Sedona Red Recap: Zack Godley makes most of final start as D-backs take series from Giants
Sep 9, 2015, 10:45 PM
The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate after a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks won 2-1. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
If it is indeed his final start of the season, Zack Godley went out on a high note. The 25-year-old righty tossed five strong innings on Wednesday night, as the Arizona Diamondbacks edged the visiting San Francisco Giants 2-1 in front of 20,576 fans at Chase Field.
With the victory, Godley ran his record to 5-1 on the year, which isn’t bad for someone making just his fifth Major League start and seventh appearance.
Speaking after the game, manager Chip Hale suggested Godley could still see some work out of the bullpen, but he likely won’t make any more starts for Arizona in 2015. As a potential piece of the club’s future, they want to be careful to manage his workload.
The bullpen was equally effective in this one, chipping in with four scoreless frames to slam the door on a Giants team in desperate need of wins at this point in the season. For the D-backs, it’s their first series win at home since they took two of three from the Phillies back on Aug. 10-12.
THE GOOD
-Socrates Brito made his first Major League start, after pinch hitting on Tuesday. And he made an impact, diving to grab a Matt Duffy liner out of the air in the top of the fourth, then singling in the sixth.
-David Peralta delivered a ground rule double in the bottom of the fourth to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
-With Peralta on second, Jarrod Saltalamacchia crushed a Chris Heston pitch over the center field wall for his seventh homerun of the season. That gave Arizona an early 2-0 lead.
-It also marked the second consecutive night that Saltalamacchia has put one over the fence. The last time he homered in back to back games was April 25 and 26 of 2014 – when he was with the Marlins.
-Godley fielded a slow roller off the bat of Marlon Byrd in the fifth, then fired it well over the head of Paul Goldschmidt at first. It careened right off the wall to Chris Owings, however, who quickly threw it back to Goldschmidt in time to catch Byrd as he made a move toward second base.
-Prior to his exit after hitting Alejandro De Aza with a pitch to start the sixth, Godley had only allowed one base runner to reach scoring position.
-Goldschmidt has now reached base safely in 14 straight home games.
THE BAD
-Goldschmidt hit the ball hard in his first two at-bats – taking Gregor Blanco deep to the wall in left, then pushing Angel Pagan towards the warning track in center – but both swings ended up as nothing more than long outs.
-A combination of Arizona miscues led to San Francisco’s only run of the evening. Godley hit De Aza with a pitch to lead off the sixth, then Andrew Chafin came on in relief and walked Pagan. De Aza later came around to score on a wild pitch.
STAT OF THE GAME
23: The number of consecutive saves Brad Ziegler has converted this season. That’s the second-longest active streak in the Majors this year, and the second-longest streak by a Diamondback ever. J.J. Putz holds the club record with 28, set back in 2011.
HE SAID IT
“We just really wanted to have a nice, good one to end his [Godley’s] starting. We’ll see what his innings are, and total it up. I think he’s proven to us that he can be a force for us, next year, in the rotation.” – Chip Hale
NOTED
-Welington Castillo was scratched from tonight’s lineup with a sore left wrist, but was available to pinch hit if needed.
-Arizona is now 60-3 when leading after eight innings.
UP NEXT
-The Diamondbacks will stay home and get a day off before they open a three-game series with the Dodgers on Friday. Robbie Ray is expected to get the call for Arizona, while Los Angeles counters with Alex Wood. First pitch will be at 6:40, with pregame coverage beginning at 6 on Arizona Sports 98.7.
-Ray (3-11) hasn’t exactly gotten a ton of run support this season and, as a result, has a somewhat deceiving record. Over his last two starts, he has struck out 16 batters while posting a 2.53 ERA. And he’s allowed three runs or less in five of his last six outings, yet he still hasn’t picked up a win since July 7. Friday will mark his third career start against the Dodgers.
-Wood (10-9) will be making his 28th start of the season, but just his eighth with LA. His first 20 appearances came with Atlanta, which is where he made his one start against the D-backs this year. That outing came on June 1, when he allowed just one run over eight innings in an 8-1 Braves win.
-For his career, this will be his sixth appearance and third start against Arizona.
