The San Francisco Giants, bouncing back Saturday after a 17-1 loss on Friday, will try to win the four-game series with the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks when the teams meet Sunday afternoon.
San Francisco defeated Arizona 7-3 on Saturday, giving Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (3-1) his first loss of the season.
Giants catcher Patrick Bailey went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and nearly hit for the cycle.
In the seventh inning, with a single, double and home run already in tow, Bailey hit the ball to the alley in left-center field and appeared to be running hard with the determination of going for a triple to complete the cycle.
The ball bounced over the fence, however, making the hit a ground-rule double.
“Yeah, I was going to give it my best effort, for sure,” Bailey said about going for a triple. “I might have got thrown out by 40 feet, but I was going.”
The attitude and hustle were just what the Giants needed after the 16-run loss to the Diamondbacks. Bailey said the “vibes weren’t great” in the locker room after the game.
The Giants overcame that feeling to produce 16 hits in Saturday’s win.
Five relievers pitched the last five innings against Arizona and allowed only one hit while combining for eight strikeouts with no walks.
“You play 162 (games), and you’ve got to wake up and play again,” Bailey said. “Control what you can control — I think we did an unbelievable job of that today. I think that’s the kind of baseball we’re going to play this year.”
Arizona’s Merrill Kelly (2-0, 2.19 ERA) will start Sunday against Jordan Hicks (2-0, 1.57) in a matchup of right-handers.
Kelly is 7-5 with a 3.34 ERA in 18 career starts against the Giants.
Hicks is a starting pitcher this season for the first time since he was with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022, the only other year he has started in his six years in the majors.
He has faced the Diamondbacks nine times, with one start in 2022, and has not recorded a decision. He has a 3.97 ERA in 11 1/3 innings against them.
The Diamondbacks know for certain the pitching matchup for this game, but they are less certain about their order for the next six games of their road trip, starting with three contests against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday and closing next weekend with three vs. the Seattle Mariners.
Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Jordan Montgomery were slated to start in that order for Arizona against the St. Louis Cardinals starting Monday, but Nelson suffered a bruised elbow Thursday in a 5-0 loss in the series opener on a line-drive hit by San Francisco’s Mike Yastrzemski.
Nelson was placed on the injured list on Friday.
Logan Allen, a left-hander who was promoted from Triple-A Reno on Wednesday, reportedly was going to provide insurance for the bullpen and then return to Reno when Montgomery got activated to start last Friday’s game.
Allen replaced Nelson on Thursday and allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings, taking the hard-luck loss.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo has not announced who will start in Nelson’s place.
“I told Torey, ‘Whatever you need, I’ll do it,'” Allen said. “I’ll do it and whatever is best for the team. You know, first and foremost, I just want to win. Being on a team like this, it’s a winning organization, a winning team, so whatever happens, I’m on board and ready for it either way.”
–Field Level Media