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Wade & Crawford’s homers lead SF Giants to 4-3 comeback win over Dbacks

The SF Giants fell behind, but a pair of late home runs lifted them to a comeback win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

Marc Delucchi

Wade & Crawford’s homers lead SF Giants to 4-3 comeback win over Dbacks
Wade & Crawford’s homers lead SF Giants to 4-3 comeback win over Dbacks /
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After making just one deal prior to the MLB trade deadline, the SF Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 on Tuesday night. Starter Alex Cobb delivered a quality start, and the Giants managed to do just enough damage to pull out another tightly contested victory. With the win, they improved to 59-49 on the season and kept pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

SF Giants starting pitcher Alex Cobb throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Oracle Park on August 1, 2023.
SF Giants SP Alex Cobb throws a pitch against the Diamondbacks on August 1, 2023 / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Cobb, who had his start pushed back a day after getting hit with a virus, looked visibly ill in the clubhouse prior to the game. However, he was functioning enough to take the mound on Tuesday. Cobb breezed through four shutout innings before surrendering a solo home run to Lourdes Gurriel on a 2-0 fastball in the top of the fifth inning.

The Dbacks left-handed hitters Alek Thomas and Ketel Marte added solo home runs of their own, extending Arizona's lead to 3-0. Cobb ultimately completed a quality start, which was impressive given the circumstances of his illness, but given San Francisco's offensive slump, it seemed like too little to secure a win.

The Giants offense was held scoreless for the first five innings. Granted, they did have an excuse for their struggles, facing Dbacks ace Zac Gallen-who has been one of the best pitchers in MLB over the past two seasons. Of course, the quality of their opponent has seemed to have little effect on the lineup's productivity in recent weeks.

It seemed like Gallen was ready to cruise deep into the ballgame and was on the cusp of working around a lead-off single by J.D. Davis in the bottom of the sixth inning before he stumbled. Gallen induced a double play from Joc Pederson, but catcher Blake Sabol extended the inning with a line drive single, which brought Luis Matos to the plate. Matos worked a 3-2 count and lined a fastball to right-center field for an RBI double.

With the Giants on the scoreboard, Gallen made a costly mistake against Brandon Crawford, leaving a fastball over the middle of the plate. The Giants' veteran shortstop crushed the pitch 420' to straightaway center field for a game-tying two-run home run.

After getting six innings from Cobb, Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned to his bullpen. On the heels of three consecutive bullpen games and multiple extra-inning contests, San Francisco's pen had limited options available. So, rookie Ryan Walker got the call in the seventh, retiring the Dbacks in order.

In the bottom half of the inning, Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo brought in Miguel Castro for the second consecutive day. While Castro did not allow a baserunner on Monday, LaMonte Wade Jr. jumped on a 3-1 sinker, depositing the pitch into the right-field bleachers for his 10th home run of the season.

Walker returned to the mound in the eighth with a 4-3 lead and gave the Giants another shutout inning of work, receiving some help from rookie catcher Patrick Bailey (who had been a defensive replacement for Sabol).

With a one-run lead in the ninth inning, and top relievers Camilo Doval, Tyler Rogers, and Taylor Rogers all unavailable, Kapler sent Walker back to the mound for a third inning of work. The righty surrendered a lead-off single to Geraldo Perdomo but induced a pop-out from Ketel Marte. 

With two outs to go and left-handed hitting star rookie Corbin Carroll coming to the plate, Kapler called upon Sean Manaea. Manaea, a career starter, has been far more effective out of the bullpen this season, flashing dominance in abbreviated outings. However, this was his first save situation of the season.

Manaea was unphased by the big moment. He immediately delivered a first-pitch strike to Carroll and eventually induced a flyout from the presumptive rookie of the year. Then, with Christian Walker at the plate, Bailey picked Perdomo off first base, closing out Manea's first save of his professional career (college, minors, and majors).

Recently acquired outfielder A.J. Pollock was activated prior to the game and made his Giants debut. He did not record a hit but worked a 3-2 count in all three of his plate appearances. Pollock has struggled mightily this season, but both he and Giants' brass cited his at-bat quality as reasons they expect more from him down the stretch.

After splitting the first two games of the four-game series, the SF Giants will to build a winning streak on Wednesday. Diamondbacks pitching prospect Slade Cecconi is expected to make his big-league debut, facing off against SF Giants ace Logan Webb. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific at Oracle Park.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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