Miller, D-Backs falter vs. Giants
Dereck Rodriguez blanked the Diamondbacks into the seventh inning and the San Francisco Giants made it two in a row in Arizona with a 7-0 victory Saturday night.
Brandon Crawford, Andrew McCutchen and Joe Panik homered on another rough night for Shelby Miller, who struggled in his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Panik’s homer, off reliever Jimmie Sherfy in the eighth, was his first since April 3, a span of 162 at-bats.
Ty Blach and Cory Gearrin completed San Francisco’s 10th shutout of the season.
The Giants have won nine of 11 to pull into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for second in the NL West, 3 1 / 2games behind the first-place Diamondbacks. San Francisco can complete a three-game road sweep on Sunday.
Since returning from an 8-2 trip, the Diamondbacks have dropped two to the Giants by a combined score of 9-1.
Rodriguez (3-1), the son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, dominated in his sixth major league start. He allowed six hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked two. In his last two starts, the 26-year-old right-hander has given up one run in 13 1/3 innings.
Miller (0-2) was tagged for six runs and seven hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked one, throwing 96 pitches. In his debut Monday night at Miami, Miller gave up five runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings of a 9-5 loss to the Marlins.
Crawford and McCutchen each had a solo home run off Miller – Crawford in the second and McCutchen in the fourth.
Arizona’s real trouble came in San Francisco’s four-run third, which included five singles. One of them, a dribbler up the middle by Pablo Sandoval, drove in two runs. Crawford walked with the bases loaded to bring in another run.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: INF Ketel Marte left with a right leg injury after beating out an infield single leading off the seventh. He was able to walk off under his own power. … CF A.J. Pollock (broken left thumb) went 0 for 4 with Triple-A Reno in his first rehab game Friday night.