Arizona 6, Padres 0: Ray Day

Robbie Ray wasted no time in letting everyone know what kind of game this was going to be from him. He struck out the first three batters of the game, and only required 15 pitches to do so, to quickly end the first inning. Then, in the second inning, he basically turned around and did the same thing. Only got the one strike out that inning, but a line out by Wil Myers and a ground out from Franmil Reyes got the same end results.

In the bottom off the inning, the Diamondbacks’ offense briefly woke up. Eduardo Escobar drew a one out walk, allowing Nick Ahmed to triple him home. Ketel Marte then hit a sac fly, bringing home Ahmed. Jeff Mathis tried to keep things going, hitting a double, but Ray wasn’t able to turn it over to the top of the order, striking out on a weak swing to end the inning. 2-0 Diamondbacks

Ray can be forgiven for ending the inning, however, since he picked up right where he left off in the top of the third inning. He got swinging strike outs from Austin Hedges and Manuel Margot for the first two outs of the inning and then a ground out from Padres’ starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi for his third 1-2-3 inning of the night. Add another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth along with another strike out, and Ray was cruising.

The offense was also cruising, but not in a good way. More like absent-mindedly wandering through the game. They decided they wanted to mirror what Ray was doing in the top halves of the innings. Steven Sousa Jr. flew out before Pollock and Goldschmidt struck out swinging in the third. In the fourth, Peralta and Escobar lined out before Ahmed struck out.

Things got a little harder for Ray in the fifth inning. He gave up a lead off walk to Eric Hosmer to break up the perfect game he had going. However, a ground ball from Wil Myers was turned into a double play, keeping him at the minimum number of batters faced. That, as well as the no hitter, ended with the next batter, as he gave up a single to Franmil Reyes. He got Hedges to ground out to Ahmed at short, to end the inning without any real damage.

He ran into a little more trouble in the sixth inning. He quickly got the first two outs by strike out, but issued a walk to Freddy Galvis and Luis Urias to put runners on the corners for Hunter Refroe. However, as he had done so many times already this game, Ray got another strike out, this one to end the inning and keep the shut out intact.

Ray faced one batter in the seventh inning, getting Hosmer to ground out. At that point, Lovullo decided to go to the bullpen and brought out Ziegler to finish off the inning. He did, retiring both batters he faced and sending the game to the offense in the bottom of the seventh.

This time, they really woke up, thanks to a couple of defensive miscues by the Padres. With two outs, Ketel Marte singled to get things going. Jeff Mathis came to the plate, and Marte went to second on a failed pick off attempt. Mathis walked, and on the final pitch, Marte stole third. Descalso pinch hit for Ziegler. During his at bat, Hedges let a ball get by him, allowing Marte to score and Mathis to go to second. After all that, Descalso singled, scoring Mathis, and made it to second on the throw, keeping the merry go round going.

That was the end of the road for Rodger Stock. Andy Green pulled him in favor of Phil Maton, but it was more of the same from him. Souza Jr. walked and Pollock singled. Descalso raced around on the Pollock single, and thanks to a botched catch on the outfield assist by Hedges, was able to score. Souza went to third, and it was runners on the corners for Goldy. Souza was able to walk home after he singled for the sixth run of the inning.

And that was basically the ball game. Matt Strahm came in for the Padres and was finally able to record the third out. Bradley came in for the eighth, and other than a lead off double, was able to contain the Padres, a much needed confidence boost for the struggling reliever. Hirano got a 1-2-3 ninth, finishing off the series split.

White and Nerdy: Robbie Ray, 39.3%

The Saga Begins: Nick Ahmed, 11.7%, Ketel Marte, 11.0%

Albuquerque: David Peralta, -7.9%

Just shy of 500 comments in the GDT, with DC having 175 of them. All present were:

AzDbackfanInDc, Gilbertsportsfan, GuruB, Imstillhungry95, Jack Sommers, Jackwriter, Johnneu, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MikeMono, Penitentiary Face, Rockkstarr12, ShirtOffYourBack, Smurf1000, Sprankton, asteroid, coldblueAZ, edbigghead, onedotfive, since_98, smartplays, suroeste

Despite the win, no change in the standings as both Colorado and LA won their games. At the end of the day, just need to win our games and not count on help from them. Off day for the Diamondbacks tomorrow, and then the first place Braves in for four. Buckle up, folks. It’s going to get interesting...