D-backs’ power surge continues, win second straight over New York Mets

PHOENIX — When the Arizona Diamondbacks hit a home run, odds are they’re going to win the game. When the D-backs hit two or more home runs, they’re nearly unbeatable.

Just ask the New York Mets.

For the second time in as many games in this four-game series the D-backs homered multiple times off Mets pitching and handed the visitors a 7-3 loss, their fourth in a row, in front of an announced crowd of 32,170 at Chase Field on Friday.

Paul Goldschmidt went deep in the first, while Daniel Descalso left the yard in the fifth inning; the latter a two-run shot and the highlight of a two-hit, three-RBI effort.

Goldschmidt, meanwhile, went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.

The D-backs have now hit six home runs in the series.

The Goldschmidt and Descalso homers were off Seth Lugo who entered the game having tossed 10.0 scoreless innings in two starts this season.

Lugo (2-2) was tagged for five runs on eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts over five innings.

It was more than enough run support for Zack Godley (7-5). He won for the third time in four starts.

The outing had its bumps in the early innings. The Mets plated two of their three runs in the first four innings. After that, though, Godley settled into a nice rhythm. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters faced, including a run of nine straight.

Godley worked 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits — one a home run to Dominic Smith — with three walks and eight strikeouts.

The performance marked just the second time in five starts Godley completed at least six innings.

Brad Boxberger closed it out with his 16th save.

The D-backs, winners of seven of their last eight, improved to 31-10 when they hit a home run and 19-3 when they hit two or more home runs.

THE GOOD

For the second straight game and seventh time this month Goldschmidt homered. It happened on Lugo’s seventh pitch of the game, a 3-1 belt-high fastball clocked at 94.4 mph that Goldschmidt sent to the opposite field for a solo home run, No. 14 overall, tying David Peralta for the team lead. The play also extended Goldschmidt’s hitting streak to 11 games.

With runners on second and third and one out in the second inning, Godley was bailed out by his defense, specifically center fielder Jarrod Dyson. Amed Rosario flied out and Jose Bautista was thrown out — Dyson’s third assist of the season on a throw Alex Avila caught and then dove to tag Bautista — trying to score from third for an inning-ending double play.

Three straight singles to begin the third inning put the D-backs back in front, 2-1. Jake Lamb’s base hit to right field plated Jon Jay with the tie-breaking run, his 10th RBI in his last 12 games since June 1. A second run was added two batters later to make it 3-1 D-backs on a Descalso sacrifice fly, his 15th RBI in his last 12 games since May 29.

Quick. Who leads the D-backs in RBI? If you guessed Descalso, you’d be right. His fifth-inning, two-out, two-run home run — on a 3-2 changeup to extend the D-backs lead to 5-2 — gave him 39 RBI in 61 games; and updating an earlier stat: 17 RBI in his last 12 games since May 29. Descalso finished 2-for-2 with a walk and has now reached base safely in a career-high 14 straight games.

After going hitless in his first 12 at-bats with the D-backs, Jay has gone 10-for-17. He went 3-for-5 on Friday with his second hit going for an RBI single to make it 6-2 D-backs in the sixth inning. Jay ripped a two-out base hit to score Dyson who had walked and stolen second and third base. Overall, Jay is hitting .358 (59-for-165) in his last 41 games since May 1.

THE BAD

Single, hit-by-pitch, RBI double; that’s how the Mets opened the third inning. Todd Frazier recorded the double, turning on a 1-2 pitch and grounding the ball down the left-field line to plate Lugo and tie the game at 1. Fortunately for Godley, he struck out the next three batters, including a called strike three on Bautista, to limit the damage to just that one run.

Handed a two-run lead, Godley handed one run back in the fourth inning. Smith lined an 0-1 changeup off the right-field foul pole for a leadoff solo home run, cutting the Mets deficit in half, 3-2. For Smith, it was his first homer of the season. For Godley, it was his 11th homer allowed this season and fifth in his last five starts. Smith finished 2-for-3 against Godley.

The boos rained down as Avila headed back to the dugout, bat still in hand after he failed to offer at a 3-2 pitch from Jerry Blevins and took a called strike three, thus stranding the bases loaded in the seventh inning. For the game, Avila struck out twice in four at-bats, dropping his average to .113. He’s now struck out 52 times in 97 at-bats, covering 43 games.

STAT OF THE GAME

.550: D-backs No. 1-5 hitters went a combined 11-for-20 with one triple, two home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored.

HE SAID IT

“It was nice to see that he rebounded after kind of a grinding start to the game; just showed a lot of toughness for me,” Torey Lovullo said, referring to Godley.

NOTED

Godley threw a first-pitch strike to 17-of-27 batters faced; in addition, he reached a 3-ball count four times.

Goldschmidt finished 3-for-5 and is now batting .522 (24-for-46) during season-long 11-game hitting streak.

Goldschmidt has homered in back-to-back games for the fourth time this year (last: June 8-9 at Colorado).

David Peralta extended his hitting streak to seven games, during which time he’s batting .500 (14-for-28).

Ketel Marte was not in the lineup; it was a scheduled day off after starting each of the team’s last five games.

D-backs have homered in 12 straight games at Chase Field, tied for the third-longest streak in team history.

With a first-pitch temperature of 90 degrees, the game was played with both the roof and the panels closed.

UP NEXT

Undefeated in his last two starts, Patrick Corbin takes the mound in game three of the four-games series on Saturday, June 16. He’ll be opposed by fellow left-hander Steven Matz. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Corbin (6-2) was roughed up in his most recent outing — five runs allowed in 5.1 innings against the Pirates — but did not factor in the decision. He also took a no decision when he faced the Mets in New York earlier this season.

Overall, Corbin ranks among the Major League leaders in opponent average (2nd, .197), strikeouts (3rd, 110), strikeouts per 9.0 (3rd, 11.38), WHIP (4th, 1.00) and strikeouts-to-walk ratio (7th, 4.40).

Meanwhile, Matz (2-4) is winless in his last three starts. On the road, though, is where he’s seen his greatest success this season, going 1-1 with a 1.61 ERA in five starts. The ERA (4 ER in 22.1 IP) is the third-lowest in the majors and second-longest in the league.

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