Diamondbacks Sweep M’s, Win 5 in a Row
By Kody Acevedo
Monday: D-backs 4, Mariners 3 / 10 innings
Jul 28, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (44) slides home to score a run against the Seattle Mariners during the third inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The series started off with a bang! Literally.
Paul Goldschmidt got things going with a line drive home run to left field off of Mariners’ starter Mike Montgomery in the top of the 1st inning to give Arizona a 1-0 lead. It was his 22nd homer of the season.
And it didn’t stop there. In the next inning, Wellington Castillo drilled his 8th home run of the season to center field to make it 2-0.
The D-backs would tack on another run later in the inning thanks to an error by Mariners’ shortstop Brad Miller that allowed Jake Lamb to score from 3rd base.
With the score 3-0, the Mariners slowly began to chip away at the D-backs lead. In the bottom of the 5th, Logan Morrison taped an RBI single to left field to score former D-back Mark Trumbo.
The following inning, Robinson Cano smashed his 11th home run of the season off of Robbie Ray to cut the lead to 3-2.
Things would be quiet until the bottom of the 9th when Trumbo doubled off of Daniel Hudson with 2 outs. The D-backs made a pitching change following Trumbo’s double and Oliver Perez came in from the bullpen.
A wild pitch and a walk from Perez set things up for Mike Zunino, who tied the game up with an RBI single. It was Perez’s third blown save of the season.
Perez would settle-down the rest of the way and force this one to go to extras. But in the 10th, the D-backs offense went to work right away.
With the bases loaded, Lamb hit a sac fly to left-center field to score Goldschmidt from third and give Arizona the 4-3 lead.
Andrew Chafin came into pitch in the bottom of the 10th and shut things down as he preserved the D-backs lead and picked up his second save of the season.
Perez was awarded the win, his second of the season. Ray figured in the no-decison after 7 innings of work in which he allowed two runs on six hits. He also walked two and struck out eight.
The loss went to reliever Carson Smith, who is now 1-4 this season after his 1/3 inning of work in the 10th.
Montgomery lasted 6 2/3 innings and left with a no-decision after giving up three runs, two earned, and five hits. He also walked four, stuck out five and gave up two homers.