PHOENIX — The circumstances were too overwhelming to lead to any other result.
Of course, with Landen Roupp on the mound, against the Diamondbacks, the Giants were going to fall Tuesday night. There have been no other outcomes in games involving either this particular San Francisco starting pitcher or the opponent he faced since the first month of the season.
And, as predicted in the world’s most obvious crystal ball, exactly that transpired.
Roupp matched an ignominious franchise record by starting the 11th straight game the Giants have lost behind him, and the Giants reached a level of futility against one foe not seen in nearly 50 years.
In arguably the least effective start of his winless streak, Roupp walked six batters, served up a gargantuan three-run blast to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and was out of the game before the third inning was over in an 8-2 loss, the Giants’ eighth in a row against the Diamondbacks.
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It’s the worst start to a season against a single opponent since San Francisco also lost its first eight games of the 1977 season against the Cubs.
The positive? They finally prevailed in their ninth and final meeting of the season.
So there’s hope still.
But it wasn’t going to happen Tuesday, which quickly became apparent.
Just about nothing was working from the get-go for Roupp, who put the Giants in a 3-0 hole by the time he recorded the third out of the first inning. He walked the second batter of the game and put another runner on with four straight balls to Gabriel Moreno.
His troubles finding the strike zone persisted against the next batter, falling behind 2-0 to Gurriel. The next pitch Roupp put over the plate, Gurriel deposited into the left-field seats.
Roupp issued two more walks in the second, including to the leadoff man, and got out of the inning with the only damage to his pitch count. But he wasn’t so fortunate the next time around.
Once again, Roupp put the first batter of the inning on base with his fifth free pass, and after a pair of singles to load the bases, walked in Arizona’s third run of the game.
Roupp’s 84th and final pitch was a 2-2 cutter to Ketel Marte, who dropped it in front of Heliot Ramos to extend the margin to 6-0 and put an early end to Roupp’s night.
Of his 84 pitches, only 44 were strikes.
What it means
The blowout locked in the Giants’ third losing series to the Diamondbacks this season.
They’ve been outscored 52-23 in the eight losses. Put another way, the Diamondbacks are solely responsible for more than half of the Giants’ minus-57 run differential.
Adding injury to insult, Matt Chapman left with an abdominal strain that flared up when he made a barehanded play to retire Gabriel Moreno for the final out of the sixth.
With Willy Adames (back) unavailable, the Giants had no backup infielders, so outfielder Jonah Cox was forced to enter the game at second base, only his second time playing the infield since college, while Luis Arraez took over for Chapman at third.
Who’s hot
After getting the Giants on the board in the fifth with his fourth home run of the season, Arraez spent the second half of the game on cycle watch.
He came up once needing only a double but flew out to the warning track in the eighth.
Rafael Devers also slugged his 15th homer of the season, closing in on Casey Schmitt (16) for the team lead, but the seventh-inning solo shot only served to make up for Marte’s an inning earlier.
Marte, who led off Monday’s loss with a home run, has homered in his past four games.
Who’s not
Only one other starter in the San Francisco era has had a run of futility that matches Roupp’s.
The Giants lost the last 11 starts made by Mark Davis, a future Cy Young winner, in 1984. Over that stretch, the East Bay native went 0-8 with a 6.98 ERA.
Roupp has put up slightly better numbers, including back-to-back starts of six innings, two runs and just one walk entering this one. But it still hasn’t been pretty: This dud dropped him to 0-7 with a 5.87 ERA since the Giants’ last win in one of his starts, all the way back on April 26.
“The last outing was really good,” Vitello said. “The two prior, I wouldn’t even call them similar to this. Just a lack of inducing contact, pitch count climbing on him. Tonight was a different animal.”
Roupp’s last win was also the second-to-last start he made before the Giants traded Patrick Bailey. In seven starts with Bailey, opposing batters hit .186 with a .521 OPS. In nine starts with Eric Haase and Daniel Susac, Roupp has allowed a .280 batting average and an .806 OPS.
And if his first time throwing to Drew Cavanaugh was any indication, it’s not getting any better.
Roupp, however, placed the blame on his mechanics — not his catchers.
“The team not winning your last 11 starts is pretty bad,” he said. “So I’ve got to figure it out.”
Up next
The Giants will attempt to avoid being swept by the Diamondbacks for a third time in Wednesday’s series finale.
It pits Trevor McDonald (2-6, 4.94) against Zac Gallen, a longtime Giants nemesis in the middle of a tough season at 3-7 with a 6.15 ERA. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. PT.
