Sedona Red Recap: Bats come to life as Diamondbacks roll Reds

Saturday’s contest was a forgettable one for the Arizona Diamondbacks. After all, it was essentially over right after it started, with the Cincinnati Reds erupting for a 13-0 win.

Arizona returned the favor on Sunday though.

Yasmany Tomas homered, Welington Castillo drove in four and Archie Bradley surrendered just two runs over six innings as the D-backs ran right over the Reds by a final of 11-2 in front of 22,624 fans at Chase Field. With the victory, Arizona has now posted back-to-back winning homestands.

Much like the Reds did on Saturday, the Diamondbacks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning today. Five of the first seven Arizona batters collected singles, including the first three hitters that came to the plate. In all, Chip Hale’s group piled up 18 hits. To put that into perspective, they had a total of 13 over their previous three outings.

On the mound, Archie Bradley delivered six solid innings for his fifth win of the season. His only two mistakes came over the span of three pitches in the second frame, when Brandon Phillips and Scott Schebler launched back-to-back home runs. From there, he settled in pretty nicely.

The Diamondbacks finish the season series with Cincinnati even at three wins apiece. Overall, Arizona is now 55-76 in 2016.

THE BAD

-When Phillips and Schebler went back-to-back, that gave Schebler – who had four homers all year prior to Saturday – three in his last two games.

THE GOOD

-Nine different Arizona players recorded a hit in this one.

-A.J. Pollock stole his first two bases of the year in the third inning – and slid into the bag feet-first each time.

-In all, the D-backs stole four bases today, giving them a franchise-record 38 for the month.

-Pinch hitting in the sixth, Tomas connected for his 27th home run of the season. Of his last 19 hits, ten have gone over the fence.

-Welington Castillo now has 17 RBI over his last 13 games.

-Patrick Corbin came through with a pinch hit RBI in the eighth.

STAT OF THE GAME

0: Number of walks by Bradley. Other than the game last season where he was hit with the line drive and forced to exit in the second inning, this was the first time in his Major League career that he hadn’t issues a walk.

HE SAID IT

“He wasn’t happy about not being in the lineup. He actually talked to me – spoke very good English – and said he was ready, his back felt fine and why wasn’t he in the lineup. So I explained I wanted Michael Bourn in right today, and be ready to come off the bench and do something.” Chip Hale, talking about Yasmany Tomas, prior to his three-run homer.

NOTED

-The first inning had originally ended with the D-backs up 3-0, when Jake Lamb was called out at home. But replay showed catcher Ramon Cabrera had actually dropped the ball, so play continued with Arizona up 4-0.

-In the sixth, speedster Billy Hamilton stole second but – after review – it was deemed Brandon Drury had, in fact, tagged him out.

-This was the first time in their last four victories that the D-backs didn’t win in walk-off fashion.

-Arizona has now alternated wins and losses for ten straight games, dating back to Aug. 19.

UP NEXT

The Diamondbacks have Monday off, before starting a quick, two-game series with the Giants in San Francisco. Zack Greinke will get the nod for Arizona on Tuesday, while the Giants counter with Johnny Cueto. First pitch is slated for 7:15, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Greinke (11-4) had gotten into a pretty nice groove before missing all of July with an oblique injury. In four starts since his return, he’s 1-1 with a 7.84 ERA. That number’s a little skewed though, thanks to one really rough outing against the Red Sox on Aug. 14 (nine earned runs in 1.2 innings).

In his most recent appearance, Greinke allowed four runs over six innings against the Braves on Aug. 24. He’s 8-1 with a 2.41 ERA in 12 careers starts against the Giants.

Cueto (14-4) is having one of the best seasons by any pitcher in the National League this year. His 2.86 ERA ranks sixth overall, and his 14 wins have him tied for third. He fanned six Dodgers while surrendering just one run over six innings on Aug. 24, but actually took a 1-0 loss in that one. He’s 8-2 lifetime with a 2.93 ERA against the Diamondbacks.

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