Kevin Newman and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each hit two-run doubles and the Arizona Diamondbacks extended their winning streak to four games with an 8-5 victory over the slumping San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
Arizona received some shocking news earlier in the day when it learned that reliever Andrew Saalfrank was one of five players sanctioned by Major League Baseball for betting on games. The left-hander, who played in two games this season before being optioned to Triple-A Reno, was suspended for one year, while San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned from baseball for life.
The suspension was a hot topic in the clubhouse, but the Diamondbacks did not let it affect them on the field.
Newman hit a two-run double off Kyle Harrison (4-3) in the third inning and Gurriel hit his for Arizona’s seventh of four runs. Gabriel Moreno also finished with two RBIs and Blaze Alexander had three of Arizona’s 13 hits with an RBI.
Kevin Ginkel (4-1) allowed two hits in 1 1/3 innings in his first game since taking a left knee comebacker against the New York Mets on Saturday. The righthander gave up Patrick Bailey’s bloop, a runscoring single in the fifth inning, but it was charged to starter Blake Walston.
Pinch hitter Mike Yastrzemski hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning for the Giants, who have lost a season-high six in a row.
Paul Sewald closed out the game in the ninth, working around a hit batter for his sixth save.
Harrison allowed four runs and a career-high 12 hits in five innings during a loss to Philadelphia, his last start.
The left-hander spent the early part of his start against the Diamondbacks watching balls go out of his teammate’s gloves.
Arizona scored its first run in the third inning on a double by Alexander, which skipped the glove of short stop Casey Schmitt. The next two came after Newman’s double off the glove of third baseman Matt Chapman and Moreno followed with a sacrifice fly.
Those were singles, but a fielding error by Schmitt in the next inning led to Alexander’s runscoring single, which put the Diamondbacks up 4-1.
Arizona broke the game open in the seventh inning off Luke Jackson with Gurriel’s two-run double sandwiched between run-scoring singles by Moreno and Randal Grichuk.
TRAINER’S TABLE
Giants: 2B Thairo Estrada went 0 for 4 and was hit by a pitch after missing three games with a jammed thumb Friday against the Mets.
NEXT ONE
Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-2, 2.70 ERA) will face Diamondbacks LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-3, 5.48) in the middle game of the three-game series.
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