D-backs’ Archie Bradley struggles in third Cactus League start

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Let’s face it, with all of the talk flying around about Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Archie Bradley this spring, you were beginning to think he’d never give up a run.

Well, he did.

Bradley, who didn’t register an ERA in his first two spring training starts was touched up for four earned runs on five hits in two innings of work during a 6-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners before a sold-out crowd of 12,611 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

The Mariners posted one run in the first, when Robinson Cano brought Endy Chavez home with an RBI groundout.

Seattle would put three more on the board in the second. Bradley walked shortstop Nick Franklin to lead off the frame and that was followed by a single to left by Dustin Ackley. Right fielder Michael Saunders plated Franklin on a single to right. After retiring Mike Zunino and Chavez, former D-back Willie Bloomquist and Cano delivered back-to-back RBI singles.

Bradley was replaced in the third by minor league right-hander Bryan Woodall.

“I felt good, body-wise, arm-wise,” Bradley said. “I wasn’t happy with the result, but that’s what spring training is all about. Struggled a little bit — you have to find a way to work through it and I just couldn’t do that today.”

Bradley walked both lead-off hitters he faced, and both came around to score.

“In the bullpen, I felt good, I was throwing strikes, I felt really good with where I was at and at the start of the game, I just lost it,” he said. “It’s never good when you’re throwing 90 percent of your pitches out of the stretch. I just could never find consistency or get comfortable.”

While Bradley had breezed through 6.1 innings of work in his first two starts, he never got into a groove Thursday. And it wasn’t one particular pitch he wrestled with.

“Everything. I’d throw a fastball for a strike and then throw two for a ball. I’d throw a curveball for a strike, then throw two for a ball. I just could never find a good spot and get where I felt good throwing the ball.”

Bradley was hoping for an opportunity to work through his issues in the third inning, but his high pitch count prevented that from happening.

“I don’t know, a lot. It felt like a ton,” Bradley said when asked about how many pitches he threw. “I felt like I was out there for a long time. It’s never a good feeling, but one thing is to have a short memory and start getting ready for the next one. ”

The “next one” will be a start against the Australian National Team in Sydney next week.

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