Considering there was a moment Sunday when Logan Webb wondered if he was going to get out of the first inning, things went pretty well for the Giants’ ace right-hander against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Except, of course, for the bottom line. And that’s becoming a problem where Webb is concerned.

The Giants continued to flail to no avail at the plate with Webb on the mound, and the result was a 2-1 loss to the Diamondbacks on Lourdes Gurriel’s run-scoring double in the ninth inning against Tyler Rogers.

The blow by Gurriel rolled to the fence down the left field line, with the Giants’ positioned in such a way defensively that it gave left fielder Blake Sabol no chance to cut the run off at the plate. Christian Walker, who walked to lead off the inning, built up a head of steam and scored easily with the winning run.

Miguel Castro (2-1) got the win in relief, with Rogers falling to 0-3 with the loss.

The Giants fell to 17-23, winning the first game of a four-game series and then losing the next three.  Arizona, currently running second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the N.L. West, improved to 23-18.

The Giants returned home and will host Philadelphia beginning Monday night and then Miami on Friday.

“You come in, win the first one, and these guys are in second place right now,” Webb told reporters. “You should try and step on their throats . . . it’s close, it’s not like we’re getting our asses kicked every night.”

Webb got a no-decision after failing to capitalize on his one-run allotment, courtesy of Michael Conforto’s solo home run against starter Brandon Pfaadt in the fourth inning. Arizona got its lone run against Webb on an RBI double into the right field corner from Josh Rojas that scored Geraldo Perdomo from first base in the fifth.

And although Arizona didn’t get its first hit until that inning, you’d have never known it from listening to Webb in the aftermath.

In the first inning, Webb hit Ketel Marte with a pitch with one out and then walked both Corbin Carroll and Christian Walker to load the bases. He got Gurriel to ground to Casey Schmitt at third, who turned the inning-ending double play.

“I couldn’t throw a strike to save my life in that first inning,” Webb said. “I looked at the umpire like, `I can’t throw a strike right now.’ I was kind of pulling off everything and I didn’t have the best command.”

So what happened afterward? Webb found his long lost slider. He said he’d been experimenting with grips, including one used by teammate Jakob Junis. He was even going back and forth between grips in games.

“I’ve thrown it for like three days and it felt good,” Webb said. “It felt good warming up and so I threw it in the game and that was the first time I’ve been able to spin the ball in two years, which is crazy but I’ve been searching for it. There’s no way to explain it really, but I do like this one.”

What is even harder to explain is why the Giants’ bats go into hibernation with their best pitcher on the mound. Webb is becoming the newer version of Matt Cain, with the Giants scoring one run or fewer in nine of his last 17 starts dating back to last season.

Webb threw 98 pitches, 59 for strikes, having given up just three hits. He walked three, struck out three and recorded 10 outs on ground balls.

“Logan has pitched great almost every time out, sometimes not with the best results,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters. “Today he deserved to win. We just weren’t able to scratch enough runs across to get him that win.”

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Pfaadt, a rookie pitching for the first time against the Giants, breezed through the first three innings with four strikeouts, four groundouts and a pop up. He left after five, giving up Conforto’s home run. From there, Jose Ruiz, Scott McGough and finally Castro held the Giants scoreless.

In all, Giants hitters struck out 12 times and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Two of those at-bats belonged to Conforto. In the sixth with Thairo Estrada on second after a double, Conforto hit comebacker to Ruiz, followed by J.D. Davis striking out and Sabol flying to center.

In the eighth, with Estrada at second and two out, Conforto grounded to second.

“This is one of those moments when you give credit to the Diamondbacks staff,” Kapler said. “They did a nice job executing their pitches. Their relievers did a nice job keeping us at bay. We’ve got to control what we can control, which is getting ready for the Phillies.”

NOTABLE

— David Villar, who opened the season as the starting third baseman, was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento with Crawford coming off the injured list. Villar was hitting just .148 (13-for-88) with four home runs and 11 RBIs.

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With Schmitt opening eyes since his call-up and the ability to play third, short and second to go along with Crawford at short or Estrada at second or short, the chances for Villar to work out his troubles were at a minimum.

“There are not a lot of options for him,” Kapler told reporters. “David is a guy who needs to play.”

— Relief pitcher Luke Jackson, recovering from Tommy John surgery, is starting a rehab assignment with the Single-A San Jose Giants. When Jackson last pitched for Atlanta in 2021, he had a 1.98 earned run average in 71 games, giving up just 45 hits in 63 2/3 innings with 70 strikeouts.

— A Schmitt throw to first base was clocked at 92.9 miles per hour, the fastest in the majors this season and the fastest by a Giants infielder in the Statcast era.