Arizona Diamondbacks 4, Cleveland Indians 4: Fit to be tied

Cactus League record: 11-10-1. Change on 2016: -6.

Patrick Corbin gave the Diamondbacks a solid, if not overwhelming start against Cleveland in Goodyear this afternoon. But it was probably good enough to keep him ahead of Archie Bradley for the fifth starter’s spot. Corbin went through his expected five innings, allowing two runs on four hits; he walked none and struck out three. He was so efficient he ended up throwing some in the bullpen after the game, to get his count up to the intended 75 pitches. His spring ERA marginally ticked up, but at 3.44, still looks decent enough to secure him a rotation spot. He said afterward: "I feel great. I feel ready to. If the next one was the regular season, I'd be ready."

Of course, that decision has yet to be made by Torey Lovullo. However, based both on their previous career numbers as a starter and this spring’s performances, you would likely have to give the spot to Corbin, with Bradley anchoring the Reno Aces’ rotation. After he left today, Jorge De La Rosa and Tom Wilhelmsen tossed scoreless innings; Kevin Matusz allowed two runs (one earned) in his eighth, before Tyler Jones pitched the ninth inning, retiring the Indians in order to secure the tie. Another solid outing overall by the pitching staff, with a K:BB ratio of 8:1.

The offense was generally quiet, being held to only six hits by the Cleveland staff, and getting just one walk along with a dozen strikeouts. Chris Herrmann got the D-backs on the board in the second inning, with his first home-run of spring (above). After the Indians scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, the D-backs came back immediately, Jeff Mathis tying things up with a sacrifice fly which scored Kristopher Negron. Arizona then left it late. They were down to their final out, but got back-to-back RBI singles off the bats of Michael Perez and Sergio Alcantara, bringing Daniel Lockhard and Jason Pridie across home-plate to complete the scoring.

Pridie made an error, and Zack Borenstein was caught stealing; no D-backs batter was able to reach base safely more than once, with Herrmann’s homer the only extra-base hit of the day for Arizona. 8,215 in attendance at Goodyear for this one, and tomorrow sees the team go to Hohokam for a game against the Oakland Athletics. Taijuan Walker will be the starting pitcher for us there.