Phillies drop 3rd straight in Arizona
PHOENIX » Zack Greinke pitched five effective innings after a shaky start, Daniel Descalso had three RBIs and the Arizona Diamondbacks rolled to a 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
The Diamondbacks were sluggish Sunday against the Phillies, scratching out a 2-1 victory in 11 innings. They took advantage of a rough outing by Nick Pivetta (14) in the series finale, racking up six runs in less than three innings against the rookie right-hander.
Chris Herrmann led off the first inning with a homer and Greinke (9-4) allowed a run and three hits with five strikeouts.
Arizona won for the 12th time in 14 games to extend the best
start in team history (49-28). The Diamondbacks also won their fifth straight home series and ninth overall, matching their 2016 total.
The Phillies continued to struggle offensively, managing five hits to lose for the 10th time in 14 games against Arizona.
Greinke entered the game 6-0 at Chase Field this season, but struggled early, needing 23 pitches to get through the first inning. He worked around the traffic without giving up a run and settled in after that, keeping the Phillies in check until Freddy Galvis’ RBI single in the fifth inning.
Pivetta also struggled at the start, but didn’t recover.
The right-hander gave up a homer to the first batter he faced, a line-drive into the pool in right field by Herrmann. Descalso had a run-scoring single in the second inning, then Pivetta had trouble finding the strike zone, walking three straight batters for another run.
Descalso added a tworun single in Arizona’s three-run third for a 6-0 lead.
Pivetta allowed seven hits and walked five in 2 2/3 innings.
PHILLIES MOVES
The Phillies recalled RHP Ricardo Pinto from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and optioned RHP Edubray Ramos to the Iron Pigs prior to Monday’s game. Pinto is making his second appearance with the Phillies after pitching 14 scoreless innings in the minors.
TRAINER’S TABLE
Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff tested his strained back in a bullpen session on Sunday, but the Phillies have not decided whether he’ll skip another start or not.
Diamondbacks: CF A.J. Pollock is expected to play another rehab game for Triple-Reno on Tuesday. He went 0 for 2 in four innings Sunday as he works his way back from a pair of leg injuries.