Pence, Cueto Lead Giants Over Diamondbacks
PHOENIX (CBS/AP) -- Hunter Pence is on quite a roll for the San Francisco Giants.
Pence had three hits, including a solo homer, and Johnny Cueto pitched seven solid innings to lead the Giants to an 11-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
Pence has seven hits in eight at-bats in the first two games of the three-game set. He is the first major leaguer to score four runs in consecutive games since David Wright of the Mets accomplished the feat in August 2005.
"That's baseball, the ebbs and flows. Just trying to have good at-bats and trying to feel good," Pence said. "I don't really dwell on it too much, just keep going and get ready for tomorrow."
Cueto (15-5) allowed two runs and three hits while improving to 6-1 in eight career games at Chase Field. He struck out six and walked two in his fifth start against Arizona this season.
"I felt good with everything I had. I executed my pitches," Cueto said. "I just want to keep moving forward and keep supporting the team, and I pitched the way I wanted to."
San Francisco jumped out to a 5-0 lead against Archie Bradley (6-9). Pence singled and scored on Joe Panik's double in the second, and Cueto helped himself during the Giants' four-run third.
Buster Posey tripled in Angel Pagan and scored on Brandon Crawford's double before Cueto hit a two-out RBI single. Cueto waved his left arm wildly as he ran to first base in an effort to get the Giants to send another runner around third base for home.
Pence opted to stay at third and then scored on a Bradley wild pitch.
"I really wanted him to score," Cueto said with a chuckle.
Peter O'Brien, hitting for Bradley in the third, homered over the Diamondbacks' bullpen for the first hit of the game off Cueto. The All-Star right-hander didn't allow another hit until Jake Lamb's double in the seventh.
"He did a great job of disrupting timing," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "Guys were not able to square him up. I don't think we had many well-hit balls off him. He was moving the ball all around, up, down, in, out. He was using his cutter effectively."
Yasmany Tomas hit his 28th homer in the ninth for Arizona, which has dropped five in a row.
Panik, Pagan and Eduardo Nunez had three hits apiece for San Francisco, which stayed four games back of NL West-leading Los Angeles. Pagan tripled and scored on Silvino Bracho's wild pitch in the eighth.
"A lot of guys had good days," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "And then you look at what Johnny did. ... (Pence) is swinging well right now. He's doing a nice job with two-strike hitting."
San Francisco's Brandon Belt lost a three-run home run on an umpire review in the eighth. Replays showed the ball hit below the yellow line in center field. Belt was credited with a two-run double.
Bradley lasted three innings and allowed five runs and eight hits in his shortest start of the season.
LET THERE BE TWILIGHT
The retractable roof over Chase Field parted to reveal the early evening sky. The roof opened as the fifth inning got started. Game-time temperature was 98 degrees outside.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: Nunez injured an ankle on Friday night but it wasn't serious enough to keep him out of Saturday's lineup.
Diamondbacks: OF A.J. Pollock had a scan done on his injured groin, and he has a strain that could cost him the rest of the season. Hale said Pollock will need at least a week before he resumes physical activity, but added the strain is treatable and didn't rule out a return. ... C Chris Herrmann is out for the rest of the season with a broken hand that will require surgery. Herrmann was injured on a slide Friday night. ... LHP Andrew Chafin had an MRI after he felt shoulder tightness warming up in the bullpen on Friday. "Some of these injuries are really freaky injuries that we're having," Hale said.
UP NEXT
Giants: LHP Matt Moore faces Arizona on Sunday afternoon. Moore (9-11) is set to make his 29th start of the season and eighth with the Giants.
Diamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke (12-5) faces the Giants on Sunday. Greinke is 9-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 13 career starts against San Francisco.
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