SportsDirect Inc. Ad
SportsDirect Inc. Ad
SportsDirect Inc. Ad
Major League Baseball
San Francisco 4, Arizona 2
When: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, July 9, 2016
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Temperature: 65°
Umpires: Home - Mark Carlson, 1B - Mike DiMuro, 2B - Brian Gorman, 3B - Quinn Wolcott
Attendance: 41571

SAN FRANCISCO -- At the crossroads of personal statistics and team success Saturday afternoon, San Francisco Giants veteran pitcher Jake Peavy took the high road.

Peavy's win No. 153 will have to wait. Giants win No. 56 took priority on this day.

Two outs from qualifying for a win, the right-hander handed the baseball to manager Bruce Bochy and watched as six relievers combined to shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks on one hit over the final 4 2/3 innings, delivering the Giants a 4-2 victory.

"We want to win the game," Peavy proudly claimed after the win that assured the Giants (56-33) will have the best record in the National League at the All-Star break. "We've got 25 guys in here who can contribute. I'll do whatever we need me to do to win."

Grant Green hit a two-run homer run, and Brandon Belt and Ruben Tejada drove in runs with extra-base hits, as the Giants won for the seventh time in their last nine games.

Green's homer came after the Diamondbacks scored twice off a staggering Peavy in the top of the fourth inning on RBI singles by Yasmany Tomas and Brandon Drury to take a 2-1 lead.

The home run, Green's first of the season, came with one out and followed a leadoff single by Brandon Crawford, a pop fly that bounced off third baseman Jake Lamb's shoulder after he lost it in the sun.

Green, a first-year Giant, has recorded one home run in each of his four major-league seasons.

"I can't say enough about all the guys who have chipped in," Bochy boasted. "Greenie hits a home run. Tejada ... Everybody's doing something."

Before being smothered by the San Francisco bullpen, the Diamondbacks threatened to catch and perhaps overtake the Giants in the top of the fifth.

With one out and the potential tying run at second base, and knowing he would probably be pulled if he pitched around Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt, Peavy didn't give in.

He wound up walking the All-Star, but that was better than walking off the mound having given up a game-tying hit or, worse, a lead-losing two-run homer.

"I knew how important that at-bat was," Peavy, a 15-year veteran, admitted. "I couldn't let him beat us there."

Sure enough, the ball had barely been returned to Peavy before Bochy was signaling for left-hander Javier Lopez from the bullpen.

"I really don't ever want to come out of the game. I felt I could have gotten through that inning," Peavy said. "But Boch wanted to match up there to win the game."

Sure enough, the Giants' bullpen picked up Peavy and pushed San Francisco to 23 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Lopez, George Kontos, Albert Suarez, Josh Osich, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla got the final 14 outs, allowing only three baserunners on a hit, a walk and an error.

"Great team win all around," noted Peavy, putting an emphasis on the word team. By failing to complete the fifth inning, he became ineligible for the individual win despite the fact he left with the lead and the Giants never relinquished it.

"We're trying to win as a collective group," Peavy continued. "I just wanted us to win on Jake Peavy pitching day when I ordered my Starbucks today, and we did. I'll take it."

Kontos (2-1), who got the final out of the fifth inning before pitching a perfect sixth, was credited with the win. Casilla recorded his 21st save despite allowing a one-out double, the only hit off the San Francisco bullpen, to Phil Gosselin in the ninth.

The Giants added an insurance run in the sixth inning on Tejada's double that scored pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco, who walked.

Belt opened the scoring in the third inning with a triple. Angel Pagan, who had singled and stolen second, scored on the play.

Left-hander Robbie Ray (4-8) pitched the first five innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing three runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out seven, the 17th straight game in which he has fanned at least five.

"He kept us in the game," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale praised. "Three runs is enough to win most games for us."

Arizona's runs in the fourth came after Goldschmidt doubled and Lamb singled to lead off the inning.

Lamb, who had his sunglasses on top of his cap while searching for Crawford's pop fly in the sun, insisted there was nothing he could do about the key mishap.

"That's the first time it's ever happen to me," he said. "If I had sunglasses on, I still lose it because it just went right into the sun."

Peavy allowed two runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Pagan and Belt each had two hits for the Giants, who improved to 30-15 against NL West competition this season.

Goldschmidt had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who lost a second straight game in San Francisco after having won 10 or their previous 11 at AT&T Park.

Both teams finished with eight hits.

NOTES: The Giants' 56 wins before the All-Star break are third-most in franchise history. Only the 1993 team (59) and 1962 club (57) won more. ... Eight of the last nine games between the Giants and Diamondbacks have been decided by two runs or fewer. ... The teams will play the final game of baseball's first half Sunday, a 5 p.m. PT start on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball." ... Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced LHP Madison Bumgarner will start the club's first game after the All-Star break, meaning he would pitch consecutive contests. He did that in 2014 as well, winning both games. ... Before the game, the Diamondbacks reinstated RHP Daniel Hudson from the bereavement list. A roster spot opened when the club traded RHP Brad Ziegler on Friday night.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Arizona   San Francisco
Robbie Ray Player Jake Peavy
Loss W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 4.1
7 Strikeouts 3
6 Hits 7
5.40 ERA 4.15
Hitting
Arizona   San Francisco
Paul Goldschmidt Player Brandon Belt
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
3 TB 4
.667 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Arizona 8 0 10 .222 24 5 2 2 0 0
San Francisco 8 1 14 .267 14 7 4 4 1 1