Clay Buchholz beats Miami as D-backs play home run derby

PHOENIX — Well, that was a nice change. Maybe all that needed to change was Clay Buchholz finally getting a chance to pitch at home.

In his first two starts — both on the road — with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Buchholz received just a single run of support. That’s right, one measly run.

His teammates made it up to him on Friday. In a very big way.

Daniel Descalso, Jake Lamb, Ketel Marte, John Ryan Murphy and David Peralta all hit home runs — all within the first five innings — as the D-backs handled the Miami Marlins, 9-1, in the opener of the three-game series played in front of an announced crowd of 25,866 at Chase Field.

Marte added a second home run, a solo shot, in the eighth.

The six home runs tied a franchise record.

Buchholz, meanwhile, continues to impress. He cruised through the first six innings, retiring 10 in a row at one point, before running into trouble in the seventh. Three of the first four batters in the inning recorded hits with Lewis Brinson delivering the RBI single.

But other than that one brief hiccup, Bucholz (1-1) was stellar. He scattered six hits over seven innings. In addition, he struck out 10 and walked only one in earning his first big-league victory since Sept. 21, 2016.

“Yeah, it’s been awhile. I had a couple of minor league wins in the last couple of years,” Buchholz joked.

With his performance, Buchholz became the first pitcher in franchise history to have outings of five or more innings pitched and one or fewer runs allowed in each of his first three starts with the team.

Overall, the D-backs have won three of four, while the Marlins have dropped four straight and six of seven.

THE GOOD

After just one hit and one RBI during the series with the Reds, Peralta matched both totals in his first at-bat in game one against the Marlins. He turned on an 0-1 fastball — clocked at 89.7 mph — and singled into right field to score Descalso from second base for the game’s first run. It was Peralta’s 13th hit with runners in scoring position, improving to 13-for-30 (.433) this season.

Even from the leadoff spot, Descalso delivers. With a runner on and two outs in the second inning, Descalso drilled a 2-0 changeup and put the offering from starter Elieser Hernandez (0-3) into the seats in right field for a home run, his seventh of the season. The play made the score 3-0 D-backs just 10 batters into the game. Descalso finished 1-for-3 with a walk in just his second game batting leadoff.

Who knew it was Opposite Day. The Lamb and Peralta third-inning home runs were both hit to the opposite field. Lamb, a left-handed hitter, connected on a 2-1 slider that he deposited into the seats in left field to leadoff the inning. Two batters later, Peralta, also hitting from the left side of the plate, drilled a 2-2 changeup over the left-field fence; his too was a solo home run.

OK, so for those keeping track, that’s now home runs in back-to-back-to-back games and an RBI in a career-high five straight games for Murphy. He blasted a two-run homer in the fifth inning to extend the D-backs lead to 7-0. It was a first-pitch slider that caught too much of the plate and Murphy hammered the offering from reliever Jarlin Garcia deep into the seats in left field. Overall, it was his eighth home run this season.

It was April 19, some 34 games ago, that Marte last hit a ball out of the ballpark. It was a no-doubter, too. Marte unloaded on a 2-2 changeup that landed in the left-field seats for a solo home run, his second of the season, and 8-0 D-backs lead. Oh, but he was not done. Leading off the eighth inning, Marte, this time batting left-handed, again homered to make it 9-1 D-backs.

THE BAD

On pitch No. 84 Buchholz finally allowed a run to cross home plate. With runners on the corners and one out in the seventh inning, Brinson singled to center to ruin the shutout. Up until that point, Buchholz had handcuffed the Marlins never allowing more than one hit in any of the previous six innings. In the seventh, however, the visitors recorded three, Brinson being the third.

Poor Chris Owings. He was the only starting position player not to record a hit in the game. He went 0-for-4. Owings flied out in each of his first three at-bats and then grounded out to shortstop in his final plate appearance. The 0-for dropped his batting average five points to .185 (28-for-151) in 49 games played. Owings, by the way, saw time in both right field and center field defensively.

STAT OF THE GAME

6: This is the first time since Sept 4, 2017, at the Dodgers that the D-back have hit six home runs in a game and the sixth time overall; the six homers are also the most allowed in Marlins history

HE SAID IT

“The highlight of the night for me was Clay Buchholz going seven innings, getting his first win in probably over a year,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s just a perfect example of perseverance and what it can represent. He’s gone out for three straight starts and hasn’t had a lot of success wins wise so today it was nice to support him.”

NOTED

Buchholz threw a first-pitch strike to 21-of-29 batters faced; plus, he reached a 3-ball count just three times.

Descalso is now batting .309 (29-for-94) with five home runs, 20 RBI and 15 walks in his last 33 games.

Lamb snapped a 1-for-18 in his last five-plus games with his third-inning home run; he finished 2-for-4.

Marte became the sixth player in franchise history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game.

Murphy has recorded at least one extra-base hit in six consecutive starts: two doubles and five home runs.

Jorge De La Rosa was forced to exit the game due to right Achilles tightness with one out in the ninth inning.

Former D-backs reliever Brad Ziegler rode the bullpen cart ahead of his appearance in the eighth inning.

With a first-pitch temperature of 89 degrees, the game was played with the roof open but the panels closed.

UP NEXT

In the midst of a two-start losing streak, Zack Greinke takes the mound in game two of the three-game series on Saturday, June 2. He’ll be opposed by left-hander Caleb Smith. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Greinke (3-4) went winless in May, ending the month with losses at the Brewers and A’s in which he allowed a total of six runs on 11 hits, including four home runs, in 12 innings.

The last time Greinke visited the win column was April 30.

The good news is Greinke is undefeated, 5-0 with a 3.77 ERA, in 10 career games (nine starts) against the Marlins.

Meanwhile, Smith, in his first big-league season, is on a two-start winning streak. He’s beaten both the Mets and Padres on the road, pitching into the seventh inning each outing. His 69 strikeouts leads all MLB rookies, ahead of Shohei Ohtani (57) and Tyler Mahle (56).

Smith (4-5) has never faced the D-backs.

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