Robbie Ray, hot bats blast Padres as D-backs get series win
May 20, 2017, 10:14 PM | Updated: 10:34 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray throws to the plate against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of a baseball game in San Diego, Saturday, May 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
(AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
The story on Saturday night wasn’t much different than on Friday.
For the second night in a row, the Diamondbacks bats pounded the ball around the ballpark and got a scoreless outing from their starting pitcher. Arizona plated five runs in the top of the first inning, two runs in the second, another in the fourth and one more in the ninth for good measure.
Arizona topped San Diego 9-1 for the series win.
The offensive fireworks come just a day after the D-backs scored eight runs in the top of the first inning on Friday to chase starting pitcher Jered Weaver through just 0.2 innings. On Saturday, Padres starter Luis Perdomo lasted just 3+ innings, pulled in the fourth inning with no outs.
As the offense worked, Robbie Ray tossed a gem. He retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced, eventually going 7.2 shutout innings, matching his career high in innings pitched in a game. He allowed just two hits with three walks, fanning six.
Coming into the ballgame with a 4.57 clip, Ray’s ERA fell to 3.91 after the outing, which was his ninth start this season and first against San Diego.
Among those contributing to the offensive onslaught was David Peralta, who went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Chris Herrmann also got in on the fun, hitting his second home run in three games with a two-run blast in the top of the first.
#TheHerrmannator is back. #DbacksJack pic.twitter.com/2Ft8Hr8DpK
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 21, 2017
In addition to Peralta, multi-hit games were registered by Chris Owings, Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb and Herrmann.
THE GOOD
–Ray’s stellar outing was a tremendous rebound from his last start, in which the southpaw tossed a season-low four innings and allowed four runs on six hits to the Pirates.
–Owings’ two hits put him at an impressive 5-for-9 through two games in the series. He batted leadoff on Saturday for just the eighth time in his career.
–Peralta’s 4-for-5 performance lifted his batting average to .319. Four of the eight position players in Torey Lovullo’s lineup on Saturday ended the ballgame with a season average north of .300.
–After knocking Perdomo (3.0+ IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L) out of the game in the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks have faced a combined 3.2 IP of starting pitching through two games in San Diego.
THE BAD
–J.J. Hoover’s effort in the ninth inning yielded a bases-loaded jam, which was followed by an infield single to get the Padres their first run of the evening. Arizona lost its shutout bid in the ninth inning on Friday, as well.
–Robbie Ray labored somewhat in the eighth inning, which prevented him from setting a new career high in innings pitched in a game. His departure with two outs in that frame left him four outs shy of a complete game shutout.
UP NEXT
The D-backs have now won five in a row. They’ll go for their second consecutive sweep in the series finale at Petco Park on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. MST. Then, they return to Chase Field for three against the White Sox before an 11-game road trip.
