Arizona manager Torey Lovullo had quite the dilemma when the game was stopped by rain for the second time in the middle of the fourth inning.
When the showers subsided
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Greinke pitched six scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt homered and the Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 on Saturday for their third consecutive win.
”We were having debates in here whether we should send Zack out or not,” Lovullo said. ”He said he felt great and he wanted to keep pitching. Just felt like we had to do the right thing and take him off the mound, but he saved us today. He did a great job.”
David Peralta had two hits and two RBIs for NL West-leading Arizona. Goldschmidt also walked twice and scored three times.
Greinke (7-5) allowed two hits, struck out seven and walked none. He also doubled and scored on Jon Jay’s double in the fourth.
The Pirates hit just four balls out of the infield against Greinke, who had never before stayed in through two rain delays. They combined to halt play for 1 hour, 21 minutes.
”Didn’t really know how to respond,” he said. ”Told Torey if it feels terrible
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Greinke’s extra-slow curveball was especially effective. Sitting around 69 mph at a big separation from his 89 mph fastball, it accounted for four of his strikeouts.
”It’s obviously a weapon that slows the hitters down because it’s such a slow pitch,” Arizona catcher Jeff Mathis said. “He has a good feel for it too. He’s always looking for an opportunity to drop it in there.”
Arizona grabbed control with five runs in the first four innings against Joe Musgrove (2-3).
Goldschmidt walked and scored on Peralta’s triple in the first. Peralta then scored when Sean Rodriguez’s relay throw landed in the Pirates’ dugout.
The duo combined for another run in the third when Goldschmidt walked again and scored on Peralta’s double. Chris Owings singled in Jake Lamb to make it 4-0.
”If I can’t control the inner half to the lefties, it’s a tough day for me to get them out,” Musgrove said. ”It showed today.”
Goldschmidt hit his 17th homer in the seventh, and Lamb added an RBI single in the ninth.
Musgrove’s day ended with the second rain stoppage. He allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked three.
ROUGH DAY
Rodriguez went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in addition to his error on his bobblehead day. He is hitting .149 on the season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (strained right oblique) will make his third rehab start on Monday.
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli, already on the seven-day disabled list, has been diagnosed with a concussion. There is no timeframe for his return. … LF Corey Dickerson returned from the Family Medical Emergency Leave List and started. INF/OF Adam Frazier was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1
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Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (6-4, 4.00 ERA) is coming off one of his best outings of the season, when he struck out seven over seven one-hit innings Monday against Milwaukee.
Zack Godley followed one of his worst outings of the season with perhaps his best. Perfect timing for Arizona, too.
Godley pitched six effective innings in his 10th win, helping the Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Friday night.
Arizona improved to 2-6 on its 10-game homestand and regained sole possession of first place in the NL West from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost 3-2 to the Angels.
Godley (10-6) allowed one run and four hits while improving to 5-1 in his last six starts. He was rocked for seven runs in four innings in a loss to San Francisco in his last outing.
”The way this game works you kind of have to let it go and move on,” Godley said. ”Baseball is a short-memory sport.”
Asked what was working, he said: ”my curve and my defense.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Godley’s command was ”as good as I can remember.”
”There’s been a couple of games so far this year where he has had outings like that
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Steven Souza Jr. drove in two runs with a single and fielder’s choice in his second game back from the disabled list. Souza has played in just 17 games this season due to a right pectoral injury.
Joey Lucchesi (4-4) retired 14 in a row before Arizona scored twice in the sixth. Lucchesi went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and three hits with two strikeouts, one walk and two hit batters.
He grazed A.J. Pollock with a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the tying run.
Nick Ahmed doubled, singled and scored twice for the Diamondbacks. Brad Boxberger threw a perfect ninth for his 21st save in 25 tries.
The Padres have lost 14 of 18.
Lucchesi’s first big league hit helped the Padres take the lead in the third. The rookie singled to left, advanced to third on Travis Jankowski’s long single to the right-field corner and scored when Carlos Asuaji grounded out.
The Diamondbacks threatened in the first when David Peralta was hit by a pitch and Paul Goldschmidt lashed a ground-rule double that bounced into the Arizona bullpen. But they came up empty when Pollock grounded out and Souza struck out looking.
Arizona didn’t get another baserunner until Godley drew a leadoff walk in the sixth. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one-out singles by Ahmed and Goldschmidt and Lucchesi hit Pollock to bring in the tying run.
That was it for Lucchesi. Reliever Adam Cimber bobbled Souza’s slow grounder and still got the out at first, but Ahmed scored and the Diamondbacks led 2-1.
”He threw the ball well,” Padres manager Andy Green said of Lucchesi. ”We didn’t do too much for him offensively. You get to that sixth inning, his pitch count is low. You want to see him attack that inning. The thing that hurts him is the walk to Godley. Outside of that I think it was a very good day for him.”
Ahmed led off the eighth with a double and scored on Souza’s two-out single.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: RHP Phil Hughes (right rhomboid strain) was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list and RHP Kirby Yates returned from paternity leave. RHPs Kazuhisa Makita and Robert Stock were optioned to Triple-A El Paso.
Diamondbacks: RHP Randall Delgado (strained left oblique) was reinstated from the 60-day DL. RHP Fernando Salas was designated for assignment.
NOT SIGNING
California high school shortstop Matt McLain, Arizona’s first-round pick and the 25th overall player taken in the draft
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UP NEXT
Arizona LHP Robbie Ray (3-1. 4.89 ERA) makes his third start since returning from the disabled list and San Diego counters with RHP Tyler Ross (5-6, 3.89 ERA) on Saturday night in the third game of the four-game series.
