ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Sedona Red Recap: D-backs complete sweep of White Sox in bullpen game

May 24, 2017, 4:52 PM

Arizona Diamondbacks' Jake Lamb (22) celebrates his two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox ...

Arizona Diamondbacks' Jake Lamb (22) celebrates his two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox with Brandon Drury (27) during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHOENIX — Twice, the Arizona Diamondbacks swept an opponent at home in 2016. But neither happened until the final month of the season.

Fast-forward to this season and the D-backs have already matched that mark just two months into 2017.

Behind Jake Lamb’s two-run home run, the D-backs hung on to beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-6, completing the three-game series sweep in front of an announced crowd of 18,022 at Chase Field on Wednesday.

The D-backs have won eight of nine and are 11-3 in their last 14 games.

Andrew Chafin (1-0) earned the win and Fernando Rodney the save, his 12th. The D-backs used six different bullpen arms to piece together the nine-inning effort.

Randall Delgado made the spot start in place of the injured Taijuan Walker and went four innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Delgado had not started a game since Aug. 22, 2015.

Offensively, Lamb’s homer highlighted a 10-hit attack and was the centerpiece of a six-run fifth inning. Nick Ahmed, Chris Owings and Brandon Drury also had RBI — Ahmed and Owings had two — as the D-backs sent 10-men to the plate to break open a game that had been tied 2-2.

All eight Arizona runs were charged to Chicago starter Jose Quintana (2-6).

It was quite the up-and-down outing for the 28-year-old right-hander.

Quintana pitched three perfect innings and retired the first 10 batters of the game. Unfortunately for him, nine of the next 11 batters reached base safely.

Ahmed and Paul Goldschmidt began the onslaught with back-to-back fourth-inning doubles. Owings followed the Goldschmidt RBI with one of his own, singling in the game-tying run. From there, the D-backs teed off on Quintana for six runs on five hits, a sacrifice fly and hit-batter in the fifth inning. Quintana recorded only one out in the inning. His 4.1-inning outing marked a season-low.

The White Sox have lost seven of 10.

THE GOOD

The goal was four innings. Four innings the D-backs received from Delgado. Really his only mistake was a 2-2 changeup clocked at 86-mph that Leury Garcia hit for a solo home run with two outs in the second inning. Otherwise, Delgado was solid. The 61 pitches (36 for strikes) he threw marked a season high.

Finally, in the fourth inning, the D-backs’ bats came alive. Three consecutive hits — Ahmed and Goldschmidt doubled, Owings singled — produced a pair of runs to tie the game at 2. Goldschmidt drove in Ahmed, while Owings plated Goldschmidt with the tying run. Up until that point, the D-backs had exactly zero hits.

Dropped to seventh in the lineup with a lefty on the mound, Lamb homered for the second time in the series and sixth time in his last eight games overall. It was a 91-mph fastball that Lamb clubbed over the left-field fence in the fifth inning for his 13th of the season. The two-run shot handed the D-backs their first lead, 4-2.

Of course, the D-backs were not done in that fifth inning. Four more runs scored on RBI by Ahmed, Owings and Drury. Ahmed plated a pair with a single up the middle. Coupled with his earlier double, Ahmed recorded his sixth multi-hit effort of the season and first since May 13. He finished 2-for-4 with two strikeouts.

THE BAD

No runs, no hits, not even a baserunner for the D-backs the first time through the order. Quintana was perfect. He recorded five strikeouts, including a stretch of four of five between the second and third innings. Of the 34 pitches Quintana needed to retire nine batters, 25 went for strikes, including a first-pitch strike to each hitter.

Facing Delgado for the first time, Jose Abreu hit safely in his first two at-bats. He singled in the first and doubled to leadoff the fourth, and eventually scored to put the White Sox ahead, 2-0. Abreu extended his hitting streak to a season-high tying six consecutive games. Abreu added a home run off Tom Wilhelmsen in the sixth.

On the base paths, the D-backs ran into a pair of outs. Both Owings and Drury were guilty of trying to stretch a single into a double. Owings was thrown out 9-3-6 to end the fourth inning. Drury, meanwhile, was tagged out on a throw by right fielder Avisail Garcia to end the fifth inning. They were Garcia’s second and third assists of the season.

STAT OF THE GAME

10: At 29-19, the D-backs are 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of 2011 (94-68).

HE SAID IT

“Those are the types of games that build a lot of camaraderie and a lot of teamwork went on today, and it was a really nice win for us,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

NOTED

– Delgado threw a first-pitch strike to 10 of 15 batters faced and had a 3-ball count five times.

– Ahmed is batting .318 (14-for-44) with three doubles and six RBI over his last 13 games.

– Lamb has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games and has a RBI in six of his last seven.

– Owings has hit safely in 13 consecutive home starts and in 12 of his last 13 starts overall.

– Goldschmidt has reached base safely in a career-long 32 consecutive games at home.

– Yasmany Tomas was scratched from the lineup because of tightness in his left hip flexor.

– The D-backs improved to 7-1 in interleague play this season, outscoring its opponents, 49-26.

– The D-backs last swept a pair of interleague three-game series in 2011 (vs. Twins, @ Royals).

– Arizona had never had had three-game interleague sweeps at home in a single season.

– With a first-pitch temperature of 95 degrees, the roof was closed. It was a cool 75 indoors.

UP NEXT

How about 11 games in 11 days.

The D-backs’ upcoming road trip includes stops in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Miami. And yes, it’s the longest the team will be away from Chase Field all season.

Their travels begin with a four-game series against the Brewers. The opener, featuring a matchup between Robbie Ray and Zach Davies, is scheduled for Thursday with first pitch at 5:10 p.m. Pregame coverage begins 40 minutes earlier on ESPN 620 AM.

Ray (3-3) is coming off his first win in five starts. He tossed a season-best 7.2 scoreless innings with two hits and six strikeouts in the D-backs’ 9-1 victory at San Diego on May 20.

Two of Ray’s three wins this season have come on the road, where he owns a 1.03 ERA (3 ER in 26.1 IP) in four outings.

Ray lost his only career start against Milwaukee, last season at Miller Park.

Meanwhile, Davies (5-2) is on a three-start winning streak, defeating the Pirates, Mets and Padres. Even better, the Brewers have won each of the last six times he’s stepped on the mound.

Davis beat the D-backs last season, allowing two earned runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 6.1 innings at Chase Field on July 28. It was his first career appearance against Arizona.

By the way, the D-backs won’t be back in the Valley until June 6.

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