The D-backs wrap up their four-game matchup with the Padres with a 9-3 win.
The Diamondbacks took a commanding victory in the final game of their series at Petco Park by a score of 9-3. They are 31-35, and, after a 13-game stretch without an off day, will rest tomorrow. It wasn't entirely meant to be a bullpen game, with right-hander Scott McGough getting the "start" as an opener.
McGough got two outs, before allowing a solo home run to Fernando Tatis Jr., and passing the ball off to the newly-recalled Tommy Henry. Henry came in as the bulk reliever, expected to pitch for length as if it was a start, but with a rested bullpen behind him. Henry was effective enough, but could only go 2 1/3 innings. He allowed three hits, two walks, and two earned runs, while only recording one strikeout. He threw 46 pitches, less than half for strikes. Although Henry continued to look less than efficient, the D-backs offense did him enough favors to give him the win for today's contest. Arizona wasted no time getting on the board. Corbin Carroll had a well-struck single through the right-field gap. Joc Pederson walked him to second, and Christian Walker brought Carroll home with an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead in the first. In the top of the second, the offense exploded against the Padres' young starter Adam Mazur. Mazur made just his second career start, and Arizona was all over him early. After getting Gabriel Moreno to pop out, Kevin Newman reached on an infield single, in which Padres 1B Luis Arraez's foot came off the bag by mere inches. Carroll walked, Ketel Marte singled, and Pederson brought home two. With two outs, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. laced a double down the left field line, scoring both Marte and Pederson, courtesy of an excellent slide by Pederson to avoid the tag at home. It was 5-1, and the Diamondbacks still weren't done. Jake McCarthy, who has been on an offensive tear as of late, turned on a fastball inside, and sent it over the right field fence for a two run blast. At an astounding 66 pitches for Mazur through two innings, the D-backs finally ended the second with a 7-1 lead. McCarthy was quite the offensive catalyst, going 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, but the home run was an impressive piece of hitting. McCarthy spoke to D-backs TV's Todd Walsh postgame, describing his approach in that moment. He noted that it was a tough pitch to hit, but he was simply able to put a better swing on the ball at the right time. "I'm surprised it didn't break my bat... When you get your barrel to it, on the inner half, good things happen. He made a good pitch, but I just got my barrel to it and hit it out to the shortest part of the yard," said McCarthy, before adding, with a laugh "I'll take it, homers are homers." "I just think it's a team effort to be consistent. Not everyone's going to come through, but you've just got to treat it just like any other at bat... Sticking to our approach, not trying to do too much," McCarthy said. It might not always be this spread around, but D-backs hitters certainly did put a group effort together. Although the D-backs have been known to strike early and fade, that was not the case today. Five Diamondbacks hitters recorded multiple hits, and eight of nine had at least one hit. Arizona was 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position, adding up to 15 total hits and four walks. Corbin Carroll had a sharp pulled single, a walk, a stolen base, and a well-struck opposite-field single over the head of Donovan Solano at third base. As evidenced once more, the Diamondbacks' offense is a different animal when Carroll is getting on base and creating chaos consistently. In the top of the fourth, Christian Walker singled in Marte. Gurriel followed with a bloop hit of his own, but the awkward trajectory, coupled with a baserunning error by Walker resulted in an out at third base. With two outs, Eugenio Suarez hit a controlled single up the middle off a 97 MPH fastball to make it 9-3. While that did conclude the D-backs' scoring for the day, it was enough of a cushion to take a comfortable lead, although that large of a lead didn't end up being necessary. With a rested bullpen, the D-backs deployed five of their best relief arms upon Henry's exit. Kevin Ginkel, Joe Mantiply, Justin Martinez, Ryan Thompson and Bryce Jarvis combined for six strong innings, allowing just three collective weak singles and one walk, striking out four. Ginkel, Mantiply, and Martinez all pitched more than a full inning. Despite being outscored 29-17 throughout this series, the Diamondbacks managed a split and will get a day off tomorrow, before facing the Angels at Chase Field Tuesday night to begin a six-game homestand. They are just one game back of a Wild Card spot.Born and raised in the desert, Alex is a lifelong follower of Arizona sports. Alex also writes for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Cardinals, and previously covered the Diamondbacks for FanSided's VenomStrikes. Follow Alex on Twitter @AlexDagAZ
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