PHOENIX -- The Giants got an important piece of their starting rotation back after activating left-hander Alex Wood off the 15-day injured list on Friday, but the 32-year-old veteran had to wait until after the seventh-inning stretch to finally take the mound. 

With Wood not fully built up after missing 21 games with a left hamstring strain, the Giants opted to go for an unconventional pitching strategy that ultimately backfired in a 7-5 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field.

John Brebbia worked a scoreless first inning in his second appearance as the club’s opener this year, but the Giants didn’t immediately bring in Wood behind him. The D-backs stacked their lineup with right-handed hitters in anticipation of facing a lefty, so the Giants countered by bringing in two more righties -- Ross Stripling and Jakob Junis -- to cover the middle innings. 

The deke didn’t end up working out for the Giants. 

San Francisco jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind a pair of homers from Joc Pederson and Michael Conforto, but the D-backs tied the game on Dominic Fletcher’s three-run blast off Stripling in the second. Old friend Evan Longoria then added a solo shot off Stripling in the third, putting Arizona ahead, 4-3.

“Just kind of the same story, different day for me,” said Stripling, who joined the Giants on a two-year, $25 million deal over the offseason. “It’s very frustrating. I’m not throwing strikes like I’m used to. Not putting anyone away with two strikes. Every mistake I throw gets hammered. A lot of them are going over the fence. 

“On the bright side, plenty to come to work and work on. It’s now midway through May and just kind of the same thing for me. I just need to go back to the drawing board a little bit and get better. Hopefully start stringing together better outings.”

Stripling has been haunted by the long ball this season, as he’s surrendered 10 homers over 29 innings, the fifth-most in the Majors. The 33-year-old right-hander now has a 7.14 ERA through eight appearances in 2023, with the Giants going 1-7 in games in which he’s pitched. 

“The biggest challenge for Strip right now is the balls are in the middle of the plate,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “The command thing, he’s so reliant on his ability to put the ball where he wants to put it. The pitch to Longoria was just one that was a good demonstration of a ball that leaked back over the plate. Strip’s as tough as they come. He’s not going to let a challenging beginning of the season beat him. He’s really, really tenacious and he’s going to get through this.”

The Giants tied the game, 4-4, on J.D. Davis’ two-out RBI single in the fifth, but the D-backs regained the lead by scoring two runs off Junis in the sixth. Fletcher drove in his fourth run of the night with a go-ahead double to left-center field, and another run scored on a passed ball by rookie catcher Blake Sabol. 

After using three right-handed pitchers to get through the first six innings, the Giants finally turned to Wood in the seventh, marking his first relief appearance since 2020, when he was a member of the Dodgers.

Kapler explained afterward that Wood was only going to be available for one inning on Friday, as the Giants are planning to have him start Monday’s series opener against the Phillies at Oracle Park. Wood will pitch in place of fellow lefty Sean Manaea, whose role is being reevaluated after struggling to a 7.96 ERA through his first eight appearances of the year. 

Wood, who made only one rehab start before being reinstated off the IL, needed 31 pitches to get through his one inning of work, yielding one run on a pair of doubles by Josh Rojas and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. While he wasn’t at his sharpest, Wood said he had no issues with his hamstring and is looking forward to getting back to his normal starting routine next week. 

“I figured they were going to stack the righties because they thought I was going to throw,” Wood said. “I thought I was going to throw the fifth or sixth. Things changed a little bit. I ended up throwing that pocket there in the seventh inning. But I felt good. I’m glad to be back and ready to start.”