ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Sedona Red Recap: D-backs open final series of season with win over Padres

Sep 30, 2016, 10:53 PM

Arizona Diamondbacks' Chris Owings, right, smiles after hitting a two-run home run against the San ...

Arizona Diamondbacks' Chris Owings, right, smiles after hitting a two-run home run against the San Diego Padres during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

It’s been a trying season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and with just a couple games left, the best they can do now is look to close it out with a strong series against the San Diego Padres.

So far, so good.

Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Owings homered, and the bullpen delivered another solid outing as Arizona ousted San Diego by a final of 5-3 in front of 42,651 fans at Chase Field on Friday night.

For Goldschmidt, it was his 24th longball of the season – and it was a no-doubter. He took a 2-0 pitch from Padres starter Edwin Jackson and blasted it onto the balcony in center field, just above the Fry’s sign.

That gave the D-backs a 3-1 lead, but San Diego rallied to tie it in the fourth. Owings broke the deadlock in the sixth, though, when he lofted his fifth homer of the year into the right-field seats.

That proved to be all the offense Arizona would need, as the bullpen came through with four scoreless innings to close it out. With the victory, the D-backs have now won six of their last eight home games. Overall, they sit at 67-93 — one game back of San Diego for fourth in the NL West.

THE GOOD

-Braden Shipley got out of a jam in the first to keep the game scoreless early on. With runners on second and third and only one out, he fanned Yangervis Solarte and got Alex Dickerson to fly out to center to end the inning.

-Goldschmidt’s homer traveled 428 feet.

-In addition to his game-winning homerun, Owings made a nice defensive play on a sharp chopper in the ninth. He was also able to fire to third in time to get the second out of the inning on Hunter Renfroe, who was looking to advance from second on the play.

-Patrick Corbin turned in another solid performance, tossing 2.2 shutout innings while striking out three. This was likely the last appearance of 2016 for the 27-year old lefty, who is definitely finishing the season on a high note.

THE BAD

-Shipley took a Manuel Margot liner off the arm in the first. He was able to stick around though, and even managed to get the ball to second for an out on the play.

-Shipley allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base in three of the first four innings. It only came back to bite him in the fourth though.

-Ryan Schimpf’s fourth inning home run was his 20th of the season — six of which have come against Arizona.

STAT OF THE GAME

3: Number of errors made by the Diamondbacks in this one.

HE SAID IT

“We always tell our guys ‘we want you to run through first base’. It’s very simple to teach that in Little League. Run through the base, don’t run to the base. So we want to finish the season that way – run through the finish.” – Chip Hale, on the importance of closing out the year with a strong series at home.

NOTED

– Solarte was called out to end the third inning because he batted the ball while stepping on home plate.

– Owings won the second annual Luis Gonzalez Award before the game.

– Earlier today, Jean Segura was announced as one of the finalists for the NL Comeback Player of the Year award.

UP NEXT

The D-backs have just two games left in the 2016 season, both of which will be played at Chase Field against the Padres. Saturday’s first pitch is set for 5:10 p.m., with pregame beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Archie Bradley will get the start for Arizona, while San Diego counters with Clayton Richard.

Bradley (7-9) will be wrapping up his rookie campaign, and he’s been turning in some solid outings of late. He’s allowed three runs or less in five of his last seven starts, though he did run into trouble against Washington in his most recent outing on Sept. 26. In that game, he was touched up for four runs in 3.2 innings, but did not factor into the decision.

Saturday will mark Bradley’s fifth career start against the Padres. He’s 1-1 with a 5.48 in his first four meetings.

Bradley also has 132 strikeouts on the year — good for third most over by a D-backs rookie, behind Wade Miley (144, in 2012) and Brandon Webb (172, in 2003).

Richard (3-3) began the year with the Cubs, where he made 25 appearances out of the bullpen. Since arriving in San Diego, he’s made eight starts, and he’s been successful for the most part, notching three wins and a 2.01 ERA.

In two starts against Arizona this year, Richard is 1-1 with a 1.46 ERA.

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