodriguez gave up three runs for the first time since June 19. And unfortunately for him, the Giants’ offense scored the same number of runs as they did Tuesday night: one. But unlike Tuesday, one wasn’t enough, as D-Backs starter Zack Godley was on his game and held the Giants to just two hits in seven-plus innings, suffocating the home team’s bats and making his run support count in a 3-1 D-Backs win.
Steven Souza Jr. lined a home run just over the left-center field wall to give the D-Backs a 1-0 lead in the third. In the fourth, Ketel Marte’s bloop double sparked a brief rally. Nick Ahmed singled home Marte, and Souza Jr. doubled in Ahmed to put the D-Backs up 3-0.
The Giants were able to get runners to second twice with two outs, but were unable to capitalize either time. Gregor Blanco, freshly called-up from Triple-A Sacramento, smashed a ball deep into the right-center field gap in the sixth, but Souza Jr. struck once again, laying out to make an incredible diving grab to rob Blanco of at least a triple:
https://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/1035013954332807168
The Giants broke through for their lone run in the eighth when Gorkys Hernandez singled, advanced to second on Hunter Pence’s walk, and scored on Andrew McCutchen’s single to center. Hernandez’s hit was the first allowed by Godley since the fourth inning.
With the loss, the Giants fall to seven games back of the D-Backs in the NL West.
