Drew Gilbert led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run, Landen Roupp combined with three relievers on a six-hitter and the host San Francisco Giants handed the playoff-contending Arizona Diamondbacks a 6-1 defeat in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night.
The loss dropped the Diamondbacks 1 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres in the race for the third and final National League wild-card playoff entry.
After Gilbert’s eighth homer and Gabriel Moreno’s 11th in the fourth inning created a 1-1 tie, the Giants took advantage of an Arizona defensive mistake to score the go-ahead run without the benefit of a hit in the fifth.
Christian Koss was hit by a Jose Cabrera pitch to lead off the fifth. He then raced first to third on a Nate Furman sacrifice bunt when Arizona third baseman Jose Fernandez didn’t get back in time to cover his base.
Gilbert then lined to left field, and when Max Kepler had to make a diving catch, Koss was able to score without a throw.
Cabrera (0-3) was pulled one out into the fifth, charged with two runs on just three hits. He walked one and struck out four.
Giants starter Landen Roupp (8-13) limited the Diamondbacks to one run and four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three.
Bouncing back from allowing seven runs in the ninth inning in Wednesday’s 10-9 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, the Giants’ bullpen threw four shutout innings to protect a lead. Trent Harris struck out two in a pair of 1-2-3 innings and Carson Seymour overcame a walk to throw a scoreless eighth before Ryan Walker gave up two hits, then retired the last three batters he faced in a non-save situation in the ninth.
The Giants broke the game open with a four-run eighth that featured an RBI double by Bryce Eldridge, run-scoring singles by Jonah Cox and Turner Hill, and a successful safety squeeze bunt by Shay Whitcomb.
Gilbert’s homer came on Cabrera’s seventh pitch of the game.
Moreno’s homer was his third in the last 10 games.
The Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo and Giants’ Cox and Rafael Devers had two hits apiece.
