Sedona Red Recap: Leiter, Phillies dazzle Diamondbacks

PHOENIX, Ariz. — At least they didn’t get shutout.

Though for a while there, that appeared to be the end result for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Home after a successful road trip, the D-backs got tripped up by the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 in front of an announced crowd of 31,648 at Chase Field on Friday.

Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph homered, while Aaron Altherr and Cameron Perkins added RBI in support of starter Mark Leiter Jr. who earned his first big-league win.

Leiter (1-0) blanked the D-backs over six innings, limiting one of the better offenses in the game to three hits. He walked one and struck out five.

Leiter also recorded his first Major League hit with a single in the second inning.

The D-backs had averaged nearly seven runs a game during a 7-1 road trip that included a three-game sweep of the Phillies in Philadelphia.

That production failed to make it back to Phoenix.

The D-backs didn’t cross home plate until the eighth inning, when Daniel Descalso drove in Rey Fuentes with a one-out RBI triple. Up until then, the D-backs had just one runner advance past second base.

The Phillies, meanwhile, scored five of their six runs in the last two innings.

Starter Patrick Corbin (6-7) deserved a better fate. He took the loss despite allowing one run on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Not once, however, did he have a clean inning.

Franco’s eighth-inning solo home run off Jorge De La Rosa proved to be the game-winner. Joseph added a two-run shot in the ninth, part of a four-run frame to put the game out of reach.

The Phillies snapped their seven-game road winless streak. They’ve now won five straight at Chase Field.

The D-backs lost for just the second time in 11 games, dropping 2.5 games back of the first-place Dodgers.

THE GOOD

Home or road, it doesn’t seem to matter anymore for Brandon Drury. His leadoff single in the fifth inning meant he has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games at a .415 clip (17-for-41) with five doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI plus a pair of walks.

When he hits, it’s an extra-base hit for Chris Iannetta. Counting his leadoff double in the third inning, 13 of his last 14 hits have gone for extra bases over his last 16 games. That’s seven doubles and six home runs. Plus, Iannetta has reached base safely in 14 of his last 17 stats.

The other D-backs batter to record an extra-base hit in the game was David Peralta. He doubled with one out in the fourth inning and has now hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games at a .449 clip (22-for-49) with three doubles, one triple, three home runs and nine RBI.

After a fly out and groundout in each of his first two at-bats, Chris Owings singled with one out in the seventh inning. That extended his hitting streak to nine straight games during which time he’s batting .270 (10-for-37) and 12 of his last 13 overall (.269; 14-for-52).

THE BAD

Ten pitches. That’s how long it took for the Phillies to grab the early lead. After Perkins grounded out to open the game, Galvis tripled and scored one batter later when Altherr hit a sharp grounder to Paul Goldschmidt who tagged first base for the second out of the inning. In 15 starts this season, Corbin has now allowed 19 first-inning earned runs.

Through three innings, Leiter had faced the minimum. Just twice did he run into any kind of trouble. Iannetta’s leadoff double in the third inning went for naught when he was thrown out at third base trying to tag up. Then in the fourth inning, the D-backs had runners on first and second with one out yet could only advance the lead runner as far as third base.

A run of four straight scoreless appearances ended for De La Rosa. After a strikeout to begin the eighth inning, he served up a 3-0 fastball—clocked at 93-mph—to Franco, who deposited it into the seats in right-center field to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. For Franco, it was his ninth home run of the season. For De La Rosa, it was his third home run allowed.

STAT OF THE GAME

0-for-6: The D-backs failed in their six chances to record a hit with a runner in scoring position

HE SAID IT

“Just a tough night offensively,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I thought we had some opportunities—a couple of well-hit balls, they made some good defensive plays—late in the game. It was just one of those situations where Leiter comes out, throws the ball extremely well. There’s not a ton of familiarity with him but that’s not the reason why. He executed a great gameplan against us and kept a very offensive team in check so he deserves a lot of credit.”

NOTED

Corbin threw a first-pitch strike to 22-of-29 batters faced; in addition, he reached a 3-ball count to only two batters

Goldschmidt, 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, has reached base safely in a franchise-record 39 straight games at home

With a first-pitch temperature of 108 degrees outside, the game was played inside with the roof and panels closed

First-round draft picks Josh Jackson (Suns) and Haason Reddick (Cardinals) threw out the ceremonial first pitches

Also during pregame a moment of silence was held for former Arizona State Sun Devils football coach Frank Kush

UP NEXT

Unbeaten in his last three home starts and riding a two-game winning streak at Chase Field, left-hander Robbie Ray takes the mound in game two of the four-game series on Saturday, June 24. He’ll be opposed by right-hander Ben Lively. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station.

Ray (7-3) and Lively (1-1) faced off six days ago in Philadelphia. Neither factored in the decision, a 5-4 D-backs win to complete the three-game sweep.

Ray has been his team’s best pitcher thus far this season. He’s 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 55 strikeouts over his last six starts, all D-backs wins. In fact, the D-backs have been on the winning side in 10 of his 14 starts overall.

For his career, Ray is 1-1 in four starts against the Phillies.

Meanwhile, Lively, a rookie, is making only his fifth career start. His four previous outing have all been quality efforts, including versus the D-backs. He held the then-visitors to three runs on eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts in six innings on June 18.

Lively is 0-1 in two road starts, giving the Phillies seven innings in each appearance.

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