Diamondbacks Lose Second Straight to Giants as Playoff Hopes Fade

Arizona Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen was the victim of some poor umpiring and the offense could complete a comeback against the San Francisco Giants.

Sep 9, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants infielder Willy Adames (2) runs the bases after hitting a three run home run against Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen (23) during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Sometimes a blown call by an umpire can have an outsized impact on the outcome of a game. It seldom happens in the first at-bat, however. Unfortunately for right-hander Zac Gallen and the Diamondbacks, that might have been the case in their 5-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park Tuesday night.

Umpire Calls Hurt Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen Early

Home plate umpire Doug Eddings missed a strike three call on a pitch two baseballs above the bottom of the strike zone, instead calling ball four to leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos.

OMG! Doug Eddings.....what are you looking at? pic.twitter.com/aDtJ54MBe1

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) September 10, 2025

A clearly-frustrated Gallen walked the next hitter, and then threw a down-and-in sinker to Willy Adames. The Giants' shortstop went down and got it, launching the ball into the left field bleachers for a 3-0 Giants lead.

Gallen hung in there, pitching scoreless innings in the second and third. He gave up a run in the fourth and solo homer to Patrick Bailey leading off the fifth. From there he retired eight straight, getting two outs in the seventh inning before issuing a walk to Bailey and leaving the game.

As he walked off the mound he was barking at Eddings, clearly a product of the earlier frustrations. In fact there were numerous questionable ball and strike calls throughout the game.

Diamondbacks Offense Comes up Short in Comeback Attempt

The D-backs battled against Robbie Ray all game, running up his pitch counts and eventually driving him out of the game after five innings. They didn't score until the fifth inning, however. Rookies Tim Tawa and Jordan Lawlar hit back-to-back doubles to plate the first run.

Lawlar stole third and scored on a shallow fly to right by Jorge Barrosa, executing a good slide to beat the tag. It was an impressive sequence from Lawlar, who was serving as the DH two games after a defensive meltdown on Sunday.

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Ildemaro Vargas singled home Geraldo Perdomo in the sixth for the D-backs' third run. But Arizona scoring stopped there, as the Giants' bullpen shut them down the rest of the way. That despite getting two on with nobody out to start the ninth inning.

Arizona Diamondbacks Wild Card Hopes Fading

By losing the second straight game to the Giants they not only fall 2.5 games behind the Giants, but failed to pick up any ground on the New York Mets, who also lost again. Arizona remains 4.5 games out of the third NL Wild Card. Their record is now 72-74.

The Diamondbacks' elimination number is now down to 13. Any combination of Mets victories or D-backs losses would make it impossible for Arizona to pass New York in the standings.

The D-backs will hope to salvage the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. Eduardo Rodriguez will face Giants rookie Carson Seymour. First pitch is at 12:45 p.m. MST.