SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants have been a bottom-third offense in a lot of ways, but they might be at the top of the list when it comes to teams you don't want to let hang around.
The Arizona Diamondbacks did that for three hours Wednesday afternoon, wasting several opportunities to turn this into the type of game that ends with a position player on the mound for the losing side. With a chance to make them pay in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants came up short.
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SIGN UP HERE The Diamondbacks had a six-run lead early, but the Giants entered the ninth down by a pair and got a Matt Chapman single, Willy Adames double and a Patrick Bailey walk with one out. After Mike Yastrzemski struck out, LaMonte Wade Jr. drew a pinch-hit walk to make it a one-run game and set the stage for Christian Koss, who hit a grand slam on Tuesday.
This time, Koss popped out, ending the comeback bid and giving the Diamondbacks an 8-7 win and a series victory. The Giants have now dropped both series to fellow NL West contenders, having been swept in San Diego earlier this month. This latest loss nearly went off the rails early.
Jordan Hicks nearly got knocked out in the second and didn't record an out in the third. When Hayden Birdsong took over and allowed a couple of homers, the Diamondbacks took an 8-2 lead. But they kept wasting opportunities to put the nail in the coffin, leaving two on in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
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As the bottom of the seventh started, the Giants trailed 8-4 but the Diamondbacks had left nine on base, and Jung Hoo Lee charged through the door. Lee homered into the arcade for the second straight day, cutting the deficit to two with his sixth blast of the year.
The Giants had a chance to tie it in the eighth after a bizarre sequence at second base. Heliot Ramos hit a grounder to third and the throw pulled Pavin Smith off the bag, but Smith threw down to second, where Koss was rolling in the dirt and tagged out.
Koss had run into Diamondbacks second baseman Jordan Lawler, who is normally a shortstop but entered for the apparently injured Ketel Marte. After a long meeting, the umpires ruled that Lawler had interfered with Koss, who was put back on second as the inning continued.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected for arguing and then "ejected" all four umpires as he left the field. When play resumed, Wilmer Flores popped up to end the inning.
Here are the takeaways from the Giants' loss that drops them to 25-19:
Decision Time?
The first time through the order, Hicks gave up a homer, double, three singles and a walk of the No. 9 hitter who was trying to put down a sacrifice bunt. That got the bullpen going, but Hicks escaped complete disaster in the second inning when Corbin Carroll lined into an unassisted double play and Ketel Marte struck out.
The third inning began with a double, and that again got Birdsong up in the pen. When Josh Naylor blooped a single into left-center to put runners on the corners, Bob Melvin came out with the hook. Birdsong gave up a three-run homer to Eugenio Suarez before settling down and Hicks ended up with an ugly line: 2+ innings, 7 hits, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout.
The start was the shortest of the year for Hicks, who struggled with his command and had trouble keeping the Diamondbacks off his fastball. He threw the pitch 28 times and averaged 97 mph, but got just one swing-and-miss.
Hicks has a 6.55 ERA through nine starts, although the advanced metrics paint a much different picture. He entered the start with a 3.17 FIP and 3.55 xERA, but he has had trouble finding consistent results. Since an eye-opening debut in Houston, Hicks has allowed 33 earned runs in 39 1/3 innings.
Out Of The Pen
Birdsong has been waiting all season for an opening to get back into the rotation, but his afternoon didn't go well, either.
Suarez's 13th homer got his afternoon off to a rough start and Ketel Marte hit a long two-run blast in the fourth. Birdsong ended up throwing 65 pitches over three innings and allowing three earned runs on four hits and two walks. Homers have been a slight issue of late, but he still has a 2.31 ERA through 11 relief appearances.
If the Giants do want to make a move at the back of their rotation, it won't be hard to push Wednesday's relief outing to the side. Birdsong warmed up and then sat back down in the second, and he entered with two on and no outs. That's not an easy runway for someone who has been a starter his whole life.
Good Day For David
The depth chart at first base is about to get crowded. Casey Schmitt and Jerar Encarnacion are both rehabbing with Triple-A Sacramento, and when Encarnacion returns on May 26 (the first day he is eligible) he is expected to become the starting first baseman against left-handed pitchers.
For now, though, David Villar is making a case to get more starts, including this weekend when the Giants will face a couple of left-handed pitchers. Villar made two strong defensive plays, robbing Carroll of at least a two-run double in the second inning and then diving and making a strong throw to Spencer Bivens to keep Alek Thomas from a leadoff single in the seventh.
Villar also reached base three times, raising his OBP to .429 since he returned from Triple-A.