PHOENIX — As soon as the Giants’ season seemed to have turned around, they hit their worst skid yet.
With one swing off Randy Rodriguez, Pavin Smith sent the Giants to their fifth straight loss, 4-2, in walkoff fashion to begin their series against the Diamondbacks.
After stranding the go-ahead run 90 feet away when a replay review went the other way, the Giants handed the bottom half of the inning over to their young flamethrowing reliever, who struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to begin the inning but served up two straight hits to send the Giants back to their hotel in disappointment.
The loss was the Giants’ fifth in a row, sending them to 29-32, their worst streak of the season, negating strong offensive efforts from Heliot Ramos and Brett Wisely and 4⅔ innings of relief from Spencer Howard.
Auditioning for the opening in the rotation created by Blake Snell’s latest ailment, Howard wasn’t quite as effective as his first appearance of the season, when he blanked the Phillies for four innings last week, but still limited the Diamondbacks to only two runs over 4⅔ innings.
Six of the Diamondbacks’ first nine balls in play against Howard were struck at 100-plus mph, including Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s solo shot that put Arizona ahead 1-0 one batter into his outing. But after Eugenio Suarez tripled and scored a second run in the inning, Howard settled in to retire 11 of the final 13 batters he faced.
Moved into the leadoff spot for the first time in his major-league career, Brett Wisely continued on his tear and supplied the bulk of the Giants’ offense against Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson, who limited them to one run on five hits besides Ramos’ blast, requiring only 80 pitches to complete 7⅔ innings.
Lining a single into right field for the Giants’ first hit of the game to lead off the third inning, Wisely was doubled home by Matt Chapman — who extended his on-base streak to 21 games with the 109 mph shot into the alleyway in left-center field — and later added two-bagger of his own but was stranded on base.
Since making his first start at shortstop on May 23, Wisely has hit safely in eight of 10 games, including five with two or more.
Ramos, meanwhile, did his best Mookie Betts impersonation with a pair of running grabs in right field before going the opposite way on a first-pitch fastball Nelson attempted to sneak over the outer half of the plate. The game-tying home run was Ramos’ fourth of the season and the first of his career to the opposite field.
The Giants are searching for the rest of their lineup to get it going, though, as they mustered three or fewer runs for the fifth time in their past six games. They had two leadoff hits erased by double plays and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, including the most consequential play of the game.
Ramos and Chapman teamed up against Ryan Thompson in the top of the ninth to put the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Chapman legged out an infield single and made it to third on Ramos’ third hit of the night but looked up and saw a stop sign from third base coach Matt Williams.
The game turned on a replay review when the next batter, Jorge Soler, bounced a ground ball to third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who fired high to first, pulling Christian Walker off the bag. First base umpire Brian Knight initially ruled Soler safe, allowing Chapman to score the go-ahead run, but the call was overturned when Arizona challenged and video showed Walker’s glove making contact with Soler’s helmet before he touched the bag.
Up next
LHP Kyle Harrison vs. LHP Blake Walston (0-0, 2.16) in the second game of the series, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Tuesday.
A few miles east, at the Giants’ minor-league complex, RHP Keaton Winn and LHP Robbie Ray are each scheduled to pitch on rehab assignments. It will be Ray’s first live game action since undergoing Tommy John and flexor tendon surgeries last year and potentially Winn’s final tuneup before rejoining the rotation.
