Sedona Red Recap: D-backs lose fourth straight, Zack Greinke to injury

When it rains, it pours, and that’s with a closed roof.

Not only did the Arizona Diamondbacks lose the game—another one at home—and the series with one game left to be played. They also lost their ace.

Right-handed starter Zack Greinke left the contest prior to the third inning with tightness in his left oblique.

The injury added insult to a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, who won their first series in almost six weeks.

Less than 20,000 attended the action at Chase Field—officially the crowd was announced at 19,645—but those that did witnesssed the unthinkable, a Brad Ziegler blown save after the D-backs had taken a 3-2 lead on Jake Lamb’s seventh-inning solo home run.

In the ninth inning, Ziegler surrendered a game-tying single to Andres Blanco and four batters later walked Ryan Howard to force in the go-ahead run.

The D-backs have lost four straight at home, where they are 13-27, and four straight overall.

Meanwhile, the Phillies celebrated their first series victory since May 16-18, when they took two of three from Miami.

The Phillies had gone 0-10-2 in their 12 series since, making them the only team in the majors without a series win over that period.

Looking to become just the second D-back with five wins in June, Greinke lasted just 10 batters. He allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts, throwing 35 total pitches.

It was unclear immediately after the game how the injury might affect Greinke’s next turn in the rotation.

With Greinke out, the bullpen went to work.

Between Randall Delgado, Andrew Chafin, Tyler Clippard and Daniel Hudson, the quartet held the Phillies to a run on four hits over six combined innings.

Yasmany Tomas also went deep for the D-backs, who recorded 10 hits, three of which belonged to Welington Castillo.

For the Phillies, Odubel Herrera, Maikel Franco and Freddy Galvis each had two hits with Franco adding an RBI on a solo home run that put the Phillies in front, 2-1, in the fifth inning.

The Phillies have won four of six after ending a nine-game losing streak.

THE GOOD

It’s called helping your own cause, and it’s exactly what Greinke did in the second inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Greinke lifted a first-pitch fly ball into left field, deep enough for Lamb to tag up at third base and score, tying the game at 1. Greinke has been good with the bat this season. The RBI was his third, tied for the most among D-backs pitchers.

The answer to the trivia question is 460 feet. That’s how far Tomas’ home run traveled in the sixth inning, landing on the left-field concourse, according to Statcast. It’s the longest homer hit by a D-back this season, besting the 453-foot shot by Lamb on June 23 at Colorado. For Tomas, the leadoff solo shot was his 13th of the season, and it tied the game at 2.

Though the field may be stacked against him, Lamb is certainly deserving of some All-Star consideration. With his go-ahead, two-out seventh-inning solo home run to right field, he now leads the D-backs with 16 big flies and 52 RBI — the latter moving him ahead of Paul Goldschmidt. Lamb hit an 81-mph curveball that caught too much of the middle of the plate.

THE BAD

A night after he was doubled off first base, D-backs lead-off man Jean Segura was picked off the first-base bag. With two outs and Lamb at the plate, Segura, who led off the game with a walk, was caught leaning toward second and unable to make it back safely ahead of Howard’s swipe tag. It marked the third time this season in which Segura was picked off base, tying a career-high set in 2014.

Three consecutive two-out hits and the Phillies took an early 1-0 lead on Greinke and the D-backs in the second inning. Galvis, Cesar Hernandez and Jerad Eickhoff all singled, the latter on a 92-mph fastball that he lined into right field on the first pitch to plate Galvis. It was Eickhoff’s fifth hit and fourth RBI—tops among Phillies pitchers—of the season.

After two scoreless innings, Delgado was one out from retiring the side in the fifth when Franco hit an 80-mph slider sky high and over the left field fence for a solo home run, giving the Phillies the lead, 2-1. It was Franco’s team-best 13th home run of the season and second career at Chase Field. For Delgado, it was the fourth long ball surrrendered this season.

You can’t say the D-backs didn’t have their scoring chances, and they had excellent chances in both the fourth and fifth innings. Lamb led off the fourth with a triple, but he was left stranded 90-feet away. Nick Ahmed reached (hit-by-pitch) to lead off the fifth and advanced to third on Segura’s second hit of the game but again, the tying run never crossed home plate.

After a run of 43 straight saves—setting a club record—Ziegler has now blown two of his past three save opportunities. It happened quickly in the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Jimmy Paredes doubled to lead off the inning. Two pitches later, Blanco singled him home with the tying run, snapping Ziegler’s scoreless streak at seven straight appearances covering 8.1 innings.

STAT OF THE GAME

1-for-10: The D-backs’ performance, or lack thereof, with runners in scoring position including a combined 0-for-6 in the fourth and fifth innings. They are 1-for-13 in the series thus far.

HE SAID IT

“The guys battled. It was a good baseball game, and you give them credit,” manager Chip Hale said, referring to the Phillies. “They battled in the ninth inning. They were the better team in the ninth inning.”

NOTED

– Before exiting the game, Greinke had thrown a first-pitch strike to each of the 10 batters he faced.

– In the fourth inning, the D-backs recorded the everyday 3-1-5-2-5-3-6 double play to escape a jam.

– Lamb is now hitting .368 (21-for-57) with five home runs, 17 RBI and five walks in his last 17 games.

– Michael Bourn, 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, made his season-high fifth straight start in center field.

– Wearing their home alternate teal uniforms with teal outlined “A” cap, the D-backs fell to 4-9.

– With a first-pitch temperature of 110 degrees, the game was played with the roof and panels closed.

– D-backs assistant hitting coach Mark Grace, who hit .304 with one homer on his birthday, turned 52.

– Double-A Mobile left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda was named to the MLB All-Star Futures Game.

UP NEXT

A pair of young right-handers—Archie Bradley and Zach Eflin—take the mound in the series finale on Wednesday.

It’s an early first pitch with gametime scheduled for 12:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on ESPN 620 AM.

Bradley (3-3) will be making his sixth straight start and career-high ninth of the season.

In his last outing, Bradley pitched well in Colorado, holding the Rockies to one run on five hits, but he walked a season-high-tying four batters in five innings and earned a no decision.

Bradley is 1-1 in two career starts against the Phillies, picking up the win just two weeks ago at Citizens Bank Park with six scoreless innings.

Meanwhile, Eflin, a rookie, gets the call in what will be his fourth career start and second facing Bradley and the D-backs. In that appearance, he suffered the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

Eflin (0-2) is coming off his best performance as a pro. He pitched six innings of shutout ball at San Francisco only to not factor in the decision.

Follow @CraigAZSports