Archie Bradley escapes multiple jams for first win in 2016
May 9, 2016, 9:25 PM | Updated: May 10, 2016, 7:21 am
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Archie Bradley works against Colorado Rockies' Gerardo Parra in the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, May 9, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
It wasn’t pretty, but Archie Bradley got the job done Monday against the Colorado Rockies in a 10-5 Arizona Diamondbacks’ win.
The heralded prospect loaded the bases in half the innings he pitched and allowed runners to reach scoring position in four of his six innings of work, but he limited the damage to four earned runs.
It didn’t start that way, however, as Bradley met Trevor Story, who is already becoming a D-backs’ nemesis in his rookie season. The 23-year-old shortstop hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game up for the home side.
In the next inning, Bradley once again faced Story, this time with the bases loaded and two outs. After Story battled by fouling off three pitches, Bradley struck him out looking to end the inning and escape.
A 1-2-3 third inning was followed by the D-backs’ right-hander getting into trouble once again, this time in the fourth inning. Another encounter with Story and runners in scoring position was not as friendly this time around. A sacrifice fly with the bases loaded gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead and Story added two more runs the next at-bat with a two-run double.
An explosive top half of the fifth for the D-backs gave Bradley some much-needed run support, but he would find trouble once more in the bottom half.
Bradley allowed runners on second and third with one out in the fifth and it seemed like the Rockies were eventually going to break through. That wouldn’t be the case, however, as a big strikeout to former D-back Mark Reynolds made it two outs and a groundout ended the inning.
A clean sixth inning ended Bradley’s night. He finished the outing allowing seven hits, three walks and four earned runs, striking out four.
“Besides the fourth inning, which was kind of self-imposed on my part, I feel like I was able to limit the damage when I was given some tough hands,” Bradley said. “And you can’t say enough about the offense tonight. They picked me up and was able to kind of ride it out those last two innings, so it was all-around a good team win.”
The team announced after the game that Bradley is going to back to Triple-A Reno.
Correction: #Dbacks option Archie Bradley to the Triple-A Reno @Aces. RHP Evan Marshall is expected to be recalled tomorrow.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 10, 2016
