ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Sedona Red Recap: Godley impressive again as D-backs edge Brewers

Jun 10, 2017, 11:14 PM

The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate after a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday,...

The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate after a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, June 10, 2017, in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks won 3-2. (AP Photo/Matt York)

(AP Photo/Matt York)

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Strong starting pitching is vital to any baseball team’s success. And that’s certainly been the case for the Arizona Diamondbacks through the first 64 games of 2017.

Two guys who have played key roles in that success are Randall Delgado and Zack Godley. When Taijuan Walker and Shelby Miller went down with injuries earlier this year, the D-backs essentially found themselves missing 40 percent of the rotation they expected to have when they broke out of spring training. But Delgado and Godley both stepped up, giving the team solid innings and a chance to win most nights.

Now that Walker is nearing return, Torey Lovullo and his staff have some tough decisions to make. And Godley, in particular, isn’t making those choices any easier.

Making his seventh start of the year on Saturday, the 27-year old righty held the Milwaukee Brewers to just two hits over 6.2 innings as Arizona picked up a 3-2 win in front of 40,195 at Chase Field.

One of the two hits was a two-run shot off the bat of Hernan Perez in the fourth inning, so the Diamondbacks did actually trail in this one. But they managed to come from behind and win for the 22nd time this season, courtesy of some heads-up baserunning by Rey Fuentes and Brandon Drury’s sixth home run of the season.

For Godley, it was his sixth consecutive quality start. He’s done everything Arizona could possibly ask of him up to this point, posting a 2.44 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over 44.1 innings. But he’s the guy with options left, so there’s still a decent chance he finds himself as the odd man out here shortly.

He’s not letting it impact his performance though, choosing to focus solely on what he can control at this point. And, in doing so, he’s not only proving himself to the new regime that took over before the season – he’s also helping keep the D-backs right near the top of the NL West.

THE GOOD

–Fuentes scored Arizona’s first run after being initially called out at home in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lovullo challenged the ruling though, and it was overturned. That trimmed the Milwaukee lead to 2-1.

–Drury’s homerun concluded an extremely impressive at-bat for the 24-year old. With a runner at first and two out in the bottom of the sixth, he quickly fell behind in the count, 0-2. He battled back to work the count full though, before fouling off a pitch and finally driving one over the left field wall to put the D-backs up 3-2.

–The bullpen chipped in with another 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. In fact, Andrew Chafin, Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney didn’t even allow a hit.

–Chris Iannetta caught Domingo Santana trying to steal second base for the second out in the ninth inning.

THE BAD

–Paul Goldschmidt was picked off of second base with Jake Lamb at the plate to end Arizona’s half of the first inning.

–The D-backs seemed to have something going in the third, with runners on first and second, just one out and Goldschmidt up to bat. But Junior Guerra got him to ground into a double play to end the rally.

–Godley didn’t make a lot of mistakes, but he paid for one in the fourth. With two outs and two strikes, a pitch got away from him that hit Jesus Aguilar. The very next batter was Perez, who gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead by homering to left.

STAT OF THE GAME

2: total number of hits allowed by Arizona pitchers in this one. To put that in perspective, the Brewers have one of the highest-scoring lineups in all of baseball this season.

HE SAID IT

“I think this team can impact the game — any time, any batter, at any moment — and they know it. We feel like we’re never out of any ballgame until the final out.” – Torey Lovullo

NOTED

–The roof was open again. That’s consecutive nights in the month of June, and it’s been a comfortable temperature both nights. Go figure.

UP NEXT

These two clubs will meet again at Chase Field on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1:10, with pregame coverage beginning at 12:30 on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station.

Robbie Ray (6-3, 2.85) will take the mound for the Diamondbacks, and he’s been red-hot. In his last outing, he allowed just one earned run while striking out 11 over 6.2 innings in a 10-2 win over the Padres. And here’s the crazy part: That was actually his worst performance over his last four starts.

Prior to that, Ray had gone three straight games without allowing any runs at all. Included in that stretch was a gem against these Brewers, in which he tossed 7.0 scoreless frames while fanning nine on May 25.

In all, Ray is 4-0 with a 0.30 ERA, 36 strikeouts and just five walks since May 14.

The Brewers will counter with a pretty good weapon of their own on Sunday, though. Former Arizona pitcher Chase Anderson (5-1, 2.94) will get the nod, looking for his fourth straight victory. And he hasn’t allowed a single run in any of his last three appearances, fanning 22 while walking just five over 21.2 innings. Included in that stretch is a 6-1 win over the D-backs on May 27, in which he allowed just one hit while getting 11 batters out on strikes.

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Sedona Red Recap: Godley impressive again as D-backs edge Brewers