Giants blanked by Diamondbacks again, 6-0

SAN FRANCISCO The season is spinning out of control on the Giants, a team desperate for wins that can’t even score a run.

For the second straight game San Francisco bats were held scoreless by Arizona pitching in a 6-0 loss. It’s getting ever closer to the time to pack away those dreams of the postseason.

The Cubs won earlier in the day, meaning the Giants are 10 games out of the National League wild-card race. The Dodgers didn’t play until Saturday night, but entering a home game against the Pirates, Los Angeles owns a nine-game lead in the N.L. West.

With 14 games left, the numbers are bleak. And the eighth-inning strains of “Don’t Stop Believing” ring more than a little hollow.

This weekend matchup with the Diamondbacks is a particularly inopportune one for the Giants. Arizona pitchers have a bandbox in Phoenix that exposes their flaws. Coming to AT&T Park frees them to shine. The Diamondbacks came into Saturday with a 1.02 ERA in their last six games in San Francisco, and the Giants’ bats weren’t able to turn that around even a little against lefty Patrick Corbin.

Matched up against midseason pickup Mike Leake, Corbin dominated the Giants from the start, limiting them to five base runners in seven innings, all of the hits singles. Only twice, with two out in the second and two out in the fifth, did he throw a pitch with a runner in scoring position.

Couple with Friday’s 2-0 win, Arizona pitchers have thrown 30 consecutive scoreless innings in AT&T, including a shutout in the last game of a series June 14.

The Giants have been shut out 14 times this year, five times by the Diamondbacks. It’s no coincidence that all five against Arizona (and 11 of the 14 overall) have come in AT&T Park.

“It’s the same teams,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. “But when you watch us play in Phoenix, it’s a different game. Obviously (AT&T) is a better park to pitch in. But also there is a lot of electricity here. Guys are excited to play here.”

Leake, picked up at the trade deadline from the Reds with the hope that he’d give the Giants one more weapon in the rotation, started Saturday. And like most of his starts with San Francisco, it was unproductive. He came out of the game after three innings, allowing eight hits and three runs.

The Giants bullpen wasn’t any more effective, giving up nine other hits while Leake fell to 1-4 with his new team. He was 9-6 with Cincinnati at the time of the July 30 trade.

Two-out singles from Juan Perez and Brandon Crawford put runners at the corners in the second inning for San Francisco, but rookie catcher Trevor Brown grounded out. The Giants then got a two-out double from pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza in the fifth, but Angel Pagan grounded out.

With reliever David Hernandez in the game in the eighth, a single from pinch-hitter Jarrett Parker coupled with Kelby Tomlinson getting hit by a pitch to put a couple of men on with two out. But Matt Duffy flew out.

(c)2015 San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.