Arizona Diamondbacks 7, Chicago Cubs 1
[D’backs.com] D-backs ride 5-run 1st as Corbin stifles Cubs - Patrick Corbin spun another solid start for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The second strong pitching performance from a starter in as many days. Last night was his first victory since June 5th against San Francisco. He pitched seven innings of one run ball racking up nine strikeouts along the way. His performance was exactly the start the Diamondbacks needed to begin this road trip.
[Arizona Sports] Corbin, Goldschmidt lead Diamondbacks to win over Cubs - After gassing his bullpen against the St. Louis Cardinals in five games over the weekend, Joe Maddon was limited in his pitching options. He turned to Luke Farrell for the spot start, his second of the season. Arizona wasted no time jumping on him quickly in the first inning for five runs on five hits. In order to prevent injury to any of his bullpen arms, Maddon went to position players Victor Caratini and Anthony Rizzo to pitch innings eight and nine.
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks stifle Cubs with early offensive outburst in series opener - Paul Goldschmidt continued his dominance against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Entering the contest he had a triple slash of .361/.475./729 in 37 games with 22 extra base hits. Ian Happ robbed Goldy of at least a doublewith a leaping grab in the first inning after he hit a 109 mph liner to left field. Not to be denied, the franchise cornerstone hit an opposite field solo shot in the second inning to give Arizona a six run lead.
“It comes in bunches,” said Goldschmidt, who had a three-homer game at Wrigley Field last season. “I think we were just trying to string at-bats together and hit balls hard. They were line drives rather than ground balls, and I think that gives you a better chance at getting hits.”
[The Athletic] The Diamondbacks are finding magic in the pairing of Patrick Corbin and Jeff Mathis - Playing time between the D’backs three catchers, John Ryan Murphy, Alex Avila, and Jeff Mathis, has been fairly evenly split. The pitching staff has performed the best with Mathis behind the plate, but that also considering that he has been the primary receiver for the team’s two best pitchers, Zack Greinke and Patrick Corbin.
“He’s got so much experience,” Lovullo said. “He reads swings, he understands game plans, he understands adjustments. Then he forces things to happen. Because of his tenure in this game, the guys don’t second-guess him. They just follow the game plan.”
Diamondbacks News
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks’ Clay Buchholz looking forward to first start against Cubs at Wrigley Field - The back end of the starting rotation has not quite been the same since Clay Buchholz went down with an oblique strain. Robbie Ray has struggled to find his consistency, and Shelby Miller was a downright dumpster fire. In 38 2⁄3 innings and seven starts, Clay owned a 2.56 ERA with 31 strikeouts. His FIP was nearly a full run higher at 3.52, but he’d done a tremendous job of stranding runners and not letting innings spiral out of control.
“It’s a pretty surreal moment,” Buchholz said of preparing for the start. “There’s not a whole lot of people who get to be around the game for 10 or more years. A lot has changed over the last 10-12 years, but I’ve still got to find a way to go out there and grind. I’m trying to help this team win so we can get back on a winning track and make that playoff push.”
[Arizona Sports] D-backs reinstate LHP T.J. McFarland from DL, option Silvino Bracho - Silvino Bracho has now earned a round trip to Italy with his frequent flyer miles accumulated this season. Arizona once again optioned him back to Reno, this time to make room for T.J. McFarland returning from the disabled list. Bracho already answered the call to the majors seven times this season despite only pitching in 17 2⁄3 innings.
Around the League
[Yahoo Sports] Cardinals’ Daniel Poncedeleon throws 7 no-hit innings in MLB debut year after suffering brain trauma - No relation to the Spanish conquistador. Daniel Poncedeleon made his Major League debut a little over a year after suffering a traumatic brain injury from a comebacker in a Minor League game. He had to have surgery to remove pressure from his brain much like Evan Marshall during his time with the Diamondbacks. Daniel threw seven innings of no hit baseball before being pulled due to his 116 pitch count.
“I can’t even imagine what he dealt with, and there for a while it was touch and go just from a lifestyle standpoint, quality of life for him,” Schildt told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “To be so dogmatic with his mindset that, ‘I’m going to pitch again and I’m going to pitch in the big leagues.’ We’re going to see that sooner than later. It’s impressive.”
[Awful Announcing] Rate the local MLB announcers – 2018 edition - It’s finally here. The definitive poll to determine what team has the worst local broadcasting crew. Only one staff I see missing from the list of candidates who might have a shot at the title. The Facebook crew. I don’t care if they aren’t a “local” crew.