SF Giants can't protect another early lead, drop fourth straight game

Justice delos Santos, The Mercury News on Sep 17, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — For the second time in the last four days, the Giants have scored four runs in the first inning against a left-handed pitcher. For the second time in the last four games, the Giants have failed to protect that early lead.

San Francisco dropped its fourth straight game on Tuesday night at Chase Field, losing 6-5 to the Arizona Diamondbacks as Ryan Walker allowed a walk-off infield single to Jordan Lawlar in the bottom of the ninth.

With the New York Mets beating the San Diego Padres, the Giants are now three games back of the third and final NL wild card spot.

The Giants jumped out to a commanding lead in the top of the first by putting up a four-spot against the Diamondbacks’ Eduardo Rodriguez. Matt Chapman’s sacrifice fly, Wilmer Flores’ RBI single and Jerar Encarnacion’s two-run double amounted to a 4-0 lead before Tristan Beck threw his first pitch of the night.

Beck began his first start of the evening by retiring the side in the first, but the Diamondbacks put up three runs in the bottom of the second to pull themselves back into the ballgame. Wilmer Flores hit a solo homer in the top of the third, his 16th home run of the season, but Arizona scored two in the fifth against right-hander Trevor McDonald to tie the game at five apiece.

The bottom of the seventh inning ended with a very odd two-play sequence.

With one out, runners at the corners and José Buttó on the mound, the Diamondbacks’ Blaze Alexander hit a sharp grounder to Flores, who appeared to tag first before firing home. Geraldo Perdomo was out by about 10 feet, but Flores never tagged first before throwing. Instead of an inning-ending double play, it was two outs with runners on first and second for Lawlar.

Buttó escaped the inning without allowing a run thanks to another oddity. When Lawlar hit a chopper to the infield’s right side, Flores collided with Alexander while going for the grounder. Flores still stayed with the play and fired to Buttó as he streaked to first, but first base umpire Dan Merzel deemed the play dead and called runner’s interference.

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