PHOENIX _ When the Giants opened the second half of the season with a 4.0 game deficit in the National League West, they knew they'd have to merge to the fast lane if they hoped to catch up to the pack.
Fourteen games after the All-Star break, the Giants are stuck in traffic, losing ground and plodding along instead of cruising on the open road.
After a starting pitcher allowed five first-inning runs for the second straight night, San Francisco couldn't drive up a hill that proved all too steep in a 9-3 loss to the Diamondbacks Saturday.
For the 19th time this season, the Giants handed the keys to rookie left-hander Andrew Suarez, who turned in his worst night behind the wheel and the worst of any San Francisco starter this season. Suarez allowed 10 hits, four for extra bases, and gave up two home runs while surrendering a season-high eight runs over five innings of work.
Both Diamondbacks middle infielders took Suarez deep, as Ketel Marte sent a 112-mile per hour laser over the left-center-field wall in the first before Nick Ahmed launched a two-run screamer into the Arizona bullpen in the fifth. The homer was Ahmed's 15th of the year, which is a benchmark no Giants player has hit yet this season.
Despite winning four in a row to begin the week, the Giants have lost back-to-back games and now sit six games out of first place. With a 56-56 record and 50 games left to play, the slim postseason odds that existed in the middle of July have largely evaporated due to a combination of inconsistent play and injuries that have wiped out core members of the roster.
Suarez's ongoing struggles are becoming a greater concern for the Giants as he's allowed 19 earned runs in his last four starts. After lowering his ERA nearly two full points from the beginning of June through the All-Star break, the rookie left-hander has given up at least eight hits in each of his past three outings.
After Chris Stratton allowed five first-inning runs in a three-inning start Friday, the Giants needed to adjust their roster to provide coverage in the bullpen. San Francisco optioned Stratton and infielder Kelby Tomlinson to make room for relievers Pierce Johnson and Derek Law, who both appeared in relief of Suarez Saturday.
Johnson was on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning when a fellow rookie turned in the best defensive play of his young career. After slugging his first career home run in the fourth, center fielder Steven Duggar ranged into the right-center-field gap and made a phenomenal catch that finished with a tumble to rob David Peralta of extra bases.
Duggar met former Giants outfielder Steve Finley before Friday's game at Chase Field as manager Bruce Bochy was hoping Finley could pass along a few tips to a player with a similar skill set. Finley won five Gold Gloves in his major-league career and Duggar drew comparisons to the 19-year major-league veteran throughout his rise in the Giants' minor-league system.
Duggar and right fielder Andrew McCutchen were the only Giants to have big nights, but that could bode well for the club moving forward. The Giants are hopeful Duggar has the ability to develop into the everyday center fielder of the future, and if they feel there's too much ground to overcome in the playoff race, they'll trade McCutchen with the goal of having another team take on the remaining salary the Giants owe him.
With five hits and a home run, McCutchen has added to his potential trade value should the Giants elect to place him on waivers in August.
