The Giants won their 19th one-run game of the season, defeating the Diamondbacks 6-5 Tuesday night. San Francisco jumped out to a 5-0 lead half-way through the game, but Arizona fought back, scoring four unanswered runs. Both team scored singlets in the seventh, as the Giants held on for the win and to stay in first place in the NL West.
San Francisco is now 19-9 in one-run games, the most wins and best record in the majors. Arizona ranks fourth at 14-9. Interestingly, the Giants cross bay rivals, the Athletics, hold the worst record in one-run games in the majors, 8-15. Both boast good pitching staffs, which helps keep opponents scores low, and weak offenses which keep low-scoring games close. Based on their run differential, the Giants should be at .500 and the A’s a couple of games over. Their record in one run games sent San Francisco to the top and Oakland to the bottom of their divisions. Oakland fell to Kansas City 7-4 Tuesday night.
Funny thing: you could say the Giants are both lucky and unlucky. Their run diff should put them at .500, as you note. But their OPS diff of +27 points means that maybe their run diff should be a little better! It is the best OPS diff in the division.
Anyway, the NL West is weak with no really good team. So the Giants should hang around in contention.