Sedona Red Recap: Robbie Ray throws gem as D-backs top Marlins

Expect the unexpected when attending a game at Chase Field.

One night after beating Jose Fernandez and ending his eight-start winning streak, the Arizona Diamondbacks made it back-to-back victories with Robbie Ray ending a four-start winless streak.

Ray pitched into the eighth inning, something he had not done all season; in fact, he hadn’t even completed six innings in any of his previous four outings and only once in his last nine starts.

Yet against the visiting Miami Marlins, Ray pitched three-hit shutout baseball to help lead the D-backs to a series-clinching victory, 6-0, in front of a Sunday afternoon crowd of 27,741.

It marked only the D-backs’ third home series win of the season and their eighth overall.

The shutout win was their fifth.

Ray (3-5) retired the first seven batters faced and erased two of the three hits allowed with double-play balls. He walked one and struck out six over a career-high-tying 7.2 innings to earn his first victory since May 16 and first-ever in three career starts against the Marlins, who tied a season-low with three hits.

The D-backs stacked Ray to an early lead with a four-run first inning highlighted by Peter O’Brien’s three-run home run.

Welington Castillo, Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta added RBI.

Castillo and Goldschmidt each had two hits, as did Ray, who singled in the first and again in the third, giving him consecutive multi-hit games for the first time in his career.

All six D-backs runs were charged to Miami starter Adam Conley (3-3).

The D-backs have won two in a row for the first time since May.

THE GOOD

And that is why the D-backs recalled O’Brien from Triple-A Reno — the threat of the long ball. He hit 17, leading all the minor leaguers, at the time of his promotion and hit the second of his big league career with two outs in the first inning, smashing a 1-1 fastball—clocked at 92-mph—into the second deck in left field to extend the D-backs’ lead to 4-0. One batter earlier, Peralta drove in the team’s first run with a sacrifice fly into shallow right field. The ball caught by second baseman Derek Dietrich with his back to the infield allowed Jean Segura to tag up and score from third base.

After sending nine men to the plate in the first, the D-backs had five batters hit in the second inning. With two outs, Castillo poked a single past first baseman Chris Johnson and down the right-field line to score Goldschmidt for the D-backs fifth run of the game. Castillo, who walked in his first plate appearance, finished with two hits. He added a double in the fourth. Castillo is hitting lefties well thus far this season, batting .367 (22-for-60) with five home runs. Looking back at his last seven games overall, Castillo is hitting .346 (9-for-26), raising his batting average to .277.

Four of the D-backs’ first five runs came with two outs. Their sixth run was plated with one out. Goldschmidt hit a ball sharply that bounced off Dietrich’s glove and into center field for a single. The play easily scored Segura from second to make it 6-0 D-backs in the fourth inning. By the way, Goldschmidt reached base safely in each of his first three plate appearances. His second-inning double tied him with Stephen Drew (176) for third place on the club’s all-time doubles list. It also extended his hitting streak to seven straight games, during which time he’s batting .444 (12-for-27).

Not a single Marlins base runner reached second base against Ray, who threw a career-high 116 pitches. His final pitch was a 94-mph fastball that Dietrich swung through. Ray also got Johnson swinging on a 94-mph fastball in the at-bat prior, giving Ray his fifth and six strikeouts of the game. It marked the 12th consecutive start in which Ray struck out at least six batters, the longest streak in team history since Ian Kennedy did so 11 times from Aug. 14, 2012 through April 1, 2013. By the way, the one walk Ray allowed matched a season-low, which he’s done in two previous starts.

THE BAD

Well, there wasn’t too much to complain about in this one. But if we’re nitpicking, then we need to point out that Peralta was the lone starter not to record a hit in the game. He nearly had company but Brandon Drury laced a first-pitch fastball that deflected off the glove of Dietrich and landed in center field for a two-out, eighth-inning single. It was not only Drury’s first hit of the game but of the homestand as well as he’s 1-for-9 in the six games, which has seen his batting average drop to .276. Peralta, meanwhile, went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly RBI.

STAT OF THE GAME

3-for-7: The D-backs scored five of their six runs with three hits in seven opportunities while runners were in scoring position.

HE SAID IT

“He threw the ball very well today,” manager Chip Hale said, referring to Ray. “Good tempo, really kind of collected himself at times. He wasn’t rushing as much.”

NOTED

– A first-inning catcher’s interference call meant Goldschmidt reached base safely for a 17th straight game.

– D-backs scored four or more runs in the first inning for the first time since Sept. 11, 2015, vs. the Dodgers.

– With a first-pitch temperature of 96 degrees, the game was played with both the roof and panels closed.

– Prior to the singing of the National Anthem, there was a moment of silence held for the victims in Orlando.

UP NEXT

The L.A. Dodgers pay their first visit to Chase Field of the season on Monday.

The series opener pits a pair of right-handers—Zack Greinke and Mike Bolsinger—squaring off against their former team. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Greinke, who spent the past three seasons wearing Dodgers blue, will be looking to run his winning streak to six straight starts. During this five-game run, he’s sporting a 1.95 ERA (8 ER in 37.0 IP) with 29 strikeouts and only five walks.

Coming off a three-hit shutout effort against Tampa Bay, Greinke (8-3) has not allowed a run in 16 consecutive innings pitched.

This will be his fourth career start versus the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, Bolsinger has started three games against the team that drafted him in the 15th round back in 2010. He played one season with the D-backs, going 1-6 with a 5.50 ERA in 10 games, including nine starts, in 2014.

Bolsinger (1-3) will be making his fifth start of the season. He’s lost his last two outings, to the Cubs and Rockies — the latter of which saw him surrender six runs on seven hits including a pair of home runs in 5.1 innings.

Bolsinger has yet to complete six innings in any of his previous mound appearances.

In the first series between these teams, the D-backs dropped two of three at Dodger Stadium in early April.

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