Sedona Red Recap: D-backs ride big first inning to win over Padres

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks capitalized on a couple of San Diego Padres mistakes early and never looked back.

A sloppy first inning by the Padres brought the D-backs a five-run first inning, one that gave them the lead for the entirety of their 9-5 win in front of 32,811 fans at Chase Field.

After a 1-2-3 beginning from Archie Bradley (8-9), the first five Arizona hitters would score.

Jean Segura led off the game for Arizona by making it to first due to an error by Carlos Asuaje. Chris Owings hit a single in the next at-bat off Padres starter Clayton Richard (3-4), and then Segura and Owings would execute a double steal, taking advantage of Richard’s relaxed delivery to move up to second and third.

Paul Goldschmidt was walked, bringing up clean-up hitter Brandon Drury. A passed ball brought home Segura for the first run of the game and advanced all the runners. A single by Drury came next, scoring Owings, and the D-backs had two runs from almost nothing to start the game.

That wouldn’t be where the most of the damage came from, however, as the next batter Yasmany Tomas hit an opposite-field three-run home run to give Bradley all the run support he would need.

Speaking of Bradley, his career-high 11 strikeouts paved the way for his seven innings of two-run work. It’s only the third time the 24-year-old has pitched at least seven innings in a start.

THE GOOD

The double steal by Segura and Owings would not be the only one in the game or even in the inning. On the first pitch of Tomas’ at-bat, Goldschmidt and Drury both made it safely for their own edition. This led to Padres manager Andy Green having a meeting on the mound with his entire infield.

A line drive was hit right at Bradley by Yangervis Solarte in the fifth, bouncing off his glove towards the third base side. Never giving up on the play, Bradley ran to pick up the ball, and in one motion, bent over, attempted to jump as much as he could given the momentum and threw the ball to first, landing on his side in doing so. Somehow, the throw was enough and Solarte was out. The fear, of course, was that it was a similar incident to last year, when Bradley was hit in the face.

The Padres continued to do their best to show they were the worst team of the two. Goldschmidt stole another base off Richard, and when attempting to steal third right after, Padres catcher Derek Norris’ wild throw allowed him to score on an at-bat he started at first base.

THE BAD

Bradley failed to seize the momentum in the top of the second after getting a 5-0 lead. Three straight Padres batters hit a single to give them their first run of the night. In terms of his pitch count, a quick first inning was erased by a very long second. Bradley was up to 49 pitches through three.

Tomas wound up out by a long distance at home in the third after trying to score rounding third for the second time in recent weeks. He was so far away from home when the throw arrived that he was actually in a brief rundown.

As of Sept. 29, the D-backs had the fourth worst bullpen in baseball in terms of ERA. That trend continued Saturday. Zack Godley relieved Bradley in the eighth and gave up three runs on four hits in his two-thirds of an inning pitched.

STAT OF THE GAME

32: Goldschmidt now has 32 stolen bases, the most by a first baseman since 1993.

HE SAID IT

“Yeah, that was unbelievable. I was scared to death. I didn’t realized it hit his glove. I thought it hit some part (of) his body. Whenever you see that happen with Archie, you just think back to last year.” – D-backs manager Chip Hale on the play by Bradley

NOTED

– Segura’s quest for the D-backs record for most hits in a season is still in play. He had two Saturday, bringing his total to 203, three behind Luis Gonzalez’s 206 in 1999.

– Goldschmidt’s three stolen bases had him join Segura in the 30-plus steals club, making them the first duo in franchise history to do so.

– Those steals also made Goldschmidt and Segura only the sixth duo in Major League history to have at least 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases each.

– Tomas’ home run made it the 188th of the season for Arizona, increasing their historic jump from last season’s 154 by 34, the fourth largest jump in Major League history. Credit that bump to Tomas and Jake Lamb, who have combined for 60 long balls this season after amounting to only 15 in 2015.

UP NEXT

It’s the last game of the 2016 D-backs season Sunday. First pitch in the final game of the series against the Padres is scheduled for 12:10 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes prior on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM.

Matt Koch (1-1) will be looking to make his second career start as good as his first. Koch allowed only one hit in five innings against the Washington Nationals in a losing effort, with his two earned runs on the night coming after he was pulled for Randall Delgado with two runners on.

Hale said after that start on Sept. 27 that Koch’s low pitch count of 70-75 was almost reached in that outing and also noted his fearlessness, saying “he’s not afraid and he goes right at guys.”

The 25-year-old right-hander has sacrificed four hits and four walks in his 12 innings of work this season.

Paul Clemens (4-5) takes the mound for San Diego in their last game of the season as well. The Padres have won the last three games Clemens has started in, including a 5-2 win over the D-backs on Sept. 20.

In his four starts last month, Clemens enjoyed his best success of the season, posting a 2.75 ERA in his 19.2 innings of work.

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