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Record: 10-9-3. Change on 2013: +1.5.
Let's start with the good news sentence. Patrick Corbin worked into the seventh inning, struck out seven Indians without walking a batter, and didn't allow an earned run. Pretty good, huh. Now, you want the bad news sentence? Patrick Corbin allowed ten hits to Cleveland and left the game in the middle of an at-bat, accompanied by a trainer. Not often you can manage to get such opposing views out of the same start. Indeed, know the last time a pitcher allowed 10 hits in the regular season and didn't give up an earned run? Not at all in 2013. Or 2012. You've got to go back to Mark Buerhle in July 2011, in fact.
You can even look at those 10 hits in a couple of ways. Corbin faced 27 batters, and if you take off the seven K's, that means 20 put the ball in play. The resulting BABIP of .500 is incredibly high, so you can make a case that he was the victim of bad luck in those 10 hits - normally, 20 balls in play would lead to six hits. On the other hand, reports seem to indicate there were quite a few hard-hit balls off Corbin, and there could well have been some hits which were taken away by the defense. So once again, how you choose to view the afternoon is largely down to your perception: a glass half-full or half-empty?
Patrick Corbin was removed from today's game for precautionary reasons due to stiffness in his left forearm.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 15, 2014
What is undeniably of concern is the way the outing ended. With one out in the seventh inning, and in the middle of an at-bat - a 2-2 count - Mike Harkey went out, and signaled to the bullpen as Kirk Gibson and our trainer came out. That was it for Corbin, who was apparently experiencing the symptoms described above, and he returned to Salt River Fields for further examination. "Rest assured we will be cautious," said Gibson, and added that it's "too early to tell" regarding Australia. However, forearm tightness is never good news, and it's certainly not the last thing we wanted to see out of Corbin before Opening Day. Obviously, we'll keep an eye on this one.
To skim quickly over the rest of the game. The bullpen threw 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, Oliver Perez, Joe Thatcher and Ryan Rowland-Smith facing the minimum eight, as the one hit allowed was erased on a double-play. The offense jumped out in front on a three-run first, courtesy of home-runs by Paul Goldschmidt and Martin Prado. Goldie ended the day with two hits, a walk and three RBI, while Gerardo Parra had two hits and Cliff Pennington drew a pair of walks. Goldschmidt did commit his first error of spring, leading to two unearned runs in the second, but the Parrazooka claimed another victim, gunning down a runner at home in the same inning.
It's back to Salt River Fields tomorrow for the final game before the Diamondbacks head for Australia. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm, with Trevor Cahill on the mound for Arizona against Milwaukee.