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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It had been a couple of weeks since Steven Souza Jr. approached Arizona manager Torey Lovullo in Cincinnati about batting leadoff http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-phil-hughes-jersey , so the right fielder began to question whether he would get his chance.“I was wondering,” he said.Then, with the offense in a deep funk, Souza arrived at the ballpark Wednesday and checked the lineup: leadoff.He made good on his word that he could handle the job, hitting a home run to start the third that ended the Diamondbacks‘ 25-inning scoreless drought. Souza added an RBI double the next inning and backed Zack Godley with a defensive gem in a 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.Lovullo was considering Souza in the same spot Thursday at Dodger Stadium.“I love it. I’ve done it for the majority of my life. The last couple of years I’ve been in the middle of the lineup,” Souza said. “Wherever Torey wants to put me, I’m going to do my best there. I have some familiarity with the leadoff spot and it was just fun to be there in front of some really good hitters.”Godley (14-7) struck out six over 7 2/3 innings of two-hit ball and increased his career best for wins as first-place Arizona moved a half-game ahead of idle Colorado in the NL West.Lovullo vowed to switch things up as needed to try to give his club a spark, going with Souza leading off in a move that proved spot on.Lovullo said he will “do something a little outside the box” as necessary down the stretch, with everybody understanding each game is now so crucial in the playoff chase.When Souza asked him about hitting leadoff, Lovullo made it clear: “I’ll make that decision,” he told the player. “I’ll handle this. I’ll take care of this.”It was a timely choice.Before Souza’s fourth home run of the year, the Diamondbacks hadn’t scored since the third inning of Sunday’s 5-2 win against the Mariners.Souza also made a magnificent, diving Jose Berrios Jersey , backhand catch on the warning track after running down pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco’s deep fly to the gap in right-center. Souza tipped his cap after the play.San Francisco had its four-game winning streak snapped, one victory shy of matching its longest of the season from May 30 to June 4. The Giants missed a chance to sweep the Diamondbacks in a series of three or more games for the first time since July 2016.Godley, who is 6-0 over his last eight road starts, hit three Giants batters with pitches through five innings. The last time a Diamondbacks pitcher had three hit batsmen was Ian Kennedy on Aug. 9, 2010, against the Brewers.Godley gave way to Archie Bradley after allowing a two-out single to Gorkys Hernandez and pinch-hitter Hunter Pence’s walk. Bradley allowed Andrew McCutchen’s RBI single but retired Joe Panik on a called third strike to end the inning.Brad Boxberger got the final two outs on strikeouts for his 30th save.Giants rookie Dereck Rodriguez (6-2) lost for the first time in 13 appearances — 12 starts — since June 9 at Washington. He walked a season-high four in five innings, allowing five hits with three strikeouts in his second start since coming off the disabled list from a strained right hamstring.“You can have two months of a good stretch and then have one bad outing,” Rodriguez said. “But I’m not going to let it affect me.”STOP SIGNArizona shortstop Nick Ahmed met with third base coach Tony Perezchica to discuss signals after a costly mistake a night earlier that Lovullo described as “maybe just a little gap in communication.”In a scoreless game, Ahmed was thrown out at home to end the eighth as he tried to come home from first on pinch-hitter David Peralta’s single to deep right-center.Ahmed saw Perezchica’s initial, aggressive wave but then ran through a stop sign while charging for home.“They’re both claiming some responsibility,” Lovullo said.From now on with Ahmed, Perezchica will both give a stop sign and a verbal command.TRAINER’S ROOMGiants: Rookie CF Steven Duggar was placed on the disabled list with a potential season-ending left shoulder injury a day after a hard, headfirst slide back into second base. After the game http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-erick-aybar-jersey , manager Bruce Bochy said Duggar dislocated the shoulder and has a labrum tear, with surgery recommended but no decision yet made. Duggar arrived at AT&T Park still very sore from the night before, when he wound up staying in the game and scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth for a 1-0 victory. … Blanco was called up from Triple-A Sacramento. … RHP Jeff Samardzija received a second opinion on his inflamed pitching shoulder from Dr. Tim McAdams at Stanford and it was advised the pitcher continue to rest the injury. There was no structural damage found but Samardzija’s availability for the remainder of the season is in doubt based on the time he would need to build back up in his throwing program after the rest period. “Looking at the timetable here where we’re at in the season, I think you have to be honest and say it’s doubtful,” Bochy said.UP NEXTLeft-hander Robbie Ray (3-2, 4.73 ERA) pitches for Arizona in its series opener at Dodger Stadium. Following an off day for the Giants, lefty Andrew Suarez (5-9, 4.42) takes the mound Friday at home to begin a weekend series with the New York Mets. SAN FRANCISCO — Two sub-.500 teams taking a different approach to September meet one more time with the season series on the line when the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants wrap up their three-game set Sunday afternoon.Veterans Wilmer Flores, Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier combined to produce an 11th-inning run for the Mets on Saturday, sending the Giants (68-69) back below .500 and into even more of a look-at-the-prospects mode for the final 25 games of the season.One of the Giants’ top young pitchers, right-hander Chris Stratton (9-7, 4.99 ERA), will duel Mets standout Noah Syndergaard (9-3 Anibal Sanchez Jersey , 3.51) in the series finale, with each team having won three times in the seven-game season series.Article continues below ...Stratton pitched against the Mets for the first time in his career on Aug. 21, limiting them to two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He did not get a decision in a 6-3 loss.Michael Conforto’s three-run homer off Giants reliever Tony Watson in a four-run eighth inning made the difference that night after Stratton left a 2-2 game in the seventh.Stratton, a veteran of only 31 major league starts, rebounded to shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks for eight innings in a 2-0 win Monday.Stratton might find himself pitching to a familiar batterymate, catcher Aramis Garcia, a teammate earlier this season at Triple-A Sacramento.Garcia homered in his major league debut in Friday’s 7-0 victory over the Mets.Austin Slater, Alen Hanson and Chris Shaw, three other potential foundation pieces in the Giants’ future, also have seen playing time in the New York series even though San Francisco technically remains alive in the National League West and NL wild-card races.The Mets, meanwhile, were long ago left in the dust in the NL East, yet battled the young Giants with mostly veterans Saturday Eduardo Escobar Jersey , including 34-year-old Jerry Blevins, the game’s winning pitcher.New York also summoned former standout third baseman David Wright from a minor league rehab in hopes that he can make his season debut will seek to become the Mets’ first 10-game winner this season.He pitched a 5-3 victory over the Giants on Aug. 22, allowing two runs and five hits in six innings, to run his career mark against San Francisco in four starts to 2-2 with a 3.51 ERA.Like Syndergaard, Stratton has a chance to become the first Giants pitcher this season to reach 10 wins in a year in which ace Madison Bumgarner missed more than two months with a broken finger and Johnny Cueto was shelved on more than one occasion with neck and elbow ailments.After the teams went scoreless into the seventh inning Friday night, it was no surprise Saturday’s matchup went into extra innings.The Giants lead the majors with 19 extra-inning games. Nine of their last 10 games have been decided by two or fewer runs.The Mets, meanwhile, have gone extras 16 times this season, winning seven times.Frazier’s one-out sacrifice fly that scored Flores with the game-winner in the 11th Saturday delivered only the Mets’ second run of the series. They’ve gone 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position in the 20 innings.