SF Giants make some late noise, but are doomed by early pitching struggles

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning but could not get the decisive hit in an 8-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday at Oracle Park.

Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Patrick Bailey all reached base with one out in the ninth against Diamondbacks closer Shelby Miller. LaMonte Wade Jr. then drew a walk to cut Arizona’s lead to one, but Christian Koss flew out to center field to end the game.

Offense, perhaps unsurprisingly, wasn’t the Giants’ biggest problem on Wednesday afternoon with the wind mostly blowing out. Pitching was, especially early on, as the Giants dropped the final game of their three-game series against the Diamondbacks despite some late fireworks.

Heliot Ramos drove in three runs and Jung Hoo Lee homered for the second straight day, but the Giants couldn’t dig themselves out of an early six-run hole.

Starter Jordan Hicks struggled again as the Giants allowed eight earned runs in the first four innings and never recovered in dropping the rubber match against the Diamondbacks and losing for the fifth time in six games.

Hicks, looking for his first victory since March 31, allowed seven hits and five earned runs in two-plus innings before Hayden Birdsong replaced him with two runners on in the third. Birdsong promptly allowed a three-run homer to third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who drove a 96-mph fastball to left field for a 6-2 Arizona lead.

Ramos drove in two runs with a fourth-inning double to cut Arizona’s lead to 8-4, and Lee turned on an 86 mph changeup in the seventh inning off Ryne Nelson, hitting it into the right field seats with Wilmer Flores aboard to cut Arizona’s lead to two.

With Koss on first in the eighth, Ramos reached on an infield single hit down the third base line. As he rounded second, though, Koss was hurt and tagged out and unable to go back to second base after he ran face-first into Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.

But after the umpires conferred, the Diamondbacks were called for interference, Koss was awarded second base and Ramos remained at first. Torey Lovullo came out to argue, and was soon ejected by first base umpire Nic Lentz. Lovullo, comically, then seemed to motion that he wanted to eject the four umpires who made the interference determination.

The commotion was all for naught, though, as with two out, Flores popped out to end the threat.

The Giants are now 1-5 since their 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on May 7. San Francisco was coming off a 10-6 win over Arizona on Tuesday, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Hicks was brilliant in his first start of the season on March 31, as he struck out six and did not allow an earned run over six innings in 7-2 Giants win over his hometown Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Since then, though, the Giants are 3-5 in games Hicks starts. In his last seven starts, Hicks before Wednesday, was 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA in 37.1 innings. He struck out 34 and walked 13.