Field Level Media
Sep 5, 2018
Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and the Diamondbacks broke out of an offensive slump by scoring more than five runs for the first time in 15 games in a 6-0 victory over the visiting San Diego Padres on Tuesday in Phoenix.
Ketel Marte and A.J. Pollock had two hits apiece, and pinch hitter Daniel Descalso and Paul Goldschmidt had RBI singles around two San Diego errors in a four-run seventh inning to help the Diamondbacks break a four-game losing streak.
The Diamondbacks, who remained 1 1/2 games behind Colorado in the NL West, had not scored as many as six runs since a 7-6 loss at San Diego on Aug. 18. They posted 14 total runs in their past eight games.
Ray (5-2) gave up two hits, both singles, and struck out 10 while walking two. He led with a 97 mph fastball, displaying the form that helped him to 15 victories and his first All-Star berth in 2017.
Austin Hedges had one of three Padres' hits and their only extra-base hit, an eighth-inning double. San Diego had won five of seven.
Ray retired the first 12 he faced before Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer walked to open the fifth inning. Hosmer was erased on a double play before Franmil Reyes got the Padres' first hit, a line drive single to left field.
San Diego's Freddy Galvis walked with two outs in the sixth inning and took third on Luis Urias' ground single to right field, but Ray struck out Hunter Renfroe on a breaking pitch in the dirt to end the inning. Renfroe had his career-high, 11-game hitting streak broken.
Ray, who missed eight weeks earlier in the season due to a strained oblique muscle, has won his past two decisions and given up two runs in his past 16 2/3 innings over three starts. He lowered his ERA to 4.25.
The Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Eduardo Escobar walked with one out and scored on Nick Ahmed's triple. Marte's sacrifice fly drove in Ahmed, who has a career-high 60 RBIs.
Marte, Descalso, Pollock and Goldschmidt had singles with two outs in the four-run seventh, a frame that was extended by two Padres two errors and a passed ball.
San Diego left-hander Joey Lucchesi (7-8) gave up three hits and two runs in five innings, with six strikeouts and one walk. The rookie has lost all five starts against Arizona this season, giving up 18 earned runs in 23 2/3 innings. His last three losses have been to the Diamondbacks.
--Field Level Media