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The Arizona Diamondbacks were poised for a sweep of the San Diego Padres this afternoon and could have returned to Arizona with a 4-3 record. However, the offense fell flat on its face scoring only a single run. It was the first time this season the bats had failed to secure tacos by scoring 5 or more runs.
Robbie Ray took the start for the D’backs and was efficient to begin the game retiring the first 10 batters he faced. In fact, he needed only 42 pitches to get him through the end of the 4th inning which is almost unheard of for him. Interestingly, he had taken a few ticks off of his fastball velocity throwing it around 90-92 MPH. Whether that was by design to help save his energy is yet to be determined, but in the 5th inning he began approaching 94 MPH again. Around that 5th inning is when he also began to lose the command he had earlier in the game allowing the Padres to break a scoreless game to that point.
That early game efficiency for Robbie faded quickly as he was only able to work to 1 out in the 6th inning before being lifted. All told he finished his day allowing 2 earned runs on 5 walks, 2 hits, and 3 strikeouts.
The Padres take the series finale 4-0. Full recap to follow.