Jakob Junis, J.D. Davis, and Evan Longoria lift SF Giants to 3-2 win over Dbacks
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The SF Giants pulled off a late comeback against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, defeating their division rival 3-2. The victory gave the Giants a 6-1 record on their roadtrip this week, sending the team back to San Francisco with a 75-78 record and a reasonable opportunity to finish the season at .500.
Scott Alexander and Jarlin García did their job to start the game for the Giants, combining to throw 2.2 shutout innings before manager Gabe Kapler turned to Jakob Junis with nobody on in the third inning.
Junis was terrific on Sunday, recording seven strikeouts over 5.1 innings of work while allowing just five baserunners. However, the Diamondbacks managed to score a run on a double by Pavin Smith in the bottom of the fifth to take a 1-0 lead. For most of the game, it looked like that would be enough to hand Junis the loss.
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At the plate, the Giants were stymied by rookie righty Drey Jameson. A supplemental first-round pick in the 2018 draft by Arizona, Jameson relies on an excellent mid-90s fastball alongside a slider, sinker, and curveball to overpower opposing hitters. The Giants swung and missed on nearly 15% of Jameson's pitches and were held scoreless through 5.1 innings of work.
San Francisco nearly got on the scoreboard against Jameson in the sixth inning, when Giants first baseman J.D. Davis led off with his second double of the day. He was 3-for-3 against Jameson with a pair of doubles. The Giants next hitter, shortstop Brandon Crawford singled and put runners on the corners with nobody out. Jameson, though, struck out designated hitter David Villar and was replaced by Kevin Ginkel, who induced an inning-ending double play from third baseman Jason Vosler.
The following inning, the Giants loaded the bases against Ginkel with two outs against Ginkel. Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo made another pitching change, bringing in Luis Frías to to face Davis. Davis squared up the first pitch of the at-bat but hit a soft line drive right to Arizona's shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.
After another quiet inning from Junis, the Giants finally got on the scoreboard. Crawford led off the inning with a single and quickly advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Cooper Hummell. Frías walked Vosler two batters later. Then, another passed ball gave the Giants a pair of runners in scoring position with one out.
Wilmer Flores came up off the bench and drew a walk to load the bases before Lovullo brought in old friend Reyes Moronta to try and escape the jam against Evan Longoria, who was pinch-hitting for second baseman Ford Proctor. Longoria lined a 1-1 pitch into left field, bringing Crawford and Vosler in to score, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
The Diamondbacks had a brief two-out rally against Junis in the bottom of the eighth, but Kapler trusted the righty to escape the jam unscathed. While a pair of Dbacks players reached scoring position in the inning, Junis induced a groundout from Alek Thomas to end the inning without surrendering a run.
Davis capped off his day with a solo home run against Mark Melancon in the top of the ninth to give the Giants a 3-1 lead. Davis finished 4-for-5 and just a triple shy of the cycle.
Armed with a two-run lead, Giants closer Camilo Doval entered in the ninth. Dbacks first baseman Christian Walker led off the inning with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly. It was the first run Doval has allowed in the month of September. With that said, Doval prevented another run from scoring and recorded his 26th save of the season.
While he did not help the Giants score on Sunday, Proctor, who was called up from Triple-A on Saturday, was another bright spot offensively. He reached base on a walk and a single, recording the first hit of his big-league career.
The SF Giants will return to the Bay Area tonight and enjoy a day off on Monday before beginning a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. The first pitch of the series is scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific.
