Sedona Red Recap: D-backs fall to 9-21 at home after loss to Rays

Tough to win when your starting pitcher can’t complete five innings.

Even tougher when your offense fails to put the ball in play.

The Arizona Diamondbacks experienced both Monday night at Chase Field, which continues to be their own personal house of horrors.

For the second time in three starts, Robbie Ray was pulled in the middle of the fifth inning; and for the second straight game, D-backs hitters struck out more than a dozen times.

It all added up to yet another home defeat, 6-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of a three-game series that attracted an announced crowd of 17,176.

The D-backs are now 9-21 at home.

The Rays, winners of four in a row, got home runs from Tim Beckham and Desmond Jennings—part of his three-hit effort—plus RBI from Curt Casali and Taylor Motter, while starter Chris Archer pitched six innings to snap a personal three-game losing streak.

Archer (4-7) allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and a season-high-tying 12 strikeouts.

For the game, the D-backs struck out 15 times, one day after fanning 18 times at the Chicago Cubs.

Alex Colome worked a perfect ninth inning to record his 16th save.

Ray (2-5) followed a familiar script: He looked good early only to unravel late.

The Rays got him for a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth, when he was removed having thrown just 4.1 innings, in which he was tagged for a total five runs on eight hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Eight of the final 10 batters Ray faced reached base.

The D-backs have now lost eight of the last nine games he’s started.

Ray did swing the bat well, connecting on his first career home run in the third and adding a base hit in the fourth inning.

David Peralta also had two hits, including a homer, while Paul Goldschmidt and Welington Castillo each drove in runs to account for the remainder of the D-backs offense, which went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

The Rays earned their first victory at Chase Field since June 18, 2007, snapping a four-game skid.

THE GOOD

Through the first three innings, Ray held the visitors scoreless with only three base runners allowed: a walk in the first and singles in both the second and third; none, however, advanced into scoring position. Ray benefited from a solid defense, including Michael Bourn, who in the third inning made an outstanding running catch in right-center, slamming into the fence shoulder first to rob Evan Longoria of extra bases and perhaps an RBI.

It had been more than three years since a D-backs pitcher had hit a home run. Leading off the third inning, Ray turned on a 91-mph knee-high fastball and belted the 1-1 offering into the seats in right field. Upon his return to the dugout, Ray received the silent treatment from his teammates before congratulatory high-fives for his first career home run. Wade Miley was the last D-backs pitcher to homer, which he did on April 22, 2013, in San Francisco.

Three batters later—still in the third inning—Goldschmidt smashed a one-out double to the right-field wall, scoring Jean Segura all the way from first base. Segura, who had reached on a walk, slid home to beat the tag and put the D-backs ahead 2-0. By the way, Goldschmidt made it 12 straight games reaching base safely, a mark he extended back in the first inning with a base on balls, his team-best and league-leading 55th of the season.

Welcome back, Peralta. Activated off the disabled list prior to the game and seeing his first action since May 8, Peralta went 2-for-3 including a one-out solo home run in the sixth inning. It was an 85-mph slider that Peralta deposited into the seats in right field for his fourth homer of the season, which at the time pulled the D-backs to within two, 5-3. Peralta had been sidelined, missing a total of 26 games because of right wrist inflammation.

THE BAD

Staked to a 2-0 lead, Ray failed to record that all-important shutdown inning in the fourth. He retired the first two batters, but then allowed three consecutive singles to Jennings, Motter and Casali; the latter of which scored Jennings from second to cut the D-backs lead in half, 2-1. For Casali, it was just his third hit this season with runners in scoring position, as he improved to 3-for-24 (.125) in such situations.

One inning later things really began to unravel for Ray. First, Beckham clubbed a first-pitch two-run home run, connecting on a 93-mph belt-high fastball that cleared the left field fence to give the Rays their first lead of the game, 3-2. It was the 10th homer allowed by Ray this season. Then Jennings and Motter followed with an RBI double and sacrifice fly, respectively, to complete the four-run frame.

It was quite the day for Jennings. His three hits exceeded his total over the last 11 games. Mired in a 2-for-26 (.077) slump entering the game, Jennings singled in the fourth, doubled in the fifth and homered in the seventh; the latter of which was a leadoff solo shot off reliever Jake Barrett that hit the left field foul pole to extend the Rays lead to 6-3. It was the first run Barrett had allowed over five appearances.

A day after striking out a season-high 18 times, the D-backs fanned 15 times against Rays pitching. Archer accounted for 12 of the strikeouts, matching a season-high. Twice he struck out the side. Each position player struck out at least once with Segura and Yasmany Tomas striking out three times; Bourn went down swinging two times. Ray was the lone starter not to strike out in either of his two at-bats.

STAT OF THE GAME

6 & 9: Each of the Rays’ six RBI and nine of their 10 hits belonged to five players—Beckham, Casali, Jennings, Motter and Mikie Mahtook—who all entered the day with batting averages below the Mendoza Line

HE SAID IT

“I think I try to do too much, so yeah, I’d say it’s probably mental,” Ray said, referring to his continuing inability to pitch deep into games. “It’s not really anything physical because I feel great and my body feels great. It’s definitely a mental thing.”

NOTED

Ray threw first-pitch strikes to 15-of-24 batters faced, including 8-of-12 through three innings.

Ray went 2-for-2 at the plate, doubling his hit total (4) for the season and is now batting .200.

Phil Gosselin recorded his Major League-leading ninth pinch-hit with a seventh-inning single.

Chris Owings (foot soreness) was available only in an emergency situation according to Hale.

With first-pitch temperatures at 108 degrees, the roof and panels to Chase Field were closed.

Olympic gold medalist Dan O’Brien, a Scottsdale resident, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

AIA Division IV Baseball Championship team Apache Junction received pregame recognition.

The D-backs held a ceremonial 10-bell count in remembrance of boxing great Muhammad Ali.

The D-backs canceled pregame batting practice, opting instead for their indoor batting cages.

UP NEXT

Looking to extend his winning streak to five straight starts, Zack Greinke takes the mound in game two of the three-game series on Tuesday, June 7.

He’ll be opposed by left-hander Matt Moore.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Greinke (7-3, 4.29) is coming off his best performance wearing a D-backs uniform, seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory at Houston, where he limited the Astros to four hits and struck out a season-best 11 batters with zero walks.

Over his career, Greinke is 3-6 in 15 games, including 12 starts, against the Rays.

It will be the first time ever facing the D-backs for Moore, the former American League All-Star.

Moore (2-3, 5.46) has one win—he beat the Yankees on May 28—and four no-decisions in his past five starts, in which just once did he pitch past the fifth inning.

Moore, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014, began the season by going six innings or more in four of five starts; since then, he has lasted five innings or fewer in five of six starts.

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