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Blake Sabol's baserunning blunder costs SF Giants in 5-2 loss to Dbacks

The SF Giants seemed to be building another late comeback on Sunday before a poor baserunning decision by Blake Sabol ended an eighth-inning rally.

Marc Delucchi

Blake Sabol's baserunning blunder costs SF Giants in 5-2 loss to Dbacks
Blake Sabol's baserunning blunder costs SF Giants in 5-2 loss to Dbacks /
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The SF Giants dropped their final game of this week's homestand in a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon. Even with the loss, the Giants head on the road on the heels of four consecutive series victories-three against division rivals-and are just 2.5 games back of the Dbacks for the top spot in the National League West. Granted, that does not mean they will not have a sour taste in their mouth after a huge missed opportunity late in the game.

SF Giants starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Oracle Park on June 25, 2023.
SF Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani throws a pitch against on June 25, 2023 / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Giants' starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani got off to a shaky start early in the afternoon. Ketel Marte and Christian Walker each smoked hanging sliders more than 102 mph to right field. Marte's would have been a home run at 22 MLB ballparks, Walker's in seven, but not at Oracle Park on Sunday.

Instead, Marte was forced to settle for a single as his line drive caromed off the Splash Hits sign in right field directly to Michael Conforto, scoring on Walker's double to triple's alley. The Giants trailed 1-0 at the end of the inning, but their deficit could have easily been twice as large.

After scoring 13 runs in the first two games of the series, the Giants' offense was stifled by Dbacks rookie starter Ryne Nelson. Nelson entered the game with a 5.31 ERA on the season but mixed and matched well to keep San Francisco's hitters off balance. Nelson's fastball has been hit hard, and Giants hitters were clearly sitting on it. However, he countered by using his changeup 28% of the time, a career high.

The Diamondbacks eventually extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the second. Alek Thomas hammered another double off the right-field wall that would have been a home run in 10 other parks. He came around to score on an RBI single by Jake McCarthy.

Catcher Patrick Bailey (Giants preseason #21 prospect) had a pair of plays he would like to have another shot at. In the second inning, Bailey whiffed on catching a breaking ball from DeSclafani that prevented him from trying to throw out Thomas attempting to steal third base. Then, in the following inning, a popup in foul territory bounced off his glove.

DeSclafani found his rhythm after the first two innings, allowing just one more baserunner across the rest of his outing. While his velocity was notably down from his season averages, DeSclafani found a way to deliver his most effective start since May 2nd. He surrendered a pair of runs on five hits with three strikeouts and zero walks in six innings pitched.

The Giants scraped their first run of the game across in the bottom of the sixth inning against Nelson. Thairo Estrada reached base on a dropped third strike that got away from Dbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno and advanced into scoring position on a Michael Conforto walk. With two outs in the inning, J.D. Davis snuck a ground ball through the left side of the infield for an RBI single.

Nelson allowed one run on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts across seven innings pitched.

Tristan Beck (Giants preseason #19 prospect) replaced DeSclafani at the start of the seventh inning and had his worst outing in more than a month. Beck consistently fell behind in counts, walking the leadoff hitters in each of his three innings of work. Beck allowed a trio of runs on four hits, three walks, and a homer over 2.1 innings pitched but left the game after a visit from the trainer. Ryan Walker entered and recorded the last two outs in the top of the ninth.

Estrada started another run-scoring rally in the bottom of the eighth against the Dbacks bullpen. Estrada walked against southpaw Andrew Chafin and advanced to second on a fielder's choice. With two outs and J.D. Davis due up, Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo called upon righty Scott McGough. McGough surrendered an RBI single to Davis on his first pitch of the day.

Then, McGough walked Blake Sabol (Giants preseason #33 prospect) to bring Bailey to the plate representing the potential go-ahead run. Bailey hit a chopper up the third-base line that was stopped on a dive by Evan Longoria, but there was no time to get a force out at any bases. The bases were going to be loaded for Brandon Crawford.

The only problem was Sabol appeared to think the ball had gotten by Longoria and gone into left field. Representing the potential tying run Sabol aggressively turned second base thinking he would have a chance to score. By the time he realized where the ball was, he was trapped behind Davis at third base and was tagged out to end the inning.

Sabol's mental error stands out amidst the Giants' hot stretch, which has featured excellent pitching and hitting alongside a dearth of costly mistakes defensively or on the bases. In contrast to the Giants team last season, which seemed to make a couple in every game during its ugliest stretches of the summer. It's been a stark contrast. Going forward, Sabol, and the rest of the team, will try to prove that Sunday's gaffe was an exception.

Luis Matos singled against McGough in the bottom of the ninth for his second hit of the day followed by a walk from Austin Slater. That gave Estrada a chance to come to the plate representing the potential tying run with two outs, but he was retired to end the game.

Now 44-34 on the season, the SF Giants will head on the road for a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. They will receive Monday off before starting the three-game set on Tuesday. Neither the Giants nor Blue Jays have announced a starting pitcher for the game. First pitch at the Rogers Centre in Toronto is scheduled for 4:07 PM Pacific.

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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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