Sandoval, Belt homer in Giants’ win over D-Backs
PHOENIX — Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt hit solo home runs to lead the San Francisco Giants over the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-5 Saturday night.
Madison Bumgarner (3-4) pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and five hits with six strikeouts. He won for the third time in his last four starts.
Sandoval pinch-hit in the eighth inning with two out and drove a 2-2 pitch from Matt Andriese over the right field fence for his second career pinch-homer.
Belt’s home run, also off Andriese, splashed down in the pool beyond right field in the top of the ninth with two outs.
Eduardo Escobar homered and became the first Diamondback to 10 home runs on the season. Carson Kelly hit his third home run, and Adam Jones added two RBIs.
Zack Godley (1-4) has allowed four or more earned runs in five of his eight starts this season and hasn’t made it beyond four innings in each of the last four. That included Saturday, when the Giants reached four runs off Godley in the third inning.
San Francisco turned a 1-0 lead into 4-0 on Steven Duggar’s RBI triple, Buster Posey’s RBI single and Brandon Crawford’s sacrifice fly.
After Godley walked Bumgarner with one out in the fourth and heard boos from the crowd, manager Torey Lovullo removed him. Godley lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and six hits.
Escobar’s home run led off the fourth, and the Diamondbacks made it 4-2 when Jones singled in Blake Swihart from second base with two outs.
The Diamondbacks cut the lead back to 6-4 and had runners at the corners in the seventh but couldn’t add more in that inning.
RANDY’S NIGHT
The Diamondbacks commemorated the 15th anniversary of Hall of Famer Randy Johnson’s perfect game against Atlanta. Fans
SFG: 19-25 overall ARI: 25-21 overall
received a Johnson figurine, and Johnson threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
INJURY SETBACK
Diamondbacks righthander Taijuan Walker isn’t going to throw for at least six weeks after suffering a shoulder injury during a rehab start earlier in the week.
Walker received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his shoulder, which will delay his return from major elbow surgery that was on track for midway through this season. He made only three starts in 2018.
“I don’t want to push through it and make it worse,” Walker said. “I don’t think it’s bad enough for surgery. It’s just swelling.”
HOT CORNER
Both teams got highlightreel defensive plays from their respective third basemen. Evan Longoria took a hit away from Ketel Marte to end the fifth, and Escobar snagged Kevin Pillar’s hard line drive on the fly in the sixth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke is on track to make his next scheduled start, Tuesday at San Diego, on five days’ rest, after a bullpen session that Lovullo said went well Saturday. Greinke had an MRI on Friday that revealed no damage to his abdominal area after he left his last start with a trainer . ... OF David Peralta was held out of the lineup after aggravating pain in his upper back and shoulder area Friday night.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (3-1) faces the Giants with a 4-1 career mark against them. He’s 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his last five starts this season, and has 35 strikeouts.
PORTLAND, Ore. — With Kevin Durant out, Draymond Green has taken it upon himself to boost Golden State. And boy, has he. Green had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 11099 on Saturday night for a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Green had his seventh career postseason tripledouble and Stephen Curry scored 36 points for Golden State, which moved a win away from a fifth straight trip to the NBA finals with Game 4 set for Monday.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it was one of the best games he’s seen Green play.
“I don’t even know what to say about Draymond,” Kerr said. “He was a wrecking ball, destroying everything in his path.”
Durant, the two-time NBA Finals MVP who was averaging more than 34 points during the playoffs, remains out with a sore right calf and his return is uncertain.
“When Kevin is not on the floor, I know I have to be more aggressive. So whether that’s attacking the basket, putting more pressure on the defense, I understand that,” Green said.
CJ McCollum had 23 points for the Trail Blazers, who led by 18 during the second quarter. Damian Lillard added 19 points, but Portland was hurt at the line, making just 20 of 33 attempts.
Golden State’s Andre Iguodala left in the third quarter with a sore lower leg. Kerr said he will have an MRI on Sunday. Iguodala played 17 minutes and had nine points.
After trailing 66-53 at the half, the Warriors mounted a third-quarter comeback to lead 82-79 going into the fourth. Jonas Jerebko’s jumper pushed the lead to 90-82 with 7:26 left.
Curry’s 3-pointer made it 98-87 with just under five minutes to go, and Portland struggled to catch up — similar to their fourthquarter fade in Game 2.
Game 3 was the first conference finals game in Portland since 2000. The Blazers lost that series to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.
No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win in the playoffs. Only three series have gone to a seventh game after one team opened with a 3-0 lead.
“We’re going to give it our best effort on Monday. That’s all that matters,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “We’re going to give it our best effort and whatever happen, happens.”
On Thursday, the Blazers were up 15 at halftime and led by eight with 4½ minutes left before the Warriors rallied — boosted by Kevon Looney’s dunk with less than a minute left, and a game-sealing steal from Iguodala — for a 114-111 Game 2 victory.
Both teams switched up their lineups for Game 3, with Portland’s Meyers Leonard making his first start of the playoffs at center. Enes Kanter, despite sustaining a separated shoulder in the first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, started in all the previous games. Leonard provided a spark and finished with a career playoff-high 16 points.
Kerr started Damian Jones, who hadn’t started since December and had made just two previous appearances in the playoffs. Jones, who played in just 24 games in the regular season because of a torn pectoral muscle, collected three fouls in the game’s opening three minutes and headed to the bench.
Portland was boosted by the home crowd at the start, going up by 10 points in the first quarter. Seth Curry’s jumper made it 60-42 with 2:28 left until halftime.
The Warriors roared back, closing within 76-75 on Alfonzo McKinnie’s basket and pulling ahead on Looney’s layup to cap a 10-0 run.
Warriors: Jones was making his first career postseason start . ... The Warriors have used six different starting lineups in the 2019 playoffs. Jerebko was handed a flagrant I for a foul on Zach Collins in the second quarter.
Trail Blazers: Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was among the fans at the game. Also there was Sabrina Ionescu, who was on the Oregon team that went to the Final Four this season, and former Blazer Scottie Pippen (1999-2003).
TIRED?
Lillard, who hasn’t had the commanding performances he had earlier in the playoffs, was asked if exhaustion was taking a toll.
“Everybody’s tired. It’s the third round of the playoffs after a long season. Our last series, I got a lot of attention. The team was giving me a lot of attention and the same thing in this series. It takes a lot to deal with that and go out and chase guys around on the defensive end,” he said.
UP NEXT
Game 4 is set for Monday night in Portland.