D-Backs sweep as Buchholz exits early
PITTSBURGH – In four days in this city, the Diamondbacks’ rotation allowed a total of two earned runs. Their offense jumped to an early lead three times. Their defense was nearly flawless. They even managed to give slugger Paul Goldschmidt a day off and hardly noticed he was gone.
With a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon, the Diamondbacks completed a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in which they outscored them 21-6 and did not trail over any of the series’ 40 innings.
Perhaps the only downside to their time at PNC Park came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when right-hander Clay Buchholz, who had thrown all of 53 pitches across five scoreless in-
nings, did not emerge from the visitors’ dugout.
Buchholz felt discomfort in his left side during his at-bat in the top of the fifth. He went back out for the bottom of the inning, felt it again, and decided it might be best to call it a day.
For now, the Diamondbacks are calling it only “tightness in his left side.” Manager Torey Lovullo offered no guess as to whether Buccholz might be able to make his next scheduled start in five days. He said he expects to know more on Monday.
Buchholz, experienced both in pitching and dealing with injuries, says he dealt with a significant oblique injury before during his time in the minors. This injury, he said, is nothing compared to that.
“I’m not looking to miss any time,” Buchholz said. “I’m going to get to the field early the next couple days and get some treatment and work done on it and go from there.
“Obviously, I’m not going to put the team in any position to fail. If it doesn’t feel good my start day, I’m going to let them know. I don’t really anticipate that. I feel like we can get it taken care of.”
If it does turn out to be serious enough to cost him a start, the Diamondbacks might have to dip back into the minors for help. They already sent down right-hander Matt Koch to clear room for Shelby Miller’s debut on Monday.
And while left-hander Robbie Ray is nearing a return from the disabled list, his next – and perhaps final – rehab start is scheduled for Monday night with Triple-A Reno, which means he doesn’t line up with Buchholz’s next scheduled start, set for Friday against the San Francisco Giants.
“We talked about some of the decisions that needed to be made moving forward if Clay is not available,” Lovullo said. “We might be in a tough situation, but with Shelby coming back I think that’s a nice push for us so we’ll see.”
Buchholz was cruising before the injury occurred, having given up just two hits and no walks with five strikeouts, but he didn’t seem to think he pitched as well as the results would indicate.
“I missed with some pitches that just didn’t get hit,” he said. “Usually, it doesn’t go that way.
“I think a lot of that has to do with I was around the zone the whole time. The last time I pitched against these guys, they were really patient. That was sort of our goal today, to throw strike one and go from there and see what that opens up.”
Buchholz’s outing completed a dominant
series for the rotation. In 24 innings, the Diamondbacks starters gave up just 11 hits and three walks while striking out 29.
The offense scored three runs in the first two innings but nothing after that, with all the damage coming via the long ball. David Peralta connected for a tworun shot in the first, followed by a solo homer by John Ryan Murphy an inning later.
For Peralta, the blast was his 15th, giving him one more than last season and leaving him two shy of his career high.
“(Getting an early lead) relieves a lot of stress and puts you in a situation where you can execute without having to make such a huge mistake,” Lovullo said. “These guys are prepped and ready. When the first pitch of the game is thrown they’re ready to go.”