Diamondbacks 2, Giants 6: The rain 'n' Cain stays, mainly...

Record: 7-3. Pace: 113-49. Change on 2016: +4.

On a cold, windy and rainy night in San Francisco the Arizona Diamondbacks Shelby Miller took the mound against the San Francisco Giants Matt Cain. This was a match-up on Wednesday evening of a pair of starting pitchers that lost the plot of their earlier success and are now trying to find their former glory.

Miller had a tumultuous 2016, going 3-12 with a 6.15 ERA and Matt Cain has won a total of 16-games since 2012 but on Wednesday they turned back the clock and gave the fans a proper pitching show.

Miller pitched 5.1-innings gave up three earned runs and struck out five. But Cain was more impressive giving up one run in five-innings and striking out six.

With the 6-2 loss the Diamondbacks dropped their first series of the 2017 season.

The Diamondbacks came out of the gates blazing in the top of the first inning. A.J. Pollock led off with a triple and proceeded to score on a David Peralta sacrifice fly. It was a positive start for Arizona but Cain and the Giants bullpen largely shutdown the Diamondbacks for the remainder of the game.

Miller was solid throughout the night but surrendered three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cain helped his own cause in that inning with a double and then scored on a Denard Span single.

The Giants added three more runs in the seventh inning, off Arizona reliever Tom Wilhelmsen.

The only saving grace for Arizona's offense was Jake Lamb going 3-3 and in the process he extended his hitting streak to nine-games.

With the loss the Diamondbacks dropped to 7-3 this season: but despite the defeat they are still in first place in the National League West. With the win the Giants improved to 4-6 in 2017 and won their first series of the season.

Yes, Arizona faithful. The Diamondbacks are in first place - but it may not last forever, or past the next couple of weeks, for that matter. Despite that possible downer of a revelation, enjoy the fact that your team is top in the National League West standings today. Live in the now.

Even if it is fleeting, it is a nice feeling to have your squad playing well. Arizona has Thursday off and their next game is on Friday In Los Angeles as they face the Dodgers with Clayton Kershaw scheduled to start on the mound. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. (Pacific). Arizona's next four games are against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a rare wrap-around set that runs through the weekend to Monday. Then, the D-backs head south to take on the San Diego Padres for a three game set.

[Click for details, at Fangraphs.com]
Homeland: Jake Lamb, +12.4%
The Mod Squad: Shelby Miller, -19.9%
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: Drury, -12.4%; Mathis, -11.4%

Michael led the GDT, cracking three digits. Also to be found therein, were: Anachronistic1, BIGredmc, BenSharp, Cumulus Choir, Diamondhacks, FormerlyChelsea75, Gilbertsportsfan, GuruB, I suppose I'm a Pessimist, Jackwriter, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, JoeyLewis, Keegan Thompson, Makakilo, MikeDavisAZ, MrMrrbi, SongBird, Xerostomia, aldma, asteroid, coldblueAZ, david.munter, edbigghead, gallo del cielo, gametime111, hotclaws, makattack71, onedotfive, since_98, smartplays, soco and tommyt_16. since_98 receives Comment of the Night, as we see yet another argument for #RobotUmpsNow:

Classic Buckner

second only to Angel Hernandez in the questionable call department

by since_98 on Apr 12, 2017 | 8:10 PM reply rec (2) flag actions

On to Los Angeles. A split there would be nice.