Diamondbacks 2, Giants 5: Hellickson, Offense Struggle in Series Loss

After tying up the series at 1-1 the night before, the D-backs sent Jeremy Hellickson to face Giants rookie Chris Heston in the series finale at Chase Field for a chance to end an 8-series losing streak at home to the Giants.

Things didn't start well for Hellickson as Nori Aoki led off the game with a single. After an error, out and walk from Buster Posey, Hellickson settled down to get a strike out of Casey Mcgehee and grounder from Justin Maxwell to escape the trouble. But that trouble returned quickly for Hellickson, as Brandon Crawford led off the 2nd with a single. While Jeremy retired the next 2 batters, back to back doubles from Aoki and Matt Duffy gave the Giants a 2-1 lead.

Because of the injuries to both Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, the Giants called up rookie Chris Heston to pitch in the interim and maybe beyond with his start today. After an early A.J. Pollock HBP and run scored in the 1st, Heston didn't allow his first hit until a David Peralta single in the 4th and while he loaded the bases in that inning, a quick Gerald Laird foulout ended that threat.

Jeremy Hellickson definitely wasn't sharp, giving up hits in every inning and his last inning in the 5th was no different. Casey Mcgehee led off with a double and after a Justin Maxwell ground out, Brandon Crawford hit a single to knock out Hellickson for the night. His line was 4.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 2 K's. Probably not what Dave Stewart was looking for when he gave up two promising prospects for the veteran righty. While he did admit to not having any control of his pitches in post-game interviews, it's not a good sign when you don't have control for your first start of the year.

Like the previous 2 games, the bullpen was called upon early as Daniel Hudson came in with a runner on 1st and 1 out and pitched very well, getting a strike out and ground ball to end the 5th. He came out for the 6th inning and was sharp, outside of an Angel Pagan double.

The D-backs led the next two innings with doubles from Cliff Pennington and Paul Goldschmidt, and while Pennington was stranded out there, Goldy advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch and then scored on a passed ball to make it a 3-2 ballgame. But unfortunately for the D-backs, they'd never get any closer.

Randall Delgado and Jean Machi came on to get a fairly uneventful 7th inning despite a leadoff pinch-hit single from Aaron Hill. With the game close, Chip Hale went to Evan Marshall for the 8th and he skirted around trouble but kept it a 3-2 game. Inexplicably however, Chip sent Marshall out for a 2nd inning of work and continued his shaky ways by giving up a leadoff single to Buster Posey and then threw a sinker belt high to Casey Mcgehee who smacked it into the left field bleachers for a 2-run home run. Oliver Perez then came on and retired the side.

The Giants sent out Santiago Casilla to close out the game and he did just that. A 2-out single by Ender Inciarte was all the fight the D-backs had left in them and the Giants clinched their 9th straight series win at Chase Field. Guess that's why they're the champions huh?

Source: FanGraphs

Pretty Cool Guy: Paul Goldschmidt, +14.4%
Cool Guy: Daniel Hudson, +7.8%, Aaron Hill, +7.7%
Just a Guy: Chris Owings, -15.1%, Mark Trumbo -13.7%, Jeremy Hellickson -13.4%

Pretty decent showing for a Wednesday game guys, good job. COTN goes to shoewizard for honest truths.

Luckily for the bullpen, the team will have an off day tomorrow to regroup. On Friday, the Dodgers come to town for a 3-game series. Be sure to come back for that eeries preview to find out more about P**g and Co.