Game Recaps
Get-right Giants: Diamondbacks hold on to extend season long streak over San Francisco
by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]The D-backs returned to .500 at 42-42.
Arizona started early, with Ketel Marte taking Giants starter Tyler Mahle yard to lead-off the first inning. Marte moved into a tie for second in Diamondbacks history with 1,182 hits (Paul Goldschmidt).
The big knock came via Geraldo Perdomo, a clutch hitter throughout his career who has not enjoyed the same success with runners aboard this year.
He entered Monday hitting .167 with runners in scoring position after he hit .333 in 2025.
Perdomo worked a 3-1 count and came up with a hit the D-backs have been looking for since Wednesday in St. Louis. He roped a double to left field to clear the bases and give Arizona breathing room up 4-1.
Nolan Arenado, a career Giants killer, smoked his first home run since June 1. It was his 36th career home run against the Giants. He reached base three times.
Diamondbacks Escape Late Meltdown to Make Franchise History vs Giants by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
Arizona has not lost a game yet to the Giants this season, and their dominance over their rival club this season is a franchise record. Over two series and the first game of their third set, the Diamondbacks are 7-0 against San Francisco; that is the first time they have ever done so against an opponent to begin a season.
This also means they have also won the season series over their rivals, who are not exactly a team in position to fight for a playoff spot at 35-49. Arizona is dead even at 42-42.
And, once again, the win would not have been possible without a strong effort by Eduardo Rodriguez.
Diamondbacks News
Corbin Carroll’s triples giving Valley sports fans something to cheer for by Dan Bickley [Arizona Sports]
These are dark times in Valley sports. We are a booming metropolis and a destination city badly underserved by our major professional franchises.
Yet we remain unified and electrified by our only consistent show of greatness:
How can the Diamondbacks fix Zac Gallen’s pitching struggles by Ben Bliklen [Burn City Sports]
Gallen built his career on exceptional pitch tunneling, using tight differences in movement and spin to make every offering look identical until the final moments. Small reductions in spin rate and movement have made his breaking pitches easier to identify, particularly his knuckle curve, which no longer generates the swing-and-miss numbers it once did. Hitters aren’t chasing. They’re waiting for favorable counts and punishing mistakes. That creates a dangerous cycle. As hitters become more selective, Gallen is forced into predictable situations, making his chess-match approach less effective than it once was.
The solution isn’t necessarily finding more velocity; it’s reinvention. Many successful veterans have redesigned their arsenals during the second half of their careers by simplifying their approach, altering pitch shapes, and prioritizing execution over perfect sequencing. Arizona’s coaching staff may need to guide Gallen through that same transition before the problem becomes irreversible. Pitchers often decline in their mid-to-late 30s. What’s alarming is that Gallen’s transformation from Cy Young candidate to replacement-level production has happened before turning 31. If the Diamondbacks hope to remain contenders, fixing these issues must be a priority for them going forward.
What Diamondbacks’ Ugly Sweep by Rays Told Us – And What It Didn’t by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
It’s been a topic of discussion for some time, but it’s gone well beyond a slump at this point in the season. The Diamondbacks simply cannot hit situationally, and are almost entirely incapable of hitting with runners in scoring position.
Over three games against the Rays, Arizona scored just four total runs. They collected one single hit with runners in scoring position, hitting 1-for-15 (.067) in that situation.
At this point, it’s already been broken down, spoken about at length and bemoaned. But it’s not getting any better. In fact, it’s getting worse. The Rays have a solid lineup of starting pitchers, but the Diamondbacks squandered chances to put up crooked numbers time and time again, and that has been the case for over a month’s worth of games by now.
Something has to change soon if they want to get back into a rhythm of consistent winning.
Hazen wants to buy at the Deadline. Can D-backs sell him on doing so? by Steve Gilbert [DBacks.com]
“What I want to do and what I’m gonna do may not work in concert with each other,” Hazen said. “I want this team to make a deep run in the pennant race and into the playoffs, and we’re going to need to add players to do that. I say this every year, I don’t really feel like I’m going to make that decision. I feel like that decision is going to get handed to me one way or another from the guys down there [in the clubhouse].”
Around the League
At long last, we have achieved Maximum Muncy by Martín Gallegos [MLB]
Max Muncy was batting seventh and playing third base for the Athletics on Monday night. Meanwhile, on the other side of the diamond, Max Muncy was batting seventh and playing third base for the Dodgers.
No, that’s not a mistake. For the first time in the big leagues, we have reached Maximum Muncy.
Mets miscues lead to little league homer for Springer, Jays [ESPN]
What Do Real Prospects Think About MLB’s Draft Proposal? by Michael Baumann [FanGraphs]
The most common answer, by far, was some version of “I don’t know.” Which is fair enough; these are 18-to-21-year-olds who are trying not to say anything that’ll negatively impact their draft stock. But a few players had given the matter some thought and had something to say.
“I’m pretty lucky that I don’t really have to make that decision. Good luck to whoever does,” said Jackson Flora, a right-handed pitcher out of UC Santa Barbara who’ll probably be the first college arm off the board. He explained that his younger brother, a catching prospect who’s committed to UCSB and is probably headed to school, will have to choose for himself in the next few weeks.
“Maybe I have some bias, because I had such a fun experience at college,” Flora said, “but I told him there’s no amount of money I would’ve taken out of high school, looking back at it, after the college experience I’ve had, to go pro instead of going to college.”
FORMER DIAMONDBACKS TRANSACTIONS (yes, these all happened yesterday)
