Corbin cruises as D-backs wallop the Giants for the sweep

PHOENIX — On the final day of Players Weekend and this series between these two squads, the Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick “Corby” Corbin and San Francisco Giants starter Chris “Stratt” Stratton shortened up their last names and had themselves a pitcher’s duel.

In the end, Corbin threw another gem and the D-backs offense knocked around the Giants’ bullpen to get the win in a rout by a score of 11-0 and sweep the series.

Corbin has been on point as of late, winning his last four starts including this one while posting a 0.29 ERA. He worked efficiently and kept his pitch count low, which allowed him to make it deep into the game. He gave the bullpen a much-needed rest and showed that he has returned to form after having a slow start to the season.

Corbin lasted seven innings, allowing four hits and no earned runs. He struck out eight and only walked one. He threw 66 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

This is Corbin’s first four-game winning streak since July-September 2015.

Meanwhile, Stratton had a great outing for the Giants in a loss. He lasted six innings, allowing two earned runs by way of four hits and struck out ten. He gave up five walks, which ended up hurting him in the end, and a sacrifice bunt. He drops to 2-3 on the season.

The D-backs offense was a sleeping giant that was about to be woken up. They managed to produce a run in the third inning without a hit after a Chris “Hermm the Worm” Herrmann walk and a sac bunt by Corbin led to a runner scoring when Stratton threw a wild pitch in a strikeout to Rey “Coqui” Fuentes.

Arizona’s second run came off the bat of current RBI king J.D. “Flaco” Martinez, who can’t seem to touch the baseball lately without producing a run. It was Martinez’s 27th home run of the season. He is one of only 16 active players to homer against all 30 MLB clubs.

Then the D-backs absolutely blew the Giants out of the water in the eighth on a pair of singles by Adam “Rosie” Rosales and Herrmann, a throwing error by Giants’ catcher Nick Hundley, and a sac fly by Brandon “B Dru” Drury. And that was just the beginning.

Goldschmidt, Martinez, and Daniel “Scals” Desclaso proceeded to hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for good measure in the eighth, scoring nine total runs in the inning and putting the game completely out of reach for the Giants. Arizona sweeps the series and looks onward to the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to Chase Field next.

THE GOOD

– Eleven runs produced on 11 hits. That’s really good for a D-backs offense that hasn’t produced double-digit runs since their Aug. 3 win against the Cubs.
– With his home runs in the sixth and eighth innings, Martinez has produced at least one RBI with each of his last seven hits. Twenty of his 27 hits as a Diamondback have produced at least a single run.
– Day Man, fighter of the Night Man: This was Corbin’s seventh quality start in day games this season. He is 4-2 with a 1.91 ERA and 51 strikeouts.
– Descalso was 3-for-4 with two singles and a home run. He is now hitting .351 in day games this season with nine walks.

THE BAD

– The D-backs struck out a collective total of 10 times, which included Jake Lamb and Adam Rosales striking out three times each.
– David Peralta was tossed in the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa.
– Everything that happened to the Giants in the eighth. It was all bad.

STAT OF THE GAME

1.46: D-backs starters are 5-1 in the last seven games with a sizzling 1.46 ERA in 43.1 innings pitched.

HE SAID IT

“Strike one is something that I did really well a couple of years ago and just got ahead of guys, kept them off balance, and when I’m able to do that I can throw all of my pitches. It’s just something I’ve tried to do and just seems right now that it’s going well, locating my fastball.” Patrick Corbin on his recent success in his last four starts

NOTED

– D-backs hitters Goldschmidt, Martinez, and Descalso had back-to-back-back home runs in the eighth. It was the sixth time in franchise history they’ve homered three times in a game and it was the second time this season. Goldy and Flaco have hit back-to-back home runs four times this season.
– With his two hits in this one, Goldschmidt is now nine hits away from 1,000.

UP NEXT

After a much-needed day off on Monday, the D-backs will be back at it Tuesday against the top team in MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Zack Godley will get the start for Arizona against Rich Hill for the Dodgers.

Godley has a 2.78 ERA in his last six starts with 40 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .242. In three career starts against L.A., Godley is 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 22 strikeouts.

On the flip side, Rich Hill is 1-3 in his seven career starts against the D-backs. He has a 4.12 ERA and struck out 36 in 39.1 innings of work.

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

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