PHOENIX -- Two big swings from Madison Bumgarner were undone by another bullpen meltdown in a wild opener for the San Francisco Giants that looked an awful lot like last season.
Chris Owings singled home the winning run and the Arizona Diamondbacks scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off new San Francisco closer Mark Melancon for a 6-5 victory Sunday.
Derailed by a dreadful relief corps last year, the Giants started this season the same way -- even after trying to fix the problem by bringing in Melancon on a $62 million, four-year contract.
Bumgarner retired his first 16 batters and became the first pitcher to hit two home runs on opening day. He struck out 11 with no walks in seven innings -- all for naught.
Arizona got a double by Jeff Mathis and three singles after Melancon (0-1) retired his first two batters in the ninth. A.J. Pollock singled in the tying run, and Owings dumped a base hit into right field to end it.
"We never expect anything negative to happen with Mark out there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It happened. You are not going to be perfect. We had our chances to put the game away a couple of times and couldn't do it."
The Giants had 32 blown saves last season, including nine in September. In their final playoff game, Bochy went through five relievers in the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco was eliminated from its NL Division Series after allowing four runs for a 6-5 defeat.
That led to an offseason overhaul in the bullpen, headlined by the arrival of Melancon as a free agent. He saved 98 games over the past two seasons, most in the majors.'
"You never really want to start it off this way, especially after a heck of a performance by Madison," Melancon said. "This was one of the more impressive games I have seen by anybody. I really wanted to cap off a good start by him. Obviously, it didn't go that way."
New Diamondbacks closer Fernando Rodney (1-0) gave up a run but escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation to get the victory.
It was an emotional debut for new Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, the former Boston bench coach who had many family members in the crowd and thought often of his father, television producer Sam Lovullo (Hee Haw), who died earlier this year.
"It couldn't have been scripted any better," Lovullo said. "The walk that we've been walking, the concepts that we've laid on these guys, they went out there an earned every part of that victory."
The Diamondbacks lost 93 games last season.
San Francisco took a 5-4 lead when Joe Panik led off the ninth with a triple and scored on pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie's sacrifice fly.
Bumgarner's line-drive homer off Zack Greinke put the Giants ahead 2-0 in the fifth. The pitcher's second solo shot, off lefty Andrew Chafin, broke a 3-all tie in the seventh.
"That is obviously pretty special, having the chance to do that and for that to happen," Bumgarner said, "but my job is out there on the mound. That is where my concern is at."
Bumgarner has 17 career home runs, three last season.
Mathis broke up Bumgarner's perfect-game bid with a one-out triple into the left-field corner in the sixth. Mathis scored on Nick Ahmed's pinch-hit single, and Pollock -- who missed virtually all of last season with a broken elbow -- followed with a two-run homer just over the left-field fence that tied it at 3.
Greinke was limited to five innings due to a high pitch count. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out four and throwing 92 pitches.
PERFECT START
No pitcher has thrown a perfect game on opening day. Only one has tossed a no-hitter, Hall of Famer Bob Feller for Cleveland in 1940.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: Utilityman Trevor Brown (sprained right ankle) and OF Mac Williamson (strained left quad) opened the season on the 10-day disabled list. Both moves were retroactive to May 30.
Diamondbacks: RHP Jake Barrett, who could be the setup man in the bullpen, opened on the 10-day DL due to right shoulder inflammation. Lovullo said Barrett was making good progress and would throw a bullpen Sunday. LHP Steve Hathaway (left shoulder inflammation) also opened on the 10-day DL.
UP NEXT
Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto starts Tuesday after an outstanding first season with the Giants, when he went 18-5 with a 2.79 ERA.
Diamondbacks: After an off day Monday, the series resumes with LHP Patrick Corbin (5-13, 5.15) starting for Arizona. He finished last season in the bullpen.
San Francisco Giants
Chris Owings singled home the winning run and the Arizona Diamondbacks scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off new San Francisco closer Mark Melancon for a 6-5 victory Sunday.
Derailed by a dreadful relief corps last year, the Giants started this season the same way -- even after trying to fix the problem by bringing in Melancon on a $62 million, four-year contract.
Bumgarner retired his first 16 batters and became the first pitcher to hit two home runs on opening day. He struck out 11 with no walks in seven innings -- all for naught.
Arizona got a double by Jeff Mathis and three singles after Melancon (0-1) retired his first two batters in the ninth. A.J. Pollock singled in the tying run, and Owings dumped a base hit into right field to end it.
"We never expect anything negative to happen with Mark out there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It happened. You are not going to be perfect. We had our chances to put the game away a couple of times and couldn't do it."
The Giants had 32 blown saves last season, including nine in September. In their final playoff game, Bochy went through five relievers in the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco was eliminated from its NL Division Series after allowing four runs for a 6-5 defeat.
That led to an offseason overhaul in the bullpen, headlined by the arrival of Melancon as a free agent. He saved 98 games over the past two seasons, most in the majors.'
"You never really want to start it off this way, especially after a heck of a performance by Madison," Melancon said. "This was one of the more impressive games I have seen by anybody. I really wanted to cap off a good start by him. Obviously, it didn't go that way."
New Diamondbacks closer Fernando Rodney (1-0) gave up a run but escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation to get the victory.
It was an emotional debut for new Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, the former Boston bench coach who had many family members in the crowd and thought often of his father, television producer Sam Lovullo (Hee Haw), who died earlier this year.
"It couldn't have been scripted any better," Lovullo said. "The walk that we've been walking, the concepts that we've laid on these guys, they went out there an earned every part of that victory."
The Diamondbacks lost 93 games last season.
San Francisco took a 5-4 lead when Joe Panik led off the ninth with a triple and scored on pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie's sacrifice fly.
Bumgarner's line-drive homer off Zack Greinke put the Giants ahead 2-0 in the fifth. The pitcher's second solo shot, off lefty Andrew Chafin, broke a 3-all tie in the seventh.
"That is obviously pretty special, having the chance to do that and for that to happen," Bumgarner said, "but my job is out there on the mound. That is where my concern is at."
Bumgarner has 17 career home runs, three last season.
Mathis broke up Bumgarner's perfect-game bid with a one-out triple into the left-field corner in the sixth. Mathis scored on Nick Ahmed's pinch-hit single, and Pollock -- who missed virtually all of last season with a broken elbow -- followed with a two-run homer just over the left-field fence that tied it at 3.
Greinke was limited to five innings due to a high pitch count. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out four and throwing 92 pitches.
PERFECT START
No pitcher has thrown a perfect game on opening day. Only one has tossed a no-hitter, Hall of Famer Bob Feller for Cleveland in 1940.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: Utilityman Trevor Brown (sprained right ankle) and OF Mac Williamson (strained left quad) opened the season on the 10-day disabled list. Both moves were retroactive to May 30.
Diamondbacks: RHP Jake Barrett, who could be the setup man in the bullpen, opened on the 10-day DL due to right shoulder inflammation. Lovullo said Barrett was making good progress and would throw a bullpen Sunday. LHP Steve Hathaway (left shoulder inflammation) also opened on the 10-day DL.
UP NEXT
Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto starts Tuesday after an outstanding first season with the Giants, when he went 18-5 with a 2.79 ERA.
Diamondbacks: After an off day Monday, the series resumes with LHP Patrick Corbin (5-13, 5.15) starting for Arizona. He finished last season in the bullpen.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| San Francisco - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Span popped out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Belt walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Pence singled to center, Belt to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Posey struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Crawford fouled out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Pollock popped out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Owings struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Goldschmidt grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Núñez reached on infield single to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Núñez stole second. | 0 | 0 |
| Parker grounded out to first, Núñez to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Panik hit sacrifice fly to center, Núñez scored. | 1 | 0 |
| Bumgarner walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Span grounded out to first. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Lamb struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Tomás struck out looking. | 1 | 0 |
| Drury struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Belt struck out looking. | 1 | 0 |
| Pence struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Posey grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Peralta grounded out to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Mathis flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Greinke lined out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Crawford flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Núñez doubled to deep left. | 1 | 0 |
| Parker struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Panik grounded out to catcher. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Pollock flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Owings struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Goldschmidt flied out to left. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Zack Greinke pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Bumgarner homered to left center (410 feet). | 2 | 0 |
| Span flied out to left. | 2 | 0 |
| Belt flied out to center. | 2 | 0 |
| Pence fouled out to catcher. | 2 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Lamb struck out swinging. | 2 | 0 |
| Tomás struck out swinging. | 2 | 0 |
| Drury grounded out to third. | 2 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Tom Wilhelmsen pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Wilhelmsen relieved Greinke. | 2 | 0 |
| Posey flied out to right. | 2 | 0 |
| Crawford doubled to deep right center. | 2 | 0 |
| Núñez singled to center, Crawford scored. | 3 | 0 |
| De La Rosa relieved Wilhelmsen. | 3 | 0 |
| Hernández hit for Parker. | 3 | 0 |
| Núñez stole second. | 3 | 0 |
| Núñez out at third on runner's fielder's choice. | 3 | 0 |
| Hernández struck out looking. | 3 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Hernández in left field. | 3 | 0 |
| Peralta struck out swinging. | 3 | 0 |
| Mathis tripled to left. | 3 | 0 |
| Ahmed hit for De La Rosa. | 3 | 0 |
| Ahmed singled to right, Mathis scored. | 3 | 1 |
| Pollock homered to center (394 feet), Ahmed scored. | 3 | 3 |
| Owings struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| Goldschmidt reached on infield single to pitcher. | 3 | 3 |
| Lamb struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| 3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Chafin pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Chafin relieved De La Rosa. | 3 | 3 |
| Panik grounded out to shortstop. | 3 | 3 |
| Bumgarner homered to left center (404 feet). | 4 | 3 |
| Span reached on infield single to second. | 4 | 3 |
| Span caught stealing second, pitcher to first. | 4 | 3 |
| Belt grounded out to second. | 4 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Madison Bumgarner pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Tomás struck out looking. | 4 | 3 |
| Drury reached on infield single to third. | 4 | 3 |
| Peralta flied out to left. | 4 | 3 |
| Mathis singled to right, Drury to second. | 4 | 3 |
| Iannetta hit for Chafin. | 4 | 3 |
| Iannetta grounded out to first. | 4 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| J.J. Hoover pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Hoover relieved Chafin. | 4 | 3 |
| Pence struck out swinging. | 4 | 3 |
| Posey walked. | 4 | 3 |
| Crawford singled to right, Posey to second. | 4 | 3 |
| Núñez lined out to right. | 4 | 3 |
| Hernández struck out swinging. | 4 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Derek Law pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Law relieved Bumgarner. | 4 | 3 |
| Pollock singled to deep right center. | 4 | 3 |
| Owings singled to right, Pollock to second. | 4 | 3 |
| Goldschmidt singled to left, Pollock scored, Owings to second. | 4 | 4 |
| Blach relieved Law. | 4 | 4 |
| Lamb grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Goldschmidt out at second, Owings to third. | 4 | 4 |
| Strickland relieved Blach. | 4 | 4 |
| Tomás grounded out to pitcher. | 4 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| San Francisco - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Fernando Rodney pitching for Arizona | SF | ARI |
| Rodney relieved Hoover. | 4 | 4 |
| Panik tripled to deep center. | 4 | 4 |
| Gillaspie hit for Strickland. | 4 | 4 |
| Gillaspie hit sacrifice fly to center, Panik scored. | 5 | 4 |
| Span reached on infield single to second. | 5 | 4 |
| Span to second on wild pitch by Rodney. | 5 | 4 |
| Belt walked. | 5 | 4 |
| Span to third, Belt to second on wild pitch by Rodney. | 5 | 4 |
| Pence walked. | 5 | 4 |
| Posey flied out to right. | 5 | 4 |
| Crawford grounded into fielder's choice to catcher, Span out at home, Belt to third, Pence to second. | 5 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Mark Melancon pitching for San Francisco | SF | ARI |
| Melancon relieved Strickland. | 5 | 4 |
| Drury struck out swinging. | 5 | 4 |
| Peralta grounded out to second. | 5 | 4 |
| Mathis doubled to left center. | 5 | 4 |
| Hazelbaker ran for Mathis. | 5 | 4 |
| Descalso hit for Rodney. | 5 | 4 |
| Descalso singled to right center, Hazelbaker scored. | 5 | 5 |
| Pollock singled to center, Descalso to third. | 5 | 5 |
| Pollock to second on fielder's indifference. | 5 | 5 |
| Owings singled to right, Descalso scored, Pollock to third. | 5 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
San Francisco Giants
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Span CF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | .400 | .400 | .400 |
| Belt 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 27 | .000 | .400 | .000 |
| Pence RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 24 | .250 | .400 | .250 |
| Posey C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | .000 | .200 | .000 |
| Crawford SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | .400 | .400 | .600 |
| Núñez 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .750 | .750 | 1.000 |
| Parker LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
a-Hernández PH-LF
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Panik 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .333 | .250 | 1.000 |
| Bumgarner P | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 4.000 |
Law P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Blach P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
b-Gillaspie PH
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Melancon P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Totals | 34 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 168 | |||
| a-struck out looking for J Parker in the 6th b-hit sacrifice fly to center for H Strickland in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Núñez (1, Greinke); Crawford (1, Wilhelmsen) 3B: Panik (1, Rodney) HR: Bumgarner 2 (2, 5th inning off Greinke 0 on, 0 Out; 7th inning off Chafin 0 on, 1 Out) RBI: Panik (1), Bumgarner 2 (2), Núñez (1), Gillaspie (1) SF: Panik, Gillaspie Giants RISP: 1-10 (Núñez 1-2, Panik 0-1, Posey 0-2, Parker 0-2, Hernández 0-1, Crawford 0-2) Team LOB: 9 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING SB: Núñez 2 (2, 2nd base off De La Rosa/Mathis, 2nd base off Greinke/Mathis) CS: Span (1, 2nd base by Chafin) Picked Off: Span (1st base by Chafin) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING DP: 1 (Panik-Crawford-Belt). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ |
| Attendance | 49,016 (101% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:23 |
| Weather | 75 degrees, sunny |
| Wind | 7 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Greg Gibson, First Base - Tim Timmons, Second Base - Jim Wolf, Third Base - D.J. Reyburn |
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