Why the San Francisco Giants Keep Struggling Against the Diamondbacks

Taking the road after winning back-to-back home series against the Athletics and the Atlanta Braves gave the San Francisco Giants some momentum ahead of facing the Arizona Diamondbacks. But just as every other game between these two franchises has gone this season, the Giants lost the series opener.

The Giants are now 0-7 when taking on their division rivals this season, but what's the cause? Is it because of poor pitching? Poor defense? Not enough clutch hitting? Or do the Diamondbacks just have San Francisco's number? To answer that, we have to take a look at the entire season series to this point.

A Series Review: SF vs ARZ

Tony Vitello and his coaching staf — San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello (with white jersey) watches his team. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

San Francisco took on Arizona for the first time back in May, away from home, at Chase Field. At that point, the Giants held a 20-27 record before any game between these two franchises took place. In the three-game series, the Giants would allow 23 runs, sparking the start of frustration.

In that first series of the season, San Francisco scored eight runs total. With a brief break in between, as the Giants took on the Chicago White Sox the following series, winning two out of three games, they would host the Diamondbacks at Oracle Park, looking for a better result.

In three games at home, the Giants allowed 16 runs to the Diamondbacks, as San Francisco scored nine. For the beginning portion of the season for this rivalry matchup, it was clear that the Giants' pitching staff was taking the majority of the blame, having allowed 39 runs in six games.

Fast forward to Monday night at Chase Field, the Giants finally put up a close fight against Arizona, yet still dropped the game 5-4. The offense fought back, scoring three runs in the final two innings, but it wasn't enough, as another tough start from Tyler Mahle was too hard to overcome.

Overall, it seems like the Diamondbacks' offense has the Giants' pitching staff's number. Arizona holds the 23rd-best team average in Major League Baseball as of the end of June (.238), while the Giants hold the fourth-best team average in baseball (.256).

In the clutch, the Giants need to perform better than they have before, especially when hitting against the Diamondbacks. On Monday night, San Francisco was 1-6 with runners in scoring position compared to Arizona's 2-4. In the overall series between the two, the Giants are 7-45 with runners in scoring position (.156).

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