Diamondbacks top Padres for 8th straight home win

Nick Piecoro | The Republic | azcentral.com

Jake Lamb and Brandon Drury homered in a five-run third, and the Arizona Diamondbacks scored five times in an inning for the second consecutive night to beat the San Diego Padres 7-4 on Wednesday.

Zack Greinke labored through five innings for his eighth win. Arizona came back from a two-run deficit to win its eighth straight home game, improving to 23-8 at Chase Field.

The winning streak is the best for the Diamondbacks since they won eight home games in a row in July 2012.

The Padres lost their fourth straight overall.

Greinke (8-3) had to work out of a jam in the fifth after Franchy Cordero singled in pinch-hitter Jose Pirela, who opened the inning with a double. The right-hander struck out Hunter Renfroe and Ryan Schimpf with two runners on.

– Associated Press

Padres trim D-Backs’ lead in the 8th

The Padres scraped across a run in the top of the eighth inning off Diamondbacks lefty Jorge De La Rosa, cutting the Diamondbacks lead to 7-4 as play entered the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Padres collected three singles in the inning, the third a run-scoring hit by Jose Pirela, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and has three hits in as many at-bats.

Barring another run by the Diamondbacks, the Padres’ run in the eighth manages to set up a save situation for Fernando Rodney. The Padres rallied against Rodney on on April 26 at Chase Field, scoring five runs off him in the top of the ninth inning to erase a two-run deficit.

Greinke departs after 5 with D-Backs ahead

Right-hander Zack Greinke lasted just five innings – tying for his shortest out of the year – departing Wednesday night’s game with the Diamondbacks leading the San Diego Padres 5-3 in the sixth inning at Chase Field.

Greinke, who finished with 102 pitches, had to work hard to get out of his final two innings, needing 30 pitches in the fourth and 27 more in the fifth. Many of those came with runners on base; the Padres had two on the fourth but didn’t score, then put three more on the fifth, coming away with a run on Franchy Cordero’s RBI single to right.

Greinke’s final line: five innings, seven hits, three runs (all earned), one walk, eight strikeouts.

Lamb, Drury put D-Backs ahead in the 3rd

Jake Lamb hit a three-run homer and Brandon Drury connected for a two-run shot as the Diamondbacks erupted for five runs in the third against Padres right-hander Luis Perdomo to grab a 5-2 lead.

Lamb’s homer, his 15th of the season, followed a pair of two-out walks from Perdomo, who left an 0-1 slider over the middle of the plate to Lamb.

Two batters later, after Chris Owings reached on an infield single, Brandon Drury launched a monster, two-run shot to center, sending it out just to left of the overhang.

The Padres had tacked on runs in the first and third innings against Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke in part because of Yangervis Solarte’s ability as a so-called “bad-ball hitter.”

In the first, Solarte golfed an 0-2 slider from Greinke just inside the right-field foul pole for a solo home run. The pitch was down and out of the strike zone – so low, in fact, that catcher Jeff Mathis was going down to block it – but Solarte still managed to make solid contact.

Two innings later, Solarte struck again. After David Peralta misplayed a Franchy Cordero fly to right – turning what should have been the third out of the inning into a triple by taking a bad route to the ball – Solarte hit a Greinke change-up into left for an RBI single. The pitch Solarte hit, a change-up, was also down and away, well outside of the strike zone.

Taijuan Walker hopes return to majors is imminent

Diamondbacks right-hander Taijuan Walker threw 64 pitches in an extended spring training game on Wednesday morning, then said later he believes he’s ready to come off the disabled list and return to the rotation.

“I think so, yeah,” he said. “I thought everything went really well today. (Pitching coach Mike Butcher) thought so, too. Hopefully, the next step will be in a game.”

Walker has been out since May 19 due to a blister on his right index finger. He has appeared to be close to a return on a couple of occasions only to have to give the blister additional time to heal.

He pitched on Wednesday with the blister covered in tape.

“We just want to protect it as much as we can right now until we get to the next start,” Walker said.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo doesn’t think Walker needs to pitch in a game environment with the blister uncovered before returning.

“I think he’ll be OK,” Lovullo said. “My gut feel is that maybe an aggressive bullpen or something will allow him to get in there once that covering has been removed permanently and allow him to get a feel. He’s in a good spot.”

It’s unclear what the Diamondbacks will do in order to fit him into their rotation. The club recently recalled right-hander Zack Godley, who is scheduled to start Saturday against the Brewers, and right-hander Randall Delgado has pitched well in his three starts.

Left-hander Patrick Corbin, meanwhile, has been struggling, but he’s set to get another start on Thursday afternoon against the Padres.

“We have some thoughts” on how the rotation will look, Lovullo said. “We haven’t outlined them and clarified them yet. We’re not exactly sure right now. We have a thought, and as soon as we knock that out and the player knows first, we’ll make sure we address it with you guys as well.”

D-Backs’ lefty Robbie Ray picking up the pace

When Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray says he’s been working faster during his starts, he doesn’t just mean taking less time between pitches. Ray also has cranked up the tempo within his delivery, and he believes it helps explain his dominant run of success over the past few weeks.

“It allows me to be more fluid,” Ray said. “It allows my hand to get through normally, where as when I slow down a little bit, my arm kind of gets stuck behind me.”

Ray’s up-tempo delivery was on display during Fox Sports Arizona’s broadcast on Tuesday night. With a delivery from an outing in April queued up alongside a more recent outing, Ray’s quicker version had already delivered the pitch to the catcher by the time his slower self had even released the pitch.

Bob Brenly breaks down how quicker pace, windup paying off for @RobbieRay. @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/B4NURUCho9 — FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) June 7, 2017

“The overall objective is to have that hitter feel the pressure that somebody is just coming at them round after round – it ain’t letting up,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s coming for 12 full rounds. That’s the feeling Robbie is giving the hitter.”

Ray has given up just one run in his past 30 1/3 innings over the past four starts, a stretch in which he’s racked up 36 strikeouts and only five walks. On Tuesday night, he extended his string of consecutive scoreless innings to 27 2/3 innings before giving up a solo home run to the Padres’ Hunter Renfroe.

Ray said he worked on quickening his tempo with Butcher two offseasons ago but got out of the habit of working so quickly, in part because he began having success with a slower windup.

But after going through a rough stretch of outings, he decided to get back to working faster – both in terms of speeding up his delivery and cutting down the time he took between pitches.

“I think it’s just a combination of not thinking too much in between pitches and the quicker delivery,” Ray said.

Short hops

Lovullo said center fielder A.J. Pollock had a “really big day” in his recovery from a strained right groin, running at about 75 percent before taking batting practice and shagging fly balls on the field. Lovullo still wouldn’t map out a plan for Pollock’s return, but he did say he expects him back before the end of the month. Pollock hasn’t played since May 14. “Things are moving in a good direction for him,” Lovullo said.

Catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann continues to deal with soreness in his right hand, and Lovullo said he hopes to stay away from him on Wednesday night. “He just needs a little bit of rest,” Lovullo said. “If he had to play he probably could, but we’re going to try to let that thing calm down as best as we possibly can.”

Wednesday’s game

When: 6:40 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262)

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (7-3, 3.06) vs. Padres RHP Luis Perdomo (0-2, 5.01).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1)

Greinke has won five of his past six starts, including holding the Miami Marlins to one run in seven innings in his most recent appearance. He has struck out 92 batters in 79 1/3 innings while walking just 16 and his seven wins are tied for second among all major league starters. The Diamondbacks collected 11 hits and eight earned runs against Perdomo on May 20, but Perdomo has made two quality starts since then. He beat the Cubs 2-1 on May 31, giving up just three hits and one run in seven innings.

Wednesday's lineup

Daniel Descalso, Rey Fuentes and David Peralta are the Diamondbacks' outfielders against the Padres Wednesday night.

Road Warrior Robbie Ray comes home, keeps winning

Starter Robbie Ray turned in another dominating performance Tuesday night. Ray’s scoreless-innings streak ended at 27 2/3 innings when San Diego right fielder Hunter Renfroe hit a two-out solo homer in the fourth, but Ray gave up just three hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings while striking out 11 and walking two.

He lowered his season ERA to 2.85 and now has won his past four starts, improving his record to 6-3.

In those four starts Ray has allowed just eight hits and one run over 30 1/3 innings while striking out 35.

That’s Randy Johnson-like.

How good has Ray been? He became just the third pitcher in franchise history to record 95 strikeouts in the team’s first 60 games. Johnson did it five times, Curt Schilling twice.

Ray credits two adjustments he’s made. First, he’s pitching quicker, both in terms of his delivery and not taking time on the mound to think about what he’s doing. Lovullo called it a “fearlessness in what he’s doing.”

More on the story: Robbie Ray 'locked in' for D-Backs

What's to become of Corbin?

Randall Delgado and Zack Godley are now part of the Diamondbacks’ starting rotation. Taijuan Walker soon will be. All of which leads to one question: What to do with left-hander Patrick Corbin, who has allowed 12 earned runs in his past two starts and sported a 9.00 ERA the month of May?

Let’s start with Delgado, who has a 1.80 ERA in three starts since Walker went on the disabled list with a finger blister. Delgado has struck out 15 batters in 15 innings while walking just two, convincing Lovullo that he deserves to remain in the rotation rather than returning to his role as a long man out of the bullpen.

Godley, recalled from Reno Tuesday, was 1-1 with a 2.39 ERA in six starts when the Diamondbacks optioned him to Reno on June 1. The move was made because Arizona needed another arm in the bullpen, Godley had options, and he wouldn’t have pitched for another five days. At the time, Lovullo called it a “difficult conversation.”

Lovullo wouldn’t specify what he’ll do when all six starters are available, but it’s fair to wonder whether Corbin might be sent to the bullpen if he struggles in his start Thursday against San Diego. Corbin was 4-12 with a 5.58 ERA as a starter in 2016 but excelled coming out of the 'pen, with a 2.70 ERA in 12 appearances.

More on the story: Delgado earns spot in D-Backs' rotation

Coming up

Thursday: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (4-6, 5.43) vs. Padres LHP Clayton Richard (3-6, 4.33).

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Randall Delgado (1-1, 3.24) vs. Brewers RHP Zach Davies (6-3, 4.69).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 7:10 p.m. Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (1-1, 2.39) vs. Brewers RHP Junior Guerra (1-0, 1.83).