ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Robbie Ray becomes latest starter to struggle, D-backs drop fourth straight

Jul 2, 2018, 10:35 PM | Updated: 10:35 pm

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray pauses on the mound after giving up four runs agai...

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray pauses on the mound after giving up four runs against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, July 2, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHOENIX — Five days ago in Miami, Robbie Ray pitched six innings of two-hit, scoreless baseball.

Fast forward to Monday at Chase Field and the story was quite different for the Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander, who had not been on the wrong side of the win-loss column in more than a year.

Five batters — all of 19 pitches — into the game, Ray had already allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in one-third of an inning.

And that was just the beginning.

Two more runs scored before the final out was recorded in the first inning. Then in the sixth, Yadier Molina and Jedd Gyorko hit back-to-back home runs to propel the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-3 series-opening win in front of an announced crowd of 20,334.

The victory snapped the Cardinals four-game losing streak and extended the D-backs losing streak to four — six in a row at home — while also cutting their lead in the National League West to one-and-a-half games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In other words, it was not a good night.

Making his 100th career appearance, Ray (3-1) was dealt his first defeat since July 23, ending what was a career-long nine-decision winning streak. He was tagged for those six runs on nine hits with one walk and seven strikeouts as part of a 94-pitch effort.

“It’s a head-scratcher,” said Ray, who felt he may have been tipping his pitches in the first inning. “It’s something that I’ll probably go look at. I’m not really sure what to look for because I looked great, felt great. I felt like I was making my pitches. They were just putting good swings on them. That’s usually a pretty good sign that they saw something.”

THE GOOD

Three straight singles to begin the first inning pushed across the D-backs’ first run of the game. The last of those belonged t Jake Lamb, who hit a 3-2 fastball into right field to score Jon Jay, cutting the deficit to 4-1. Jay, by the way, initially reached on a fielding error by the third baseman but upon further review by the official scorer, the play was changed to an infield hit which, for Jay, snapped a 0-for-27 drought at the plate.

Following a leadoff ground-rule double by Carlos Martinez, yes the pitcher, in the second inning, Ray settled in and retired the next 10 batters in a row. The run began and ended with Matt Carpenter failing to reach base safely, first via strikeout and then by groundout. Ray, by the way, struck out four of the 10 batters, two swinging and two looking. Of the remaining six recorded outs, four were flyball outs including all three hitters in the third.

Named NL Player of the Month for June earlier in the day, Paul Goldschmidt began July with four singles in each of his four at-bats. The four hits tied a career high, something he’s now done 13 times, most recently June 6 at San Francisco. His third hit, a single to right field, scored Nick Ahmed with two outs in the fifth inning, cutting the deficit to 6-2. By the way, each of Goldschmidt’s final hits were recorded on the first pitch.

No team has committed more errors than the Cardinals. Their 69th error led to the D-backs’ third and final run of the game. In the eighth inning, A.J. Pollock, who was reinstated from the disabled list earlier in the day, reached base on a fielder’s choice and took second on a throwing error by the second baseman. The next batter, David Peralta, singled to right field scoring Pollock to make it a 6-3 ballgame. It was Peralta’s second hit of the game.

THE BAD

When the dust finally settled on a 19-minute, 30-pitch first inning for Ray, the Cardinals had sent eight batters to the plate and scored four runs on five hits and a walk. Molina dropped a 0-2 fastball into right field for a two-run single, while Gyorko and Munoz followed with an RBI single and RBI double, respectively. The Gyorko hit, by the way, came on the very next pitch following a mound visit by Mike Butcher.

Beginning the sixth inning, Ray had retired 12 of 13. But the third time facing Molina and Gyorko resulted in those two, in successive at-bats, putting the baseball over the fence, Molina in left field and Gyorko in right field, where the it landed in the Cardinals bullpen. For Molina, it was his 12th home run of the season and Gyorko’s sixth. It marked the fifth time this season that the Cardinals have hit back-to-back home runs.

STAT OF THE GAME

1: Of the D-backs’ nine hits only one was an extra-base hit, a Peralta fourth-inning triple

HE SAID IT

“It is frustrating. It is,” Torey Lovullo said, referring to the team’s current four-game losing streak. “I think we’re a better team than what we’ve shown over the past four games.”

NOTED

Ray threw a first-pitch strike to 16-of-24 batters faced; in addition, he reached a 3-ball count three times.

Ray and Martinez combined to throw 58 pitches (Ray 30 and Martinez 28) in a 36-minute first inning.

Goldschmidt finished 4-for-4, and he is now batting .410 (41-for-100) with 17 walks in his last 25 games.

Lamb finished 1-for-4, and he has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .333 (14-for-42).

Joey Krehbiel made his Major League debut, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings with one hit and one walk.

Ketel Marte entered the game in the seventh inning; he missed Sunday due to a right hamstring cramp.

With a first-pitch temperature of 107 degrees, the game was played with both the roof and panels closed.

UP NEXT

Zack Greinke puts a three-start winning streak on the line when he takes the mound in game two of the three-game series. He’ll be opposed by fellow right-hander Jack Flaherty. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Greinke (8-5) has beaten the Angels, Pirates and Marlins in successive outings. All on the road, by the way, with back-to-back scoreless efforts in his last two starts. He carries an active 13.0-inning scores streak.

Over his career, Greinke is 12-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 19 games, including 17 starts, against the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, Flaherty (3-3) will be facing the D-backs for the first time.

In his last outing, Flaherty took the loss, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Indians, allowing four runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs, in a season-low four innings. It was his first loss since June 6.

Flaherty is in his second big-league season.

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