The Giants escaped jam after jam on Tuesday night at Chase Field, but the Arizona Diamondbacks finally got the best of them to deliver San Francisco a heartbreaking 5-3 loss in walk-off fashion.
Left-hander Matt Gage was the Giants’ fifth pitcher of the game when he entered to face Ketel Marte with two outs and two on in the bottom of the ninth — and it took just two pitches for the D-backs second baseman to crush a game-ending, three-run home run into left field.
After the brutal loss, manager Tony Vitello blamed himself for his bullpen management in the ninth, which also included a crucial catcher’s interference call on Daniel Susac that brought the switch-hitting Marte to the plate.
“At that point [Caleb] Kilian had 25 pitches,” Vitello told reporters after the loss. “Went with a fresh arm, different look, and made the wrong decision, cost us the game. Not that Gage — I mean, he’s got as good of numbers as anybody on our team, and he’s gotten it done for us more times than not, but obviously it’s on me.”
Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and Marte’s ability to hit from either side of the plate presented Vitello with a difficult decision. It’s worth noting that all five of Marte’s homers entering Tuesday’s game had come off righties — though he has hit better for average from the right side of the plate. So, Vitello opted to replace the right-handed Kilian with Gage to face the veteran infielder.
In the previous inning, Kilian induced a double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in what was one of many high-leverage moments for the bullpen.
Before the Giants’ defense backed up Kilian in the eighth, they did the same for Keaton Winn in the seventh to keep their lead intact.
Landen Roupp went six strong innings Tuesday, surrendering just one run on seven hits with three strikeouts in his first quality start since April 26. The defense was lights-out a majority of the night, save for a first-inning blunder where a Luis Arraez throw bounced off Corbin Carroll’s head and allowed him to score.
Rafael Devers had himself a game before things went awry, blasting a second-inning home run as he went back to back with Willy Adames, and putting on a defensive clinic at first base by recording all three outs in the sixth.
Despite those positives, one devastating swing of the bat gave San Francisco a series loss. And the Giants didn’t do enough in the batter’s box themselves, posting a measly 0-for-8 mark with runners in scoring position on the night.
After missing out on his sixth win of the 2026 MLB season, Roupp kept things in perspective with a simple message as the Giants fell to 20-29.
“It’s pretty unfortunate, but just got to move on and come out tomorrow and play better baseball,” Roupp said.