Robbie Ray fuels Diamondbacks’ shutout of Padres to snap losing streak

PHOENIX — Somebody had to stop the bleeding. And Robbie Ray stepped up.

The 26-year old lefty delivered 6.1 scoreless frames, even carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning, as the Arizona Diamondbacks grabbed a much-needed 6-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

In a way, it’s probably fitting that a pitcher was the one to help snap Arizona’s four-game skid. Despite the team’s recent struggles, the starters have been outstanding lately. In their last 11 outings, they’ve surrendered just 13 earned runs. But somehow the D-backs had only won three of those previous ten games prior to tonight.

With teams passing them in the standings and really no margin for error left at this point, Arizona had to have a win. Especially against a San Diego club that represents the only sub-.500 opponent left on the schedule in 2018.

Ray was dominant, striking out nine in what was arguably his best start of the season. It’s just the second time all year he’s recorded an out in the seventh inning.

Ketel Marte and A.J. Pollock each posted multi-hit nights, and six different Diamondback hitters drove in a run. Arizona only mustered two runs through the first six innings, but then tacked on four more in the seventh. And that was more than enough to get the D-backs their 75th victory of the season, in front of 18,556 fans at Chase Field.

THE GOOD

– Ray struck out the side in the first. He never looked uncomfortable on the mound.

– Pollock made a diving grab on a sharply hit ball to deep left center off the bat of Luis Urias to keep the no-hitter alive in the fourth inning.

– Arizona manufactured all four insurance runs in the seventh after the first two batters of the inning had gotten out. Marte got everything started with an infield single

– The much-maligned bullpen came through in a big way, giving Torey Lovullo 2.2 innings of shutout ball. Brad Ziegler, Archie Bradley and Yoshi Hirano combined to get the job done.

THE BAD

– It’s completely out of the Diamondbacks’ control, but every other NL team they’re chasing won tonight. No, seriously, all of them. The Dodgers, Rockies, Phillies, Brewers and Cardinals all picked up victories. In fact, the only clubs in the same vicinity as Arizona that lost were the Cubs and Braves, but they’re leading the Central and East, respectively.

STAT OF THE GAME

5: Number of times Ray has gotten through the sixth inning this season. Tonight was the first time he’s done it since July 25, and it was a big time to do it.

HE SAID IT

“My last two starts is about as mechanically sound as I’ve felt all year. Especially tonight. It just feels effortless. Every pitch has a purpose. Honestly, I felt good when he took me out of the game too because physically I was still strong, still throwing the ball hard. It’s just less effort.” – Robbie Ray

UP NEXT

The Diamondbacks will get a rare Wednesday off, before beginning a pivotal four-game series with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6:40 from Chase Field, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:00 p.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Zack Greinke (13-9) will take the mound for Arizona, looking for another strong outing. The 34-year old ace has only allowed more than three runs in a game once since June 13 – a stretch of 14 starts. He only picked up one win in August despite his strong effort, though, and lost his most recent game against the Dodgers on Aug. 31.

Greinke faced Atlanta once earlier this season, tossing 7.2 shutout innings on July 14.

Atlanta will counter with Anibal Sanchez (6-5), who brings an impressive 2.98 ERA over 20 games (19 starts) into Thursday’s contest. He’s allowed just two total earned runs over 11.0 innings in his last two starts, but hasn’t gotten much run support lately, winning just once since July 20.

He faced Arizona back on July 13, surrendering just one earned run in a no-decision.

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