D-Backs
most frustrating stretch of games I’ve ever experienced in my life” before deleting his account.
Poor performance aside, this hasn’t exactly been a normal month for the 29year-old.
Hudson missed four days earlier this month following the death of his grandmother, returning two days before the All-Star break. Add in that layoff, and he went a span of 11 days pitching only once – definitely not an excuse but perhaps not the best schedule for a pitcher seeking to iron out some issues.
Uncertainty surrounding Monday’s trade deadline has also loomed over Hudson.
With this the final season of his contract, Hudson has been speculated as someone who could be on the move for the Diamondbacks and his success at the beginning of the season no doubt suggested a late-game option that other teams might covet.
While he’s been mindful of the situation, Hudson has tried to focus on what he can control.
“I don’t think I’m thinking about it,” he said. “At this point, there’s no reason to think about it because they probably can’t do anything with me at this point anyway.”
What probably makes the struggles even tougher is the Diamondbacks don’t feel Hudson is far off from stringing a handful of scoreless outings together to rediscover his rhythm.
Before giving up the winning runs in the eighth inning Tuesday after the Diamondbacks battled back in the seventh to tie the game at 4, Hudson got Jonathan Lucroy to strike out with his fastball peaking at 97 mph.
And although he went on to walk Chris Carter on four consecutive pitches, the location of each wasn’t too far off.
“It wasn’t like he was missing by a lot,” pitching coach Mike Butcher said. “I wouldn’t say Chris is an over-aggressive hitter, but that’s a pitch that he generally likes. So he just didn’t offer at them. I understand what (Hudson’s) doOutings ing. He’s working hard. The effort’s there, so hopefully we can start getting some better results for him.”
With an unpredictable schedule as a reliever, it isn’t always easy to spend extra time in between games throwing to get a better feel but Hudson did have a bullpen session last week in Cincinnati where he tried to get on top of the ball to create a downhill angle, Butcher said.
When he made his next appearance, last Saturday, Hudson threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.
like that have been irregular, but they are proof Hudson is still capable of figuring out how to recapture the efficiency that characterized his play earlier in the season.
“I’m very confident in him,” Butcher said. “He’s a guy who’s been around the block. He’s battled adversity before. He’s had a bad month, and I should say we because we all live it through him. He’s got an opportunity to go out there and correct it and get things rolling in the right direction again.”
MILWAUKEE - Yasmany Tomas hit two home runs, Archie Bradley pitched seven solid innings and the Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-1 on Wednesday night.
Bradley (4-6) allowed one run on four hits, walked three and struck out six in his longest start since going 71⁄3 innings in a 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres on May 29.
Bradley, a 23-year-old right-hander, allowed Jonathan Villar’s lead-off double and nothing else until Hernan Perez hit a soft liner to right with two outs in the fifth. Perez’s sacrifice fly in the seventh spoiled the shutout.
Tomas supplied all the power. The Brewers’ season-high five errors — three by right fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and two by shortstop Villar — did the rest.
Tomas produced his fifth multihomer game this season when he sliced an 0-2 pitch from starter Jimmy Nelson (6-9) over the wall in right for a two-run shot in the fifth that put the game out of reach. Nelson left two batters later in his shortest start since going 3 2/3 innings on June 15th against San Francisco.
Nelson matched his career high of eight runs for the third time. He walked two, struck out seven and slipped to 1-6 over his last 10 starts.
Randall Delgado took over for Bradley and pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
Arizona is 15-9 in its last 24 games against the Brewers.
Trainer’s room
RHP Jacob Barnes was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow soreness. … RHP Michael Blazek was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
MLB note
Texas Rangers slugger Prince Fielder will have his season-ending surgery Friday to repair a herniated disk in his neck.
The surgery will be performed in Dallas by Dr. Drew Dossett, who two years ago did a cervical fusion of two disks just below the area that is bothering Fielder now.
Dossett had recommended the second surgery after seeing Fielder on Monday. That confirmed the recommendation of Dr. Robert Watkins, who examined the slugger in Los Angeles last week when an MRI showed a herniation between Fielder’s C4 and C5 disks.
Fielder has hit a career-low .212 with eight homers and 44 RBIs in 89 games.