The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants begin a four-game series Monday to see who will be first to recover from a frustrating week against the same two bottom-feeders.
The host D-backs went 2-4 against sub-.500 teams Miami and the White Sox, capped when the Marlins completed a three-game sweep with a 6-4 victory on Sunday.
The Giants went 1-5 against the same two teams that also included a sweep by the host Marlins last Tuesday through Thursday. San Francisco lost two of three in Chicago over the weekend, failing to hold a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning of a 5-2 loss Sunday.
Each team lost an opportunity to gain ground in the NL West.
“A lot of ‘how frustrating’ questions, and that’s kind of where we are,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said Sunday. “We have to answer them. I think when you are not playing well, it’s tough to win, regardless.”
The Giants scored five runs and were 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position against the White Sox, who have the second-worst record in the majors. They loaded the bases twice with one out Sunday but scored only on a bases-loaded walk.
“Whether the guys are trying too hard in certain spots, that’s probably the case,” Melvin said. “Obviously, it is not great right now. We just have to keep working and get through it.”
The D-backs have lost four and a row and are five games out of the final NL wild-card spot and behind three others. The Giants are 1 1/2 games out of the wild card.
The D-backs committed two errors Sunday, were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and walked 10 Marlins batters. Arizona pitchers walked four, including one intentionally, and all scored in the Marlins’ game-deciding five-run eighth inning.
“What I saw there today was unacceptable,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “A frustrating series. We have to be better than that. That’s ultimately on me. We’re going to figure this out.”
The D-backs have lost eight games in which they led entering the eighth, including the last two. They have a 5.31 bullpen ERA.
The Giants will start Logan Webb (7-5, 2.52 ERA) on Monday. The right-hander has made six straight quality starts and nine of 10, and he is 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA in five June starts. He is averaging 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings this season, pairing a sinking fastball with the return of his changeup.
Webb is 6-3 with a 2.31 ERA over 74 innings in 12 career starts against the D-backs. He did not allow an earned run in two wins against them last season and is 3-1 over the last two years.
Arizona’s Ketel Marte is 5-for-24 with a homer against him.
Arizona will start Ryne Nelson (4-2, 3.71), who has given up only two earned runs and eight hits in his last three starts over 15 2/3 innings. The right-hander yielded one run and one hit in each of his last two starts — a 9-5 victory at Toronto and a no-decision in a 4-1 victory at the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.
He has made 17 appearances with eight starts this season, and has one save.
“I really love being a starter,” Nelson told MLB Network. “The routine and the daily work that comes with being a starter. I used to think that I would be a reliever long term, but I ended up falling in love with what it takes to be a starter.”
Nelson is 2-0 with a 3.11 ERA in 37 2/3 innings over seven appearances (six starts) against the Giants. He pitched three innings in relief in the first series between the two this season. Wilmer Flores is 2-for-5 with a homer in his career against him.
–Field Level Media
