Sedona Red Recap: Homers by Lamb, Herrmann help D-backs edge White Sox

PHOENIX — No team in the National League is better at home than the Arizona Diamondbacks.

They D-backs only added to their Chase Field domination Tuesday when they beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4, for their second straight win, clinching the series and their 20th victory at home. At 20-8, the D-backs have matched their best 28-game home start in franchise history.

Jake Lamb and Chris Herrmann each homered in support of starter Patrick Corbin. Lamb hit a two-run home run in the first, while Herrmann added a solo shot in the second inning much to the delight of the 17,865 in attendance.

The D-backs have hit 18 home runs over their last eight home games.

Both homers Tuesday were hit off starter Dylan Covey (0-4), who allowed four runs on five hits in just 2.1 innings.

Covey, now winless in eight starts to begin his big league career, was removed from the game because of left oblique soreness.

The D-backs also got RBI from Paul Goldschmidt and Brandon Drury.

Corbin (4-4) won for the second time in three starts. He went six innings plus one batter into the seventh, retiring eight of the last 10 batters faced.

Early on, Corbin struggled. The White Sox tagged him for three runs in the first three innings but then were shut out over the next three frames.

Corbin scattered eight hits, including a home run by Melky Cabrera, with a walk and five strikeouts in six innings of work.

It was his sixth quality start of the season.

Fernando Rodney pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 11th save.

The D-backs have won seven of eight and 10 of 13 overall.

THE GOOD

For the first time this season, Goldschmidt recorded a triple, and it drove in the D-backs first run of the game. With one out and a runner on second base, Goldschmidt went the other way on a 2-2 changeup; the ball one-hopped the right-field wall to easily plate Rey Fuentes. By the way, Goldschmidt has now reached base safely in 31 consecutive home games, tied for the longest such streak of his career.

Still in the first inning, the very next batter, Lamb, blasted a 1-1 slider clocked at 88-mph into the seats in right field for a two-run home run and a 3-0 D-backs lead. It was Lamb’s 12th of the season, moving him ahead of Goldschmidt for team-high honors. The reigning National League Player of the Week has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games (.405, 17-for-42) and has a RBI in five of his last six (12 total).

Making his 10th start behind the plate, Herrmann hit his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to lead off the second inning, putting the D-backs ahead 4-1. It was a 2-1 fastball clocked at 92-mph that Herrmann deposited into the home team’s bullpen down the left-field line. Herrmann, who finished 1-for-3, has now homered in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Entering the day with MLB’s second-best batting average at home, Drury doubled in his second at-bat to extend his home hitting streak to 14 consecutive games. The play scored Yasmany Tomas, who hustled all the way from first base to plate the D-backs’ fifth run. By the way, Drury has reached base safely in 22 of 24 home games this season and 36 of his last 38 at Chase Field.

THE BAD

It’s called a shutdown inning, and Corbin was unable to deliver one in the top of the second inning. Handed a three-run lead the half-inning before, Corbin promptly allowed a leadoff home run to Cabrera. A 1-1 changeup clocked at 82-mph was driven over the fence in left field. It was Cabrera’s third home run of the season and second in four career at-bats against Corbin.

One inning later, now up 4-1, Corbin failed yet again to shut down the White Sox. After two quick outs, Jose Abreu singled and Frazier homered, putting a 2-0, 93-mph fastball just above the pool area and into the seats in right field to make it a 4-3 game. It marked the second straight start and third time in four starts overall in which Corbin allowed two home runs.

A run of three consecutive scoreless outings ended for D-backs reliever Jorge De La Rosa when he allowed a home run to Abreu to lead off the eighth inning, cutting the D-backs lead to a single run, 5-4. It was just the second homer allowed by De La Rosa this season. For Abreu, the home run marked a milestone as he became the 22nd player to hit 100 homers with the White Sox.

STAT OF THE GAME

2: For the second straight game in the series, the D-backs hit a pair of home runs and have now hit 46 homers at home, the most of any team this season.

HE SAID IT

“Really aggressive fastball,” manager Torey Lovullo said, referring to J.J. Hoover’s two eighth-inning strikeouts to escape a bases-loaded jam and keep the score 5-4. “He was ready and motivated to pick up his teammate. The adrenaline was pumping. He did exactly what we needed him to do, and I know that he came off (the mound) excited. It was a really good team moment in the dugout.”

NOTED

– Corbin threw a first-pitch strike to 11-of-26 batters faced. Plus, he reached a three-ball count five times.

– Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak against American League opponents to 10 consecutive games.

– Tomas, who went 2-for-3 and made a diving catch in left field, has hit safely in 11 of his past 13 games.

– Archie Bradley has allowed one run in his last 6.2 innings; that’s a 1.35 ERA over his last eight outings.

– With a first-pitch temperature of 103 degrees, the game was played with the roof open but panels closed.

UP NEXT

For the first time in two years, Randall Delgado will be his team’s first pitcher on the mound. He’s making a spot start in place of the injured Taijuan Walker.

Delgado and left-hander Jose Quintana will match up in the series finale on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on ESPN 620 AM.

The D-backs plan to throw Delgado (1-0) for three or four innings, according to Lovullo, before turning the game over to the bullpen. In the bullpen, Delgado has been one of the team’s most consistent arms with a 0.63 ERA (1 ER in 14.1 IP) in his past seven games.

Delgado last started on Aug. 22, 2015, at Cincinnati, and that too was a one-start stint.

Meanwhile, Quintana (2-5) is winless over his past three outings. His five losses are tied for the second-most in baseball, and his 2.20 run support average is the lowest in the majors.

This will be Quintana’s second career start against the D-backs. He suffered the loss in his only appearance on May 10, 2014, after allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts in six innings.

Quintana is 1-3 with a 2.66 ERA in six lifetime starts versus the National League West.

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