Grit Index: All-Stars Corbin, Goldschmidt lead D-backs past Reds

They were the Arizona Diamondbacks All-Stars for a reason, and Patrick Corbin and Paul Goldschmidt showed exactly why in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.

As he has done virtually all season, Corbin, the Diamondbacks’ starter Tuesday in Cincinnati, delivered for his team, who trail the Reds in the race for the second NL Wild Card spot.

Corbin kept the Reds scoreless through the first seven innings of the game, ultimately going on to match his career-high in strikeouts, with 10, in the second complete game of his career.

Martin Prado’s solo home run in the fourth inning appeared to be enough for Corbin, who was breezing through the Reds’ lineup, ultimately fanning the middle of the order — consisting of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce — six times.

Then, in the eighth inning, Corbin surrendered a two-run homer to Chris Heisey, surrendering the shutout. But that wasn’t before Goldschmidt crushed a grand slam — his third of the season — earlier in the inning.

And five runs was more than enough support for Corbin. Aided by the early exit of opposing pitcher Tony Cingrani, who suffered a back strain in the fourth inning, Corbin finished off the Reds on only 103 pitches, allowing six hits and walking none.

As for the other All-Star, Goldschmidt’s 100th RBI and 31st home run of the season came on the eighth inning grand slam. He is the first Diamondbacks player to ever hit three grand slams in a season and he’s the first to join the 30-home run, 100-RBI club since Mark Reynolds accomplished the feat in 2009.

The Good:

Paul Goldschmidt regained a share of the National League home run lead Tuesday, tying the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Pedro Alvarez with 31.

The Bad:

Despite a strong campaign to make the NL All-Star roster earlier this season, leading league outfielders in hits for most of the first half, Gerardo Parra is hitting just .179 over his last 36 games, recording just six extra-base hits and three RBI in that span.

Noted:

-After Tuesday’s win, only the St. Louis Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright and the Washington Nationals’ Jordan Zimmerman have more wins than Patrick Corbin among NL starting pitchers.

-With 100 RBI and 31 home runs through 124 games, Paul Goldschmidt is on pace to finish the season with 131 RBI and 41 home runs for the Diamondbacks.

-Martin Prado is hitting .386 with nine extra-base hits, 18 RBI, a .439 on-base percentage and a .586 slugging percentage in the month of August.

Up Next:

Brandon McCarthy (2-7, 4.86 ERA) is slated to make his fourth start since coming off the disabled list for the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. He’ll face Reds right-hander Mike Leake (10-5, 3.01 ERA), who has last two of his last three starts. First pitch is at 4:10 MDT at Great American Ballpark and can be heard on Arizona Sports 620 AM.