ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
White-hot Peralta, composed Corbin lead D-backs in win over Phillies
Aug 8, 2018, 4:54 PM

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin made a Wednesday afternoon matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies boring in the best way.
Corbin cruised through 7.1 innings, giving up no runs, four hits and zero walks with nine strikeouts in the D-backs’ 6-0 win.
Through five innings, Corbin’s only two baserunners were off singles hit by Phillies third baseman Carlos Hernandez. In both the first and fourth inning, Corbin produced two double plays to stop Hernandez from even advancing to second base.
It was not as boring in the other half of the innings, where the D-backs enjoyed their time facing Philadelphia starter Vince Velasquez.
Everyone in the lineup was seeing the ball well, particularly left fielder David Peralta.
Peralta finished the day 4-for-5, making him a white-hot 18-of-33 in the last seven games. It was his sixth four-hit game of the year, tying the New York Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton for the most in the majors.
Those six games are also a franchise record, and Peralta still has more than 40 games left in the season to improve that mark. His 10 hits in the series against Philadelphia tied Luis Gonzalez’s 1999 franchise record for the most in a three-game series.
“[He’s] continuing to be one of our offensive leaders,” manager Torey Lovullo said after the game. “I think the league needs to take notice of the success that he’s having because he’s right in the middle of a lot of the things that are happening here and he deserves that credit.”
In the bottom of the third, D-backs right fielder Jon Jay hit a double that put him on third base thanks to an error. Up next, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was hit by a pitch and then Peralta roped a triple down the right-field line to score both for the first two runs of the game.
Eduardo Escobar’s deep sacrifice fly to center brought home Peralta for a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, shortstop Ketel Marte creamed a single to left and catcher Alex Avila knocked another hard-hit ball to center for a base hit of his own on the next at-bat.
It was only a three-run game and the D-backs had just five hits, but the damage was apparent enough for the Phillies to have a mound visit before Corbin came to the plate and Philadelphia got someone going in the bullpen.
Corbin hit into a double play and a run scored, pushing the score to 4-0.
Velasquez was pulled through five innings while Corbin was rolling.
“Patrick Corbin paced us,” Lovullo said. “Patrick was outstanding. The fastball, slider combination, kept hitters off-balance.”
Third baseman Eduardo Escobar hit a two-RBI double in the seventh, his league-leading 42nd to give the bullpen a six-run cushion for the last two innings.
Brad Ziegler finished off the eighth for Corbin and Matt Andriese closed out the ninth to seal the victory.
The win meant the series against the Phillies was Arizona’s first series win at home since mid-June against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
NOTED
— Arizona right fielder Steven Souza Jr. had a scheduled day off. Lovullo said before the game Souza was still sore after a collision with the right-field fence Tuesday night, but he was available off the bench Wednesday.
UP NEXT
The D-backs are off Thursday before the start of a nine-game road trip on Friday. Their first series takes them to Cincinnati where they will face the 50-65 Reds. Clay Buchholz starts for Arizona while Cincinnati will trot out Anthony DeSclafani.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. on ESPN 620.
Buchholz has been a great option for Lovullo in the back-half of the rotation since making his debut in late May. In his first 10 appearances, Buchholz has lasted at least six innings in half his outings and has allowed less than three earned runs in all but two of his starts. On the season, he is 5-1 with a 2.68 ERA.