Giants brutal struggles against Diamondbacks continue with seventh consecutive loss to NL West foe
PHOENIX — It would be inaccurate to describe the Diamondbacks as kryptonite to these Giants, if only because that would imply they had some kind of superpowers.More than halfway into the season, it’s clear that’s not the case.If anything, these Giants are super bad.One thing’s for sure: They don’t have an answer for this Arizona team, which got to Tyler Mahle in the fifth inning and never let the Giants catch up Monday to begin a three-game series.Final score: 5-4.It was the seventh time the teams have played this season with the same result.They hadn’t lost six in a row against one foe to start a season since going 0-6 against the Padres in 2010.Besides the leadoff homer Mahle surrendered to Ketel Marte that put Arizona up 1-0, things started off positively enough for the Giants.
Mahle kept the Diamondbacks quiet, and they tied things up by giving them some of their own small-ball medicine on a squeeze bunt that scored Victor Bericoto.For a cherry on top, Jonah Cox even beat out the bunt and swiped second.But Cox didn’t make it past third base, and Mahle didn’t make it out of the next inning.He walked the leadoff man, allowed the No.
9 hitter to poke a single and loaded the bases with another free pass.That brought up Geraldo Perdomo, who subsequently unloaded them with a bases-clearing double into the left-field corner that Bericoto allowed to bounce around.Manager Tony Vitello didn’t leave Mahle in to face the damage: He opted for left-hander Sam Hentges to force the switch-hitting Perdomo to bat right-handed with the bases loaded.The decision was sound, with Perdomo performing substantially worse from the right side this season despite even career splits, but it backfired anyway.After all, that’s just how this season has gone for the Giants, who fell back to 14 games below .500.
The Diamondbacks are single-handedly responsible for half that margin.Speaking of ownage, there’s Nolan Arenado, who’s in an entirely different orbit.Arenado�...