 allowed two runs, one earned, in 5 1/3 innings and beat the Giants for the second time this year.Dyson's defense stood out on a night when two teams chasing an NL wild card combined for four errors.The right fielder started the sixth with a leaping catch at the wall to take a hit away from Evan Longoria. After three consecutive hits made it 3-2, Dyson fielded Brandon Crawford's single and threw a one-hop strike to catcher Carson Kelly, who tagged out Abiatal Avelino at the plate.San Francisco loaded the bases with two outs later in the inning before Matt Andriese struck out Donovan Solano.San Francisco scored a pair of unearned runs off Yoan Lopez with two outs in the ninth before Archie Bradley struck out pinch-hitter Mike Yastrzemski for his eighth save.Escobar gave the Diamondbacks the lead in the sixth after reaching on a two-out error by third baseman Longoria, who was playing behind second in a defensive shift. After going to third on Christian Walker's single, Escobar scored when Tyler Beede (3-8) bounced a curveball past catcher Buster Posey. Flores followed with an RBI single.Crawford had three hits and Longoria singled twice for San Francisco.YOUNG ARMSYoung allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four. The lefty retired nine of 10 during one stretch and struck out Posey with runners at first and third to end the fifth. Young's start was the 57th this season by an Arizona rookie pitcher, breaking the previous franchise record.TRAINER'S ROOMGiants: Johnny Cueto allowed two home runs in 4 1/3 innings of a rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento. Cueto gave up six hits and four runs (three earned) with three strikeouts. . Yastrzemski will continue to get treatment on his bruised left hand but avoided a trip to the injured list. He underwent X-rays that were negative after the rookie outfielder was pulled from Sunday's win over Oakland.UP NEXTGiants right-hander Jeff Samardzija (9-10, 3.44 ERA) is holding opponents to a .173 batting average over his last 10 starts. Mike Leake (9-10, 4.77 ERA) is 0-2 with an 8.02 ERA in four starts with the Diamondbacks since arriving from Seattle in a trade. He is 5-2 in 13 career games against San Francisco.---More MLB:?https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and?https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Fading playoff hopes on line as Giants host D-backsFLMTwo teams staggering but upright in the National League playoff race hope to deliver the knockout punch to the other when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the San Francisco Giants for a two-game series beginning Monday night.Both teams enter the series -- the final two meetings of the season between the NL West rivals -- coming off much-needed wins Sunday, with the Diamondbacks avoiding a three-game sweep at Milwaukee with a 5-2 win and the Giants rallying for a 5-4 victory and a two-game sweep of their series in Oakland.The Giants (65-65) begin the week four games out of the second NL wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks (65-66).The clubs met four times in Arizona earlier this month, with the Giants ripping Arizona pitching for 28 runs in three straight wins before the Diamondbacks salvaged the series finale.Pitching has been an issue for the Diamondbacks since they dealt Zack Greinke to Houston for four prospects (including a pair of pitching prospects) at the trade deadline."With the loss of Zack, we knew the risk was going to be a short-term deficit to the rotation," general manager Mike Hazen told reporters last week. "We traded a No. 1 starting pitcher; there was probably going to be a tick-back of some sort." The Diamondbacks hope the worst is behind them. They got a strong performance from Robbie Ray coming off the injured list Sunday, and now turn to rookie Alex Young (5-3, 4.04 ERA) in search of a momentum-sustaining performance.The left-hander snapped a personal three-game losing streak when he beat Colorado in his last start, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings last Tuesday.He was the losing pitcher, burned by an Evan Longoria home run, when the Giants won 7-0 at Arizona on Aug. 15. Young was roughed up for five runs and eight hits over five innings in that one.He'd earlier thrown five strong innings (three hits, one run) against the Giants in his major league debut June 27. He's now 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA against them.Young's debut was in San Francisco and began a run of good starts on the road. He is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA in road games so far this season.Longoria was the hitting star in Oakland on Sunday with a home run and go-ahead, two-run single, helping manager Bruce Bochy celebrate his 4,000th major league game, which have been split between San Diego and San Francisco."They're the ones that do the work. It's more about the players than you ever think," Bochy told reporters before the game. "Sometimes early in your career, you think, 'I can make a huge difference.' But really it's the players who determine it, and they're the ones who should get all the credit." The Diamondbacks presented Bochy with a family getaway to Montana as a going-away present when the clubs completed their final series of the season in Arizona earlier this month.Struggling right-hander Tyler Beede (3-7, 5.82), winless in his last seven starts, will attempt to get a six-game homestand off on a positive note for the Giants.He is 0-3 in eight home games (seven starts) in his two-year career, and has never beaten the Diamondbacks (0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts).--Field Level Media
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