A month had passed since the Giants and Diamondbacks faced each other. In the meantime, Arizona’s offense had derailed, while San Francico’s had stayed railed (somewhat). As Bryan pointed out in his series preview, given the current trajectories of either team, the Giants seemed primed to snag a few wins and gussy-up that 0-6 season record they’ve fallen into against Arizona.
All theoretical, of course, like most of what’s happened for the Giants in 2026. A nice idea that let us silly, amnesiac fans
blindly and blithely approach this game with our head in the clouds.
That blissful ignorant state didn’t last long. Ketel Marte served as the reminder with a courteous yank back to reality in the home half of the 1st. On starter Tyler Mahle’s second pitch of the evening, Marte pumped a homer over the wall in left, his fifth over the last six games and 14th hit and 4th homer against the Giants in 2026.
The lead-off tater was a “who’s your daddy?” moment, an immediate hammer to the head of a nail. Don’t get any ideas. Stay in your place — which the Giants did in Monday’s 5-4 loss.
Mahle settled in, striking out two in the 1st after the home run, and traded zeroes with D-Backs southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez until the 5th. Right after Victor Bericoto scored on a Jonah Cox sacrifice bunt to tie the game, threatening the established power dynamics between the two clubs.
Don’t worry, order was promptly restored with a 3-run rally for Arizona in the following frame.
Free passes proved to be the culprit here. Mahle walked Nolan Arendo, surrendered a frustratingly soft infield single to Pavin Smith before walking Marte on five pitches to load the bases and end his outing. He had only thrown 85 pitches but Tony Vitello wanted to force the switch-hitting Geraldo Perdomo to his weaker right side so he brought in lefty Sam Hentges — a move that has always always worked.
After Perdomo’s bases-clearing double, Hentges handed out two more walks and hurled a wild pitch before being lifted for JT Brubaker. The only out Hentges recorded in the 5th was Eric Haase throwing out Perdomo trying to steal third, which had nothing to do with him at all.
With a 4-1 lead, Rodriguez worked through the 7th, retiring the final 8 hitters he faced. Meanwhile in the 6th, Arenado hit his 36th career homer off a Giants pitcher, reasserting his father-figure role in the relationship. The solo shot proved decisive and necessary after San Francisco plated three late-inning runs, including two in the 9th.
A comeback attempt, which included a Heliot Ramos home run (his first since May 10th), and Drew Cavanaugh’s first career RBI. The late-offense seemed more deferential than anything else. Cavanaugh made it 5-4 with one out against closer Kevin Ginkel, and then Drew Gilbert and Matt Chapman went back-to-back…on infield pop-ups to first. A respectful rally, nothing rude or coarse, just a couple of runs for the optics.
Thanks for the opportunity, Arizona!
