Weaver takes no-no into 7th, D-backs win
PHOENIX – Luke Weaver was one of the worst pitchers in the National League one season ago. The Diamondbacks right-hander wasn’t that promising this spring training, either.
But the 27-year-old never lost his confidence. Even after bad outings, he insisted he felt good on the mound and the results would come.
He backed up words on Sunday.
“It finally came together,” Weaver said.
Weaver retired the first 17 batters, Eduardo Escobar homered for the fourth straight game and Arizona beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-0.
Weaver (1-0) took a no-hitter into the seventh those
inning before giving up a broken-bat single to Eugenio Suárez, whose ground ball found a hole up the middle. The right-hander hit Alex Blandino with a pitch with two outs in the sixth, the first of three baserunners he allowed.
Weaver – who flashed pinpoint command with a mid-90s fastball – needed just 94 pitches over seven
11th, but earlier, he and Hamlin were dominant.
Blaney passed Hamlin for the lead on Lap 75 and cruised to victory in the 130-lap Stage 1, and Stage 2 played out much the same. Hamlin was fast early in the run, pulling comfortably ahead, but Blaney eventually ran him down to win that stage, too.
Hamlin’s third-place finish was his series best seventh top-five run in eight races.
“We had a really fast car for 20 laps or so, and then it would just kind of go away,” Hamlin said. “We just continue to run topthree every single week. Every stage, every finish — we’re right there. We just
need to get a little better. We’re barely missing it.”
The race featured several drastic changes in fortunes, perhaps none bigger than for Joey Logano. He was in danger of being lapped at the end of the first stage, but gambled with others midway through the race by staying on the track to gain position when most of the leaders pitted.
It worked because another caution flew shortly thereafter, allowing him to pit for the fresh tires most other teams already had and stayed near the front the rest of the way.
Logano finished sixth. Misfortune was the case for Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski and several others because of a major pileup on the backstretch involving more than a dozen
cars on Lap 387. Bowman had gotten as high as second before getting caught up in the mess that ended his day, and Keselowski, a two-time winner at Martinsville, also had to call it a day after the wreck.
“It’s just part of the short track deal,” Keselowski said.
The accident started when Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher got together exiting Turn 2.
Daniel Suarez also was involved, and rode around the oval to the entrance to Turn 1, climbed out of his car when it caught fire and walked away as it burst into flames.
UP NEXT
The series stays in Virginia, and on a short track, at Richmond Raceway next weekend.