Sedona Red Recap: Corbin struggles again in loss to Brewers

And the questions continue, only now with a different spin.

What is wrong with Patrick Corbin has become, will Patrick Corbin remain in the Arizona Diamondbacks starting rotation?

It’s a fair question, especially in light of his most recent performance.

Corbin was tagged for four runs on eight hits and five walks in five-plus innings in the D-backs 15-6 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers in front of a Saturday night crowd of 29,370 at Chase Field.

Corbin also struck out five in losing his second straight start and fifth in six starts overall. Not once did he have a clean 1-2-3 inning.

On the season, Corbin is 4-11 with a 5.37 ERA.

The Brewers scored two in the first and four in the sixth, the latter inning highlighted by a Ryan Braun three-run home run, the first of his two three-run shots.

Braun had three hits and seven RBI, matching the Brewers franchise record.

Corbin has not won since June 21 and worse yet, he hasn’t completed six innings in any of his eight starts since. He’s also winless at home; now 0-8 with a 6.93 ERA in 11 starts.

Offensively, the D-backs were held in check by Brewers starter Matt Garza. He held the D-backs to one hit through five innings. His shutout bid ended in the seventh inning with Welington Castillo’s two-run home run.

Garza (3-4) pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts to win back-to-back starts for the first time in more than two months.

The Brewers evened the series at a game apiece.

The D-backs, meanwhile, found themselves back in the loss column for the fifth time in the past six games.

THE GOOD

Though he consistently got himself into trouble, Corbin was then able to work out of it. He escaped jams in the second, third and fourth innings in which the Brewers put a pair of runners in scoring position in each frame. Twice in those three situations, Corbin ended the threat with a strikeout. He had four after four innings. The Brewers, meanwhile, left eight men on base and were 0-for-6 with RISP through four.

It only took until the seventh inning, but the D-backs finally ended the run of goose eggs on the scoreboard. First, Castillo unloaded on a 2-0 pitch, sending the ball into the seats in left field for a two-run home run. Then, Segura liked the first offering he saw from reliever Jhan Marinez and put the ball onto the concourse in center field. It was Castillo’s 12th homer of the season and Segura’s 10th, two shy of his career-high.

THE BAD

Certainly not the start Corbin envisioned. His first pitch of the game Jonathan Villar ripped into left field for a single. He then walked Orlando Arcia on six pitches. Two throws later a wild pitch moved Villar and Arcia each up 90 feet. Braun and Perez then followed with back-to-back sacrifice flies; and just like that, it was 2-0 Brewers before many fans had settled into their seats. Corbin threw 28 pitches in a 17-minute half inning.

After three innings, the D-backs had managed only one hit off Garza. The one player he didn’t get out was Jake Lamb, who grounded a ball through the left side to open the second inning. Three batters later Lamb was forced out at second base, ending the inning. Garza faced 10 batters, retiring nine. Even more impressive was his pitch count. He was only up to 33 pitches, including 21 strikes. Garza needed only six pitches to retire the side in the first.

Welcome to the club, Evan Marshall. He became the latest inductee to the ever-growing list of D-backs relievers to implode in recent weeks. Placed in a two on and no out situation in the sixth inning, Marshall threw two pitches before his third was hit out of the ballpark. Braun’s three-run shot made it 5-0 Brewers. Milwaukee then had four of the next five batters then reached base safely with Keon Broxton’s single plating the inning’s fourth run.

Hey, Dominic Leone, you can join the club, too. Though you may be a charter member. Pitching the seventh inning, Leone struck out the side, but it’s what happened between outs one and two: walk, base hit and three-run home run. Braun’s second homer of the game made it 9-0 Brewers. Leone has struggled in five straight appearances (8 ER in 5.0 IP; 14.40 ERA). It was Braun’s third multi-homer game this season.

And let’s go ahead and add Adam Loewen as well. His ninth inning pitching line was an impressive one, in the wrong kind of way: five runs on two hits and three walks in just two-thirds of an inning. His ERA ballooned to 10.38 on the season. The Brewers scored six times in their final at-bat. Their 15 total runs (on 19 hits; Broxton went 5-for-5, Villar 4-for-6 and each had two RBI) were a season-high and D-backs opponent season-high.

STAT OF THE GAME, part one

Braun outscored the D-backs by himself with seven RBI. His three hits doubled his season total against the D-backs (.429, 6-for-14 with eight RBI)

STAT OF THE GAME, part two

For the fourth time in the past six games, including three times at home, D-backs pitchers have allowed double-digit runs; a combined 63 runs have been scored by the opposition in the past six games

HE SAID IT

“We’ll all sit down (Sunday) morning and the off day on Monday and we’ll figure this thing out,” manager Chip Hale said, referring to Corbin’s future in the rotation. “But, yeah, we obviously have a spot that Zack (Greinke) is going to take. We’re going to see what’s best for the club, best for each pitcher.”

NOTED

Phil Gosselin leads the majors with 13 pinch-hits after his bloop double to leadoff sixth.

Twice in the first four innings, Corbin exceeded 20 pitches, giving him 77 after the fourth.

Prior to second inning, the D-backs acknowledged the return of pitcher Chase Anderson.

Fans booed Braun every time he came to bat with someone in the stands yelling, “Juicer!”

Outfielder David Peralta was scratched from the original lineup because of wrist soreness.

Wearing their black alternate uniforms with black gradient “A” cap, the D-backs are 8-9.

With a first-pitch temperature of 106 degrees, the game was played with the roof closed.

D-backs opted not to take on-field batting practice prior to the game; they hit in the cages.

UP NEXT

The series and six-game homestand concludes with a pair of right-handers, Archie Bradley and Jimmy Nelson, taking the mound on Sunday, Aug. 7. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Bradley (4-7) is coming off his shortest outing of the season going 3.1 innings against the Nationals, allowing eight runs on 12 hits—both of which were season-highs—with two walks and one strikeout. It was his second loss in three appearances.

Bradley has but one win in his past eight starts, and it just so happens to be against the Brewers, back on July 27 in Milwaukee.

This will be Bradley’s 16th start of the season.

Meanwhile, Nelson (6-10) is in the midst of a rough stretch, losing three straight and seven of his last 11 starts, during which time he’s allowed 30 ER in 55.2 innings for a 4.85 ERA.

Nelson, who has not pitched past the fifth inning in his last three starts, is 1-1 in three career appearances against the D-backs.

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