Diamondbacks end 7-game skid with win over Athletics

OAKLAND, Calif. — Patrick Corbin allowed four hits in seven innings and Nick Ahmed homered to help the Arizona Diamondbacks snap a seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

Paul Goldschmidt and John Ryan Murphy drove in two runs apiece for the slumping Diamondbacks, who lost 13 of their previous 14 games and averaged 1.9 runs during that stretch.

Corbin (5-1) was the beneficiary of some much-needed offense and ended a streak of five starts without a victory. He had pitched well in most of those games but hadn’t gotten enough help from his lineup to win. The left-hander struck out seven and walked one.

Mark Canha homered for Oakland but Sean Manaea (5-5) struggled for a fifth consecutive start, sending the A’s to their sixth loss in seven home games.

Manaea fell into a 1-0 hole just two batters into the game when Ahmed hit his seventh homer of the season, topping his total from a year ago.

A leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Jeff Mathis sparked a rally in the third by Arizona, with Murphy hitting a two-run double to make it 3-0.

Ahmed then added an RBI single in the fourth before Goldschmidt’s two-run triple on a sinking liner that got by a diving Chad Pinder in left field made it 6-1 and ended Manaea’s night.

Manaea allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, his fifth start in a row with at least four runs allowed. Manaea gave up just five runs total in his first six starts, winning the award as the AL’s top pitcher in April.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (elbow) threw a bullpen and is set for his first rehab start next week at Class A Visalia. He is expected to throw up to 75 pitches in that start. Manager Torey Lovullo said Miller will need at least two starts in the minors before being ready to return. … OF Steven Souza Jr., who went on the DL this week with a strained right pectoral muscle, has not yet been cleared for baseball activity.

Athletics: RHP Santiago Casilla left with an undisclosed injury in the eighth. Casilla retired the first two batters he faced before hurting himself on a pitch to Ahmed that brought out the trainer. After a brief consultation, Casilla left the game.

DROUGHT ENDED

Canha’s homer ended a streak of seven straight home games without a long ball for the A’s, tying an Oakland record. The A’s entered the day with the fewest homers at home with 14 in 23 games and the most on the road with 47 in 27 contests.

UP NEXT

Clay Buchholz (0-0) makes his second start for the Diamondbacks in the middle game of the series against Daniel Mengden (4-4).