Patrick Corbin’s 44-pitch third inning costs D-backs in loss to Rockies

PHOENIX – In what could be his final home game at Chase Field as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Patrick Corbin took to the mound in one of his shortest career outings on Saturday, resulting in a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Corbin didn’t look sharp from the get-go. After giving up a single to the second batter of the game D.J. LeMahieu, Corbin walked Nolan Arenado and Matt Holliday to load the bases before getting Ian Desmond to hit into a double play to end the inning.

After a fairly dominant second inning with three strikeouts, Corbin kicked off the third by hitting Charlie Blackmon with a pitch and loading the bases again with a pair of walks to Arenado and Desmond, but this time around former D-back Chris Iannetta didn’t allow him to escape the inning unscathed again.

Iannetta started the scoring carousel with a two-RBI single, which was followed by a pair of RBI singles by David Dahl and Garrett Hampson that gave the Rockies a 4-0 lead that ended Corbin’s night.

On the heels of seven straight quality starts at home, Corbin pitched three innings, allowing five hits and four earned runs with five strikeouts, four walks, and a wild pitch.

“I felt pretty good, I just fell behind a good team,” said Corbin after his start. “I just wasn’t working ahead, and they made me work.”

“It just wasn’t the type of outing that I was expecting out of Patrick,” added manager Torey Lovullo post game. “He got nicked up with a 44-pitch third inning, and by that time, I guess as you look at the final score of the game the damage had been done.”

If this was Patrick Corbin’s final start of his career at Chase Field, it was one of his least memorable. This was his shortest outing at home since a relief pitching appearance on September 30, 2016 against the San Diego Padres.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to a start on September 17, 2013 to find his last start at Chase Field where he lasted 3.0 innings or less. Corbin has been that good in his time with the franchise.

Offensively, the D-backs were stuck in the mud until A.J. Pollock broke up the no hitter being tossed by Rockies starter Antonio Sezatela in the fifth inning with a solo home run, his 19th of the season. But outside of that, the D-backs were only able to muster up two additional hits in the loss.

Arizona will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday as their elimination number drops to one in the National League West.

THE GOOD
– The D-backs were able to extend their streak of games with an extra-base hit to 56 consecutive games. The franchise record is a 79-game streak set back in 2013.
– Andrew Chafin set a club record of his own by making his career-high 75th appearance of the season, most by a D-backs left-hander.

THE BAD
– Saturday’s start was Corbin’s shortest outing at home as a starter in over five years.
– The D-backs’ offense was non-existent for most of the night outside of Pollock’s home run. They weren’t even a threat to score for most of this one.

STAT OF THE GAME
One – The Elimination Number for the D-backs both in the NL West and the National League Wild Card race is one after the loss.

HE SAID IT
“I think the number’s one, right? That’s what I was told as I was walking over here. It’s probably not something that I’d put my arms around right now, but I go back to Jim Carey ‘You’re saying there’s a chance?’, right? I’m gonna live until I can take no more breaths, and I feel like the whole clubhouse will do the same.” – Torey Lovullo after the game

NOTED
– This was Patrick Corbin’s 153rd career start for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
– Arizona has seven games remaining this season– including one more with the Rockies, a three-game series at Chase Field against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a three-game series in San Diego against the Padres.
– The D-backs tied an MLB record with 14 consecutive games against teams that were in first place at the time of the matchup. They tied the 1993 Baltimore Orioles and the 1996 Detroit Tigers.
– 35,094 were in attendance for Saturday night’s game. First pitch was at 5:10 p.m. with an indoor temperature of 77 degrees and an outdoor temp of 97 degrees. They did open the roof in the third inning.

UP NEXT
Zack Godley, 14-10 this season with a 4.79 ERA, will start for the D-backs in game three against the Rockies on Sunday. Kyle Freeland will get the start for Colorado. First pitch it scheduled for 1:10 p.m.

Godley is 4-1 in six starts against the Rockies this season with a 3.53 ERA and an opponent batting average of .227. He has set career highs this season in wins, starts, innings pitched, and strikeouts.

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