D-Backs rout Reds:
Corbin tosses a gem on short notice to end road trip
Patrick Corbin pitches a gem as Arizona beats Cincinnati 12-2.
CINCINNATI – Just as he was getting ready for bed, Patrick Corbin’s phone buzzed. It was pitching coach Mike Butcher calling with news: Taijuan Walker was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Corbin, scheduled to start Friday, would be moved up to Thursday.
“I think it probably took me longer to fall asleep,” Corbin said. “I was pretty tired, but then you find out, ‘Hey, I’ve got to throw.’ It’s just a different feeling when you know you’re pitching the next day.”
On about 11 hours’ notice, Corbin turned in his best start of the year, working into the eighth inning for the first time this season in a 12-2 clobbering of the Cincinnati Reds. It was the seventh quality start in the past eight outings for Corbin, who appears to have put
his May struggles behind him.
With Jake Lamb contributing a pair of three-run home runs and the offense stranding a total of one runner on base, the Diamondbacks secured a series victory over the downtrodden Reds, putting a positive finish on a trip that began with a disheartening three-game sweep in Atlanta.
It came together in surprising fashion. Not only was Walker not a part of it, but manager Torey Lovullo had three of his regulars out of the lineup - A.J. Pollock, David Peralta and Brandon Drury - and the Diamondbacks were facing a pitcher, Luis Castillo, who shut them down over 6 2/3 scoreless innings earlier this month at Chase Field.
None of it seemed to make a difference. With two on and none out in the first, Lamb saw consecutive change-ups from Castillo to open the at-bat. He was out in front of the first, swinging and missing, but he unloaded on the second, sending it out to straightaway center field.
“It was second and third, I was trying to be aggressive and look for a heater, but he left it up in the zone and I put a good swing on it,” Lamb said. “I was able to stay on it.”
That was the score when Eugenio Suarez started the fourth by launching a Corbin change-up off the left field façade to make it 3-1, and after three consecutive singles, the Reds had the bases loaded with none out. But Corbin got Devin Mesoraco (pop out), Scott Schebler (strikeout) and Jose Peraza (pop out) to escape with no further damage.
“He was standing on his stuff,” Lovullo said. “It wasn’t like he was backing down and picking at the zone. He went after the hitters and responded very well.”
In seven starts since June 16, Corbin has a 2.81 ERA, with 45 strikeouts and just nine walks in 41 2/3 innings. Perhaps the most noticeable difference lately has come with his change-up, a pitch he’s throwing softer, more frequently and with better results.
He gave up a pair of hits on the pitch but still used it heavily, throwing it 21 times, tying the most he’s gone to it this year. He averaged 82.6 mph with it, down from the first 2 1/2 months of the season, when it was mostly 84-86 mph.
“I think (I’m) just getting a better feel for it,” he said. “I just think I’ve been locating it a lot better, and having trust and seeing some (bad) swings on that pitch definitely helps.”
The outing might have been unexpected, but he said it helped that he faced the Reds less than two weeks ago. He said he still had his matchup info from that start, still had an idea of how to attack most of the Reds’ hitters. It also helped that he wasn't pitching on short rest; because of Monday's off day, he started after the standard four days off.
As to the suggestion that all future starts come at a moment’s notice, Corbin smiled, but he wasn’t buying it.
“I mean, it’s not ideal,” he said. “It worked out this time. Sometimes you’re not thinking about it so you just go out there and try to make your pitches, and that’s what happened.”