After wild opener, Giants resume series with D-backs

PHOENIX -- The day off Monday for the final game of the NCAA Tournament played across town might have been a good thing for both the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Each needed time to recover from the Diamondbacks' 6-5 comeback victory Sunday.

The Giants, who spent $65.2 million on closer Mark Melancon last winter to fix the bullpen, opened the season with the same malady that caused their 2016 exit -- the blown save. Arizona scored two runs after the first two hitters were retired in the last of the ninth inning for the first walk-off victory in a season opener in their 20-year franchise history.

The Giants had 30 failed save opportunities in the regular-season last year. They were eliminated from the National League Division Series by the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs when they gave up five runs in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss in Game 4. With a victory, San Francisco would have forced a winner-take-all Game 5 with Johnny Cueto on the mound at Wrigley Field.

Setup man Derek Law also failed to hold a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning Sunday, the first of San Francisco's two blown saves.

"You never really want to start it off this way, especially after a heck of a performance by Madison," said Melancon, after Madison Bumgarner gave up three runs in seven innings and also became the first pitcher to hit two homers on Opening Day.

"That 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. It is never fun to process these games, but it is part of the job. You have to have a short-term memory, and I am sure I will go over it 100 times and keep the good and get rid of the bad."

Cueto, who was 18-5 with a 2.75 ERA in his first year with the Giants in 2016, will oppose D-backs left-hander Patrick Corbin in the second game of the four-game series Tuesday. Cueto is 9-3 with a 3.17 ERA in 13 career starts against Arizona.

Corbin is back as a starter after going 5-13 with a 5.15 ERA last season. He opened in the rotation before being moved to the bullpen in August. Corbin is 4-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 career appearances against the Giants.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo pushed all the right buttons in the ninth inning to secure the victory in his managerial debut.

He liked the Jeff Mathis-Melancon matchup, and Mathis started the game-winning rally with a double, the catcher's third hit of the time. Pinch hitter Daniel Descalso, who singled home Mathis with the tying run, entered the game 5-for-15 against Melancon.

Lovullo, who lost his father in the offseason, managed with 75 family members and friends in the Chase Field stands. He was given a beer shower in the clubhouse afterward, although he admitted he did not see the winning run score.

"I was not actually watching him cross home plate," Lovullo said. "I was embracing the coaching staff. I don't know exactly what happened. The coaching staff had worked really hard behind the scenes and sacrificed a lot to go out and teach these guys. It was a moment I had with them and thanked them. I want things to go right, so right, for one reason, because of all the work these guys (coaches and players) have put in."