SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell was removed after a 42-pitch first inning, and San Francisco rallied to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Thursday behind an walk-off double in the ninth from Patrick Bailey, who drove in all three Giants runs.
Arizona sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning, taking advantage of defensive sloppiness. Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald threw wide of second for a run-scoring error on Josh Bell’s grounder and Corbin Carroll scored from third on a passed ball as Jake McCarthy reached on the dropped third strike.
Snell said that he knew when facing his final batter of the inning that he was probably done after the first.
“It was just too many pitches,” Snell said. “It was just not smart to go back out. I’ve done it before, but I never felt good after. It was just a lot of risk, not a lot of reward.”
Melvin agreed that Snell’s pitch count was too high to send him back out, noting the defensive miscues were costly.
“A lot of times, a starter’s not quite in his rhythm in the first and hen we don’t make some plays for him, next thing you know he’s got 42 pitches,” Melvin said.
Snell allowed two hits and walked two, stranding a pair of runners when Kevin Newman grounded out. He entered with a 1.30 ERA over his last 10 games. Only one of the runs off him were earned.
“It’s tough to be so critical on myself right now because it’s one inning,” Snell said. “It wasn’t like the fourth inning. It was the first inning. We’re getting it going. I felt good. Stuff felt good. It was just a weird inning.”
Bailey tied the score 2-2 with a two-run, two-out single in the fourth off Merrill Kelly.
Tyler Fitzgerald singled off Kevin Ginkel (7-3) leading off the ninth and stole second as catcher Adrian Del Castillo’s throw was wide. Bailey followed with a ground-rule double to left-center, lifting the Giants to just their second win in eight games.
Bailey entered hitting .080 (6 for 75) from July 31 on. He said that he’s made progress from last year to this year, his first full season in the big leagues, though his statistics might not reflect improvement.
“The last month and a half hasn’t gone the way I wished,” Bailey said. “But I’ve felt better the last couple days and last couple games.”
Landen Roupp (four innings), Erik Miller and Tyler Rogers (one inning each), Camilo Doval (two outs) and Ryan Walker (four outs) for two-hit relief. Walker improved to 9-3.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said pregame he hoped his players would grind some at-bats and get Snell out of the game early. He got his wish, but Arizona could not capitalize against relievers.
“That’s not going to be an easy task. either,” Lovullo said. “Their bullpen is very good.”
Kelly struck out eight in seven innings.
CONTRACT TALKS
Snell watched as teammate Matt Chapman inked a six-year, $151 million contract extension on Wednmsday. Similar to Chapman, the 31-year-old Snell is represented by Scott Boras and can opt-out of his two-year, $62 million deal after this season and test free agency.
When asked if Chapman’s extension was something he’d like for himself, Snell said that a “deal would be nice.”
“Just finishing the season strong, focusing on that is probably most important to me,” Snell said. “If that’s something they want to talk about, I’m always open to it. I’ve enjoyed my family a lot. I know fans have been hounding me about it, but truthfully, it’s up to them.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: INF Ketel Marte (sprained left ankle) could be activated off the injured list during the team’s next series at Houston.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Brandon Pfaadt (9-7, 4.32) starts Friday at Houston, which opens the series with LHP Framber Valdez.
Giants: San Diego RHP Michael King (11-8, 3.17 ERA) starts Friday’s series opener against the visiting Giants.
