Diamondbacks avoid shutout loose to Indians 6-1

photo courtesy of azcentral sports

The Diamondbacks after a thrilling victory in game 1 were looking for more of the same and get the two game sweep before going on a three city road trip starting in San Diego on Friday. Instead, they ran into one of the best pitchers in the American League and split the two game interleague series to close out the homestand. The Dbacks denied that Tuesday’s long game was a factor in Wednesday’s result. Both teams played the same game Tuesday night so it shouldn’t have been a factor.

The offense was cold all night long and it was mainly due to the opposing pitcher on the mound. The Snakes got down early thanks to a leadoff triple from Michael Bourn that really shouldn’t have been a triple. The ball got caught in the wall near the seating down the right field line and at that point it wasn’t playable. Despite this, Bourn was given third base anyway and he scored on a sac fly to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead.

The Diamondbacks got something started in the bottom of the first getting the first two men, Ender Inciarte and Gerardo Parra  on against Indians starter Corey Kluber, but Paul Goldschmidt struck out and Miguel Montero grounded into an inning ending double play.

Corey Kluber has some of the best stuff in the MLB and had a great month of May going 6-0 with an era under 3 and he was as good as advertised. According to Fan Graphs pitch values, Kluber has one of the best curveballs in the MLB and it was on display tonight.

Dbacks rookie starter Chase Anderson lost his third straight start after winning his first five for his career. Anderson did something that he normally doesn’t do, he didn’t command his fastball, and so the Indians hitters ignored the fastball and hit his off speed pitches hard. When a pitcher looses the command on the fastball its hard to put together a quality start. Anderson gave up a run in of of the five innings he pitched. He surrendered two leadoff triples in the first and third innings, and he scored both times. He also surrendered home runs to Yan Gomes and Michael Brantley.

Arizona was hitless from Inciarte’s third inning double until the 9th. They put a small rally together but by then it was already 6-0 Indians. Inciarte walked and moved to second on defensive indifference. Then Montero drove him home on a single to center field, preventing the shutout.

One Note: The Diamondbacks made a roster move before the game last night putting C Jordan Pacheco on the 15 day Disabled List because of right shoulder tendinitis and called up pitcher Zeke Spruill from Triple A Reno. Spruill appeared in last nights game, and gave up two insurance runs over 4 innings pitched.