D-backs’ pitchers combine for solid outing vs. Dodgers’ lineup in spring win

SCOTTSDALE — The Arizona Diamondbacks got a solid outing from seven different pitchers against one of the deepest lineups in MLB on Monday.

In a 5-3 spring training win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Salt River Fields, the D-backs only allowed a total of six baserunners on five hits and one walk while striking out eight.

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Martin had a solid 55-pitch outing (34 strikes) through 2.2 innings pitched, with one full count in each frame tacking up the right-hander’s pitch count.

“Corbin Martin I thought was pretty effective, but he had some extended innings,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. “That one extended inning we had to clip his pitch count a little bit short. But overall I liked the carry on his fastball, the secondary stuff that he could land. It was a solid outing for him.”

Martin only allowed three baserunners on two hits and one walk while striking out two of 11 batters faced. However, the second of Martin’s two earned runs came with Arizona’s Keynan Middleton on the mound after Martin was pulled with Dodgers’ Austin Barnes on third base.

“I felt good. I felt like I was consistently where I wanted to be,” Martin said. “That’s a tough lineup and they’re gonna battle and wear you down. I feel like that’s what they did to me. I felt like I did a good job of attacking them when I needed to and getting outs when I needed to — a lot better than years past.

“I feel like my misses were really close too, I was aggressive with all my pitches. It’s one of those lineups you gotta be like that because they do that — they foul you off, make you throw a lot of pitches and they won’t chase. For what it’s worth, I felt like I did pretty good with that.”

Martin also faced Los Angeles’ Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman twice, with the duo going 0-for-3. (A Freeman walk was it for those two against the Diamondbacks starter.)

“That’s the team you want to face,” Martin said. “We’re gonna face them multiple times this year. With a lineup like that, those are the guys you want to go out and do your thing against. Especially with seems like they have 15 guys who could be a three-hole hitter so you have to be really smart with what you do and be aggressive with it.”

The bullpen — made up of Middleton, Joe Mantiply, Ian Kennedy, Noe Ramirez, J.B. Wendelken and Drey Jameson — accounted for the final 6.1 innings of the ballgame. The six pitchers combined to allow just one run on three hits while striking out six. One of the hits was a solo homer off of Jameson, who struck out three Dodgers in his two innings that saw his fastball hit 100 mph multiple times.

“The bullpen was really good after giving up a couple early runs,” Lovullo said. “Those are some of our main guys that went out there and had some eight-pitch, 10-pitch innings. Those are the things you’re looking for, they’re commanding the baseball and doing their job.”

Offensively, the D-backs scored all five of their runs in the seventh inning. David Peralta tied things up with a two-run homer (third of spring training) to deep center field, followed by an onslaught of RBI hits from Cooper Hummel, Seth Beer and Geraldo Perdomo.

Oops, @DPFreightTrain6 did it again! That's 3️⃣ this spring. pic.twitter.com/JGfRByppxW

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 28, 2022

But Arizona’s ability to break the game open only came after Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was taken out, as the lefty looked to be in midseason form already, only requiring 40 pitches (29 strikes) through four innings of work. After giving up a leadoff double to D-backs’ Carson Kelly, Kershaw retired 11 straight Diamondbacks while striking out three and facing the minimum 12 batters.

NICK AHMED UPDATE

“Nick was examined, had some imaging and there’s some right shoulder inflammation,” Lovullo said. “He’s in the process of getting a second opinion. I don’t want to set a timeline on that. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

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