Sedona Red Recap: Corbin sturdy, D-backs get hot in win over Padres

PHOENIX — For the second straight day, the Arizona Diamondbacks won the rematch.

Following Zack Greinke’s six-inning gem, Patrick Corbin went seven solid innings to win the battle of left-handers. He and the D-backs beat Clayton Richard and the Padres, 9-3, in front of 17,531 at Chase Field on Tuesday.

Paul Goldschmidt went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. He fell a triple shy of the cycle.

Chris Owings added two hits and three RBI, while Daniel Descalso, A.J. Pollock and Yasmany Tomas each drove in a run. Descalso hit his first home run of the season.

The D-backs have won the first two games of the four-game series.

Five days earlier in San Diego, Richard bested Corbin, limiting the D-backs to one run in 6.2 innings. He wouldn’t get through the fourth inning in the rematch.

The D-backs tagged him for a run in the first, three in the second and two more in the fourth.

Richard (2-3) allowed a season-high six runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

Meanwhile, Corbin (2-3) was brilliant. The seven innings was a season-best as were the nine strikeouts.

After giving up a run in the third, Corbin retired 10 of 12 batters before Jabari Blash led off the seventh with a home run, the first of his big-league career and the last of the eight hits off Corbin, who snapped a two-game losing streak, recording his third straight quality start.

The D-backs, winners of four of their last five, improved to 10-2 at home, matching the best 12-game start in franchise history.

THE GOOD

A night after D-backs pitchers struck out 16 batters, Corbin picked up where they left off, striking out the side in the first inning. All three batters went down swinging. Manuel Margot and Cory Spangenberg chased sliders down in the zone, while Wil Myers failed to catch up to a 93-mph fastball. Those 16 strikeouts, by the way, were the D-backs’ most in a nine-inning game since Sept. 20, 2014, at Colorado.

Not that there will be a lot of days off in his future, but after sitting out Monday’s game, his first rest of the season, Goldschmidt greeted the first offering he saw from Richard, a 91-mph fastball, and launched it high and deep down the left field line. The ball stayed fair and landed in the second deck for a home run, Goldschmidt’s second of the series and fourth this season, to give the D-backs a 1-0 lead.

Back in the two-hole, Owings continued to deliver in the clutch. He laced a two-out, two-run triple into the right field corner to put the D-backs ahead 3-0 in the third inning. He also hit a one-out, one-run single up the middle to put the D-backs ahead 6-1 in the fourth inning. That’s seven RBI over his last five plate appearances. Last night batting third with Goldschmidt off, Owings hit his first career grand slam.

The second-longest homerless drought among D-backs position players ended in the fifth inning. Descalso’s leadoff shot was his first since Sept. 20, 2016, against St. Louis, 28 games ago. Descalso ripped a 3-2 fastball off reliever Craig Stammen to put the D-backs ahead 7-1. And for those asking, Jeremy Hazelbaker has gone the longest without a home run. He last went deep Sept. 12, 2016, against the Cubs.

THE BAD

After two quick outs to begin the third inning, Corbin had trouble recording out No. 3. Myers doubled and Solarte followed with a first-pitch single to left to score Myers with the Padres’ first run of the game. It was Solarte’s second hit in as many at-bats and fifth of the series. He went 3-for-5 in the opener. Solarte, who added a third base hit to leadoff the sixth inning, improved to .455 (10-for-22) when hitting with runners in scoring position.

Sure he can hit — he had two — but defensively, Tomas lacks. On Blash’s seventh-inning home run, Tomas went back to the wall and appeared to make a half-hearted attempt at the ball. He jumped, and perhaps it was mistimed, but the ball just did clear the fence, a few inches to the left of Tomas’ glove. By the way, that was Blash’s first home run since Aug. 12, 2016, at the Mets. It was also his first hit, period, this season.

Yasmany Tomas goes all out to rob Jabari Blash on his home run😂 #Dbacks #Padres #OurSeason #MLB pic.twitter.com/XFuGn4S9Oo

— 🚨 Ronnie Laybold 🐾 (@YotesHereToStay) April 26, 2017

Poor Chris Iannetta. He was the lone position player to not record a hit, though twice he came close. In the fifth inning, the catcher hit a line drive to the centerfielder. Two innings later in the seventh, he grounded a ball sharply up the third base line that Spangenberg stopped from going into the outfield. Spangenberg came up throwing and got Iannetta by a step, or two. Iannetta went 0-for-4 and is hitless in his last nine plate appearances.

STAT OF THE GAME

6: The number of D-backs hits with runners in scoring position (out of 12 opportunities) and the number of games above .500, which is a season high (14-8, tied for the second-best start in franchise history).

HE SAID IT

“We played a pretty complete game. We were all over the baseball, executing; just doing a really nice job using the entire field. It was a complete offensive night for me,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “And then Patrick, obviously, had a huge night. He set the tone and the offense paced us the rest of the way.”

NOTED

– The D-backs have homered in the first inning in five consecutive games for the first time in team history.

– Corbin threw a first-pitch strike to 22-of-31 batters faced; plus, he reached a three-ball count three times.

– Goldschmidt recorded his fourth consecutive multi-RBI game (with an at-bat), tying the franchise record.

– Pollock finished 2-for-4 and has now reached base safely in 11 consecutive games against the Padres.

– Neither David Peralta nor Jake Lamb were in the starting lineup. For Lamb, it was his turn with a day off.

– With a first-pitch temperature of 85 degrees, the game was played with the roof open but panels closed.

– A fan ran out onto the field after the final out of the fifth inning and it took five security personnel to corral him.

UP NEXT

Added to the rotation with the injury to Shelby Miller, right-hander Zack Godley will start game three of the four-game series on Wednesday. He’ll be opposed by one-time D-back Trevor Cahill.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Godley, 27, recently was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week after throwing seven shutout innings with no walks and seven strikeouts at Albuquerque on April 19. He carried a no-hitter through six innings. Overall in three games including one start with Triple-A Reno, Godley has a 2.55 ERA.

In parts of two seasons totaling 36 games with the D-backs, Godley is 10-5 with a 5.34 ERA.

Cahill (1-2) is coming off a season-high, seven-inning outing in which he limited the Marlins to one run on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts to record his first win.

Cahill, who went 24-34 with a 4.29 ERA in three seasons with the D-backs from 2012-14, is winless in six games, including one start, against his former team.

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