Corbin powers D-Backs to victory
NEW YORK – Two days in this city has produced two victories for the Diamondbacks, whose penchant for beating up on bad teams continued on Tuesday with a 7-4 win over the New York Mets. That’s all it’s taken for the Diamondbacks to rid themselves of the rotten feeling their recent struggles had produced and embolden their belief that better days have arrived for good.
“I think we’re excited,” left-hander Patrick Corbin said after giving his team eight strong innings in his third
consecutive dominant start. “I think everything is turning the corner. We had a tough stretch there with some really good teams. We were definitely disappointed with how we played, but we know we can play better, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Signs that the Diamondbacks’ offense drought might be nearing an end continued to emerge. J.D. Martinez launched a threerun, first-inning homer, his 10th since joining the Diamondbacks a month ago. Paul Goldschmidt rocketed a pair of doubles. A night earlier, center fielder A.J. Pollock connected for a crucial, two-run homer.
And, as Corbin noted, the club will welcome left-hander Robbie Ray back to the rotation on Thursday, another encouraging development for a team eager to distance itself from a seven-week stretch in which little has gone right.
Corbin’s recent performance has been an exception. He stretched his scoreless streak to 20 1/3 innings on Tuesday night before Amed Rosario connected for a solo homer in the fifth. That’s the only run Corbin has allowed in 23 1/3 innings in his past three starts.
Part of the reason, he said, could be a newish pitch. Known for throwing mostly fastballs and sliders, Corbin said in recent starts he’s been throwing more slow breaking balls, giving him yet another option, along with sinkers and change-ups, with which to attack hitters.
So that breaking ball – does he call it a curveball? A slow slider?
“I don’t know,” Corbin said. “I don’t really know what it is. It’s the same grip (as the slider). It’s just something else. Sometimes I’ll throw it harder or slower. I just mix speeds with it. It’s like two pitches. When I’m locating my fastball inside, too, it makes that pitch much better.” In some ways, he’s b orrowing a page from left-hander Robbie Ray’s playbook. Ray spent years trying to develop a change-up to go with his slider before ultimately settling on a curve instead.
“It’s always good to have a harder one and a slower one and just playing off that,” Corbin said. “Against lefties, it’s good. Righties, too. Some guys hit sliders better than curveballs, so that’s another thing we look at, too.”
After three rough starts in his career here, Corbin finally turned in a good start at Citi Field, a place often crawling with friends and family members. Tuesday was no different; he said he had a former college coach and other friends and family members totaling about 20, though that number pales in comparison to his first start here in 2012.
“I had like 60 for my first start,” said Corbin, who is from nearby Syracuse, N.Y. “I played for free that day.”
It helps that the Diamondbacks have gone from playing clubs like the Dodgers, Cubs, Astros and Twins – all teams with winning records – to facing the Mets, a club that had playoff aspirations entering the year but turned into a seller by the trade deadline.
The win moved the Diamondbacks to 4124 against losing clubs. They’re just 28-33 against teams with .500 records or better.
Mathis to DL
Jeff Mathis has an avulsion fracture in his right hand after being struck by a foul tip in Monday night’s game, and the Diamondbacks catcher was placed on the 10-day disabled list.
How much time he’ll miss remains to be seen. It’s possible Mathis is done for the year. It’s also possible it’s an injury he can play through, to some extent. Mathis believes he’ll have a better sense for his timetable after visiting with hand specialist Dr. Don Sheridan once the club returns home from the road trip.
Mathis suffered the injury in the fourth inning. X-rays came back negative, giving him hope it wasn’t serious, but he knew something was wrong when he woke up with the hand swollen and stiff.
He went for an MRI on Tuesday morning and received the diagnosis, and he wasn’t in good spirits when speaking with reporters in the afternoon.
“It’s tough,” Mathis said. “I haven’t been in this situation in a long time. To be in this situation, where we’re at with this group of guys, it’s pretty special. I’m going to be around as much as possible and help any way I can. It’s really disappointing and frustrating right now.”