A late-inning bullpen collapse stalled the Arizona Diamondbacks' Wild Card momentum.
The Arizona Diamondbacks seemed to be on cloud nine after taking two of three games against the Chicago Cubs, but somehow, they lost the very next day to the San Francisco Giants, 6-1.
San Francisco was coming off their worst loss in franchise history, and this is a D-backs team that had just improved to 71-63 and picked up a pair of wins against the top seed in the Wild Card race.
Arizona may have only been outhit, 7-6, but a four-run eighth inning helped guide the Giants to just their 55th win of the season.
Jose Cabrera fell to 0-3 on the year, but it's worth noting he only allowed two earned runs in 4.1 innings. Some would say he didn't necessarily deserve the loss as much as someone like Kevin Ginkel, who gave up four earned runs on four hits and only recorded one out.
Late pitching struggles lead to D-backs demise
This is a team that's seen inconsistencies across the board when it comes to the bullpen and starting rotation. Sure, Cabrera was the one who took the loss, but he only allowed three of the team's seven hits.
Knowing Ginkel allowed four himself, that means the trio of Taylor Clarke, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Juan Burgos were perfect on the night.
Those three combined for 3.1 innings of no-hit baseball, and they struck out two batters while walking none. In fact, Loaisiga recorded three outs in an impressive nine pitches, and Burgos got the team's final two outs in just three pitches himself.
There's clearly a lot to love for certain aspects of this pitching staff, but Ginkel's eighth-inning struggles simply can't happen against a team like the Giants.
Diamondbacks fall 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot
Everyone knew it was going to be a tight race down the stretch, but losses like this are simply unacceptable, especially knowing they were just able to secure a series against the now 76-58 Cubs.
Arizona has a chance to win the final two games against San Francisco and still take this series, but they sure started things off on the wrong foot.
Now, they're 1.5 games back of the San Diego Padres for that final Wild Card spot.
It's been brought up time and time again, but the D-backs and Padres are set to play each other in the final series of the year, one that could potentially decide who's the last National League team to make it into the postseason.
