Sedona Red Recap: Diamondbacks fall flat in lopsided loss to Reds

PHOENIX, Ariz — After the way things played out in Los Angeles during the week, the Arizona Diamondbacks were looking to bounce back in a big way during their final series before the All-Star break. And that’s exactly what they did in the opener against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, erupting for a half dozen runs in a 6-3 victory.

That wasn’t exactly the case on Saturday though. Far from it, in fact.

The Reds scored three times before the D-backs even had a chance to bat. And they ultimately pulled away for a 7-0 win in front of 29,806 fans at Chase Field. When the dust settled, Cincinnati had piled up three home runs. Arizona had three total hits.

Taijuan Walker (6-4) was saddled with the loss – his first since May 13. After allowing the first three batters of the game to cross home plate, he settled down a little, but still never really settled into a groove.

Meanwhile, the Diamondback bats were silenced by rookie Luis Castillo (1-1), who earned his first Major League win in just his fourth career start. Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb and Ketel Marte were the only Arizona players that even picked up hits.

Despite the loss, however, the D-backs’ 53-35 record is still the best in franchise history through 88 contests. They have one more game before the break.

THE BAD

-Walker’s first inning was pretty much the exact opposite of what the D-backs were looking for. The first three batters of the game all came around to score when he walked Billy Hamilton, allowed a triple to Zack Cozart, then served up a two-run home run to Joey Votto. He also hit Scooter Gennett with a pitch two batters later, but escaped any further damage in the opening frame.

-Arizona missed a chance to cut into the Reds’ lead in the second, when Chris Owings reached on an error and Brandon Drury walked. But with runners on first and second and just one out, Marte struck out and Rey Fuentes popped out to second.

-Billy Hamilton caused all sorts of problems for the D-backs in this one, picking up a pair of hits, scoring a run, driving in a run and stealing three bases.

-Arizona’s second hit of the game didn’t come until the seventh inning, when Lamb was able to beat out an infield single.

-For the second time in the last week, the D-backs were held to four hits or less in a game.

-They’ve now dropped seven of their last 10.

THE GOOD

-Goldschmidt has now reached base safely in 44 of the 46 games he’s played at Chase this season.

-Jake Barrett and Randall Delgado combined to toss three shutout innings.

-There wasn’t much else. This one was pretty forgettable for Arizona. In fact, the best part might simply be that we haven’t seen many games like this from the Diamondbacks in 2017.

STAT OF THE GAME

6.5: The number of games Arizona now sits behind the Dodgers for first in the NL West. Torey Lovullo’s group still holds a three-game advantage over the Rockies for the top wild card spot, though.

HE SAID IT

“It’s tough. I feel like, some situations like that, you just kind of have to shake it off, you know? Nobody’s perfect. So they’re going to miss calls, and they’re going to give you some calls. I mean, I got a couple of calls tonight that were probably balls. It’s one of those things where you’ve just got to shake it off right away and don’t let it bother you.”

–Taijuan Walker, who appeared upset after not getting a called strike early in Saturday night’s game.

NOTED

-The D-backs’ Alumni Game took place on Saturday afternoon, with Matt Williams and the Red Team picking up a 3-0 win over Luis Gonzalez and the Purple Team.

UP NEXT

These two clubs will wrap up this three-game series at Chase Field on Sunday in what will be the final game before the All-Star break. First pitch is set for 1:10, with pregame coverage beginning at 12:30 on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station.

Patrick Corbin (6-8, 4.81) will take the mound for Arizona, making his seventh career appearance against Cincinnati. In his previous six meetings with the Reds, he’s 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA.

Overall, Corbin has gone 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA and 32 strikeouts over his last five starts. In his most recent outing, the 27-year old lefty allowed three runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings against the Dodgers on July 4.

Cincinnati will counter with Homer Bailey (12.66, 1-2), who will be making just his fourth start of the 2017 campaign. His season debut came on June 24, when he was touched up for eight runs in just 1.2 innings of work, setting the stage for an 18-3 blowout loss to the Nationals.

In four career starts against the D-backs, Bailey is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA.

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