Torey Lovullo pleased with Diamondbacks after series win

Win or lose Thursday night in the finale of their season-opening, four-game series against the visiting San Francisco Giants, the Diamondbacks at least entered the game knowing they could feel good about themselves.

A victory would give them a 3-1 series win, which would be something huge to brag about. But even a loss would guarantee them of nothing worse than a 2-2 series split, which considering how good the Giants have been, would be plenty good enough for just about any team in the Diamondbacks’ shoes.

Or would it?

First-year manager Torey Lovullo ratcheted up expectations before Thursday night’s game at Chase Field when he said “good” should no longer be considered “good enough” anymore.

“Probably more in the back of our minds everybody’s thinking about that, that the San Francisco Giants have come to town and we won two out of the first three,” Lovullo said. “But we have a little bit of work to do today, and I don’t want them to be satisfied with just splitting the series. That’s a mentality we need to develop here as we head into the next level.”

The Diamondbacks didn’t disappoint, rallying from two deficits to eventually cruise to a 9-3 victory in front of 15,308 for their third comeback win in the series. That’s two more wins than the Diamondbacks could register all season against the Giants last year at home. San Francisco took nine of 10 from Arizona at Chase Field in 2016.

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 9, Giants 3

This one could have gone either way, as both starting pitchers – Jeff Samardzija for the Giants and left-hander Robbie Ray for the Diamondbacks – were dialed in early and hitting their spots in the strike zone. Samardzija struck out five of the first six batters he faced. Ray retired the first seven he saw until former Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill tagged him for a solo blast to left on a 3-2 pitch.

David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt hit back-to-back homers off Samardzija in the fourth that tied the score at 2. After a Buster Posey RBI double briefly gave the Giants a 3-2 lead, Jake Lamb ripped a three-run shot off Samardzija into the swimming pool area in the sixth for what would prove to be the game-winner.

The Diamondbacks, though, weren’t done.

Jeremy Hazelbacker came off the bench and, for the second straight night, delivered a pinch-hit RBI single as Arizona padded its lead in the sixth. A.J. Pollock added a two-run single in the eighth. Peralta, who began the day 0 for 9 with three strikeouts, drove in Pollock with a ground-rule double.

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The Diamondbacks also got a pair of singles from Chris Herrmann, who got the start in left field, and two hits overall from Goldschmidt, who moved ahead of Steve Finley and into second place on the club’s all-time hit list with 849. Luis Gonzalez is first with 1,337.

Asked for his impressions afterward, Lovullo sounded pleased.

“We feel very good about it, but it’s not a time for us to rest on it for too long,” he said. “We know we have another quality team coming in here tomorrow (the defending American League champion Cleveland Indians), and that’s the beauty of our schedule is that we know some real good teams are in here to test us, and we want to be ready for that moment.

“What I’m most proud of with these guys is we didn’t look past today. We stayed together with our at-bats, our pitches picked up one another coming out of the bullpen, and it was a really good, strong team effort, and that’s what I focus on. At the end of the day, when we win a game like we did today and then win a series against a quality opponent like the Giants, it’s well deserved. These guys earned everything that they did over these past four games, and it’s a great way for us to start the season.”

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Before the game, Lovullo said he wants his players to stay in the moment but with their eyes toward the future.

“My main objective is that our guys fight, unite, compete together and be ready for tomorrow,” he said. “And that’s what I want them to do every single day – just figure out where they are tomorrow after tonight’s game. When the Giants leave town today, I want them to know that they played a very good team and that they had to earn everything.

“Whether we win or lose tonight, I think there’s a lot of different ways we’re going to look at this series and I’m feeling very positive about how these guys are doing right now. But we have a long way to go and a lot more to prove before we can say we’re satisfied.”

Friday’s game

Indians at Diamondbacks

When: 6:40 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (3-12, 6.15)* vs. Indians RHP Josh Tomlin (13-9, 4.40)*

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

*Stats from 2016

Miller made 20 starts last year in his debut season with the Diamondbacks, which included a demotion to the minor leagues. He posted a 3.98 ERA in six starts after being recalled from Triple-A Reno on Aug. 31. He has yet to win a home game at Chase Field, going 0-8 with a 7.39 ERA. His opponents’ batting average with runners in scoring position was .337 overall. Miller has never faced Cleveland. … In seven major-league seasons, all with the Indians, Tomlin is 49-39 with a 4.40 career ERA. Between the regular season and the postseason, he logged a career-high 191.2 innings in 2016. He went 9-2 with a 3.51 ERA from the start of the season to the All-Star break. His 13 wins last season were a career high.

Coming up

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (0-0, 3.60) vs. Indians RHP Trevor Bauer (12-9, 4.26)*

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (0-1, 4.50) vs. Indians RHP Corey Kluber (0-0, 7.50).

Monday: At San Francisco, 1:35 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (1-0, 6.00) vs. Giants LHP Matt Moore (0-1, 5.06).