Sedona Red Recap: Archie Bradley battles with command in loss to Rays

PHOENIX — As the Diamondbacks have learned this season, consistency shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Archie Bradley knows as much through five starts this season, and on Wednesday he followed up his career-high 10 strikeout performance against the Cubs with a more shaky outing in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Bradley allowed four earned runs and walked four in 5.2 innings while striking out five.

That he couldn’t go six innings burned at him the most, more than allowing solo home runs in the first and third frames.

“That’s definitely going to bug me,” Bradley said.

Six pitches led to two outs in the top of the sixth, when the Diamondbacks led 3-2, but Bradley’s afternoon went south quickly as Desmond Jennings’ home run tied the game. Bradley then allowed a triple to Tim Beckham before walking Curt Casali.

Jake Barrett replaced Bradley but allowed an RBI-single by Steve Pearce that put Tampa Bay ahead 4-3.

“That was really, really frustrating for me,” Bradley said of falling short of six full innings. “I wanted to be aggressive to Jennings because I got two quick outs. And then same thing, fall behind to Beckham and he hits a triple into the gap. Couldn’t get Casali to really swing anything, and that kind of summed up the game right there.”

But there’s also that up-and-down consistency to talk about.

Bradley responded to his one bad pitch in the first inning — that led to a home run by Corey Dickerson — by striking out the side in the second. Two strikeouts came on whiffs against Bradley’s curveball.

That Bradley struggled to place his fastball and curve after that point was where his performance lacked.

In the third inning, Bradley also earned two quick outs but allowed a walk on four pitches to Taylor Motter. Then, Dickerson and Evan Longoria hit two singles, the latter of which was an RBI to tie the game, 2-2.

“The issue starts to come into the two outs, nobody on,” D-backs manager Chip Hale said. “Is it a lack of concentration, is it just his stuff isn’t very good? There were too many at-bats there with two outs, we gave up runs or we gave up hits and walks. Those are things you work hard on spring and work on to make it to the big leagues. We’ll have to tighten that up.”

THE GOOD

Rickie Weeks Jr. tied the game, 1-1, in the second inning with a solo home run off Jake Odorizzi to right field. The D-backs weren’t done. Taking his at-bat seven pitches following a two-out intentional walk to Nick Ahmed, Bradley grounded a ball straight up the middle to score Chris Herrmann from second base to put Arizona ahead 2-1.

Arizona broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the third when Herrmann’s fielder’s choice to second scored David Peralta from third.

THE BAD

Dickerson took the ninth pitch of his at-bat out of the park for a solo shot to left field, giving Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The outfielder went the opposite direction against Tyler Clippard in the top of the seventh inning to put the Rays ahead 5-3.

Diamondbacks closer Brad Ziegler allowed a run in the ninth. First, the Rays’ Mikie Mahtook singled. He advanced to second on an out but Steven Souza Jr. hit a hot ball past Paul Goldschmidt at first for an RBI which put the Rays ahead 6-3.

An Arizona rally attempt with a 6-3 deficit in the ninth ended suddenly. Consecutive singles by pinch-hitter Michael Bourn and Jean Segura put runners on the corners for the D-backs with no outs, and a Jake Lamb walk loaded the bases for Arizona’s best hitter, but Goldschmidt fell behind 0-2 before striking out, and Peralta hit into a double-play to end the game.

STAT OF THE GAME

4: The four Rays runs charged to Bradley came on two-out RBIs.

HE SAID IT

“You couldn’t have set it up better in the ninth. Those are the guys you want up there. It just didn’t work today.” — Chip Hale on a failed rally attempt in the ninth frame.

NOTED

– Paul Goldschmidt’s streak of reaching base safety extended to 14 games in the loss.

– Rickie Weeks Jr. hit his third home run of the year and first at Chase Field since May 25, 2012, when he was with the Brewers.

– With the solo shot by Tampa Bay in the first frame, the D-backs’ scoreless streak ended at 11 innings.

– Bradley’s two-out RBI helped improve the D-backs’ pitching staff’s numbers at the plate. They lead the majors with 24 hits on the year.

UP NEXT

Following a day off Thursday, Arizona begins its second series of a nine-game homestand against the Miami Marlins.

Patrick Corbin takes the mound for the Diamondbacks for a rematch against Marlins pitcher Justin Nicolino, who earned a 7-4 victory against Arizona on May 3, one of his two wins on the year.

After allowing seven earned runs in 3.1 innings two starts ago, Corbin turned things around in his last start by going seven frames and allowing two runs in a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs.

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