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Arizona Diamondbacks: Winning streak hits four, while Robbie Ray gains second win

By Mark Brown |
Robbie Ray overcame five walks but limited the St. Louis Cardinals to two hits Thursday night and help extend Arizona's winning streak to four games. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
Robbie Ray overcame five walks but limited the St. Louis Cardinals to two hits Thursday night and help extend Arizona's winning streak to four games. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)

Coming into play Friday, the Arizona Diamondbacks are one of four teams in one defeat.

Through the first week of the season, results for the Arizona Diamondbacks monitor the expectation of manager Torey Lovullo. A core tenet remains that pitching and good defense win championships and if the first few games are any indication, the Diamondbacks master Lovullo’s approach.

Coming into play Friday, the Diamondbacks are one of four remaining teams with one loss and equal with the Boston Red Sox with the best mark in majors at identical 6-1 records.

Starting his second season at the helm of Arizona. Lovullo asks his starters to produce 21 outs. Then, hand the baton over to the bullpen. If this approach is successful, Archie Bradley creates a save situation as the eighth inning set-up reliever and closer Brad Boxberger slams the door.

That approach was executed last season. That’s when Bradley emerged as one of the most dominant set-up relievers in the game, and then-closer Fernando Rodney shut down the opposition in the ninth.

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Fast forward to the start of his season, and Bradley, again, demonstrates his value in the set-up role. That leaves Boxberger, named the Arizona closer just a few days before the start of the season as closer, to preserve a victory.

In their first road game of the season, that blueprint continued to yield dividends for Lovullo.

After starter Robbie Ray overcome bouts of wildness but still shut down the St. Louis Cardinals on just two hits in six productive innings, relievers Yoshi Hirano, Andrew Chafin, Bradley, and Boxberger gave the Redbirds no hits over the final three innings. The result was a 3-1 victory which spoiled the Cardinals home opener in Busch Stadium. More importantly, Ray pulled himself off the mat after a relatively unproductive first start of the season to gain his second victory of the season.

Despite gaining an 8-2 win over Colorado on March 29, Ray went the minimum five innings, but tossed 85 pitches and allowed six earned runs. Against the Cardinals Thursday night, Ray reversed that trend, and though he walked five hitters, he told FOX Sports Arizona that he was able to detect a flaw and make the necessary adjustment.

“I was trying to do too much,” he said. “Like trying to make the right pitch and I know you can’t throw 100 miles per hour on your second start of the season. So, I tried to keep within myself do what I do best. That’s controlling the zone and make sure my curve is effective. That’s what was working for me (against the Cardinals), the curve.”

Instead of giving Lovullo 21 outs, Ray hung around enough to record 18 and then hand things over to the bullpen. As Lovullo told FOX Sports Arizona after the game, the bullpen then assumes the liability.

“The key for all of our pitchers is simple,” he said. “Make pitches when you have to make pitches. If we do that, the rest will care of itself.”

Leftovers from the winter …

After the Diamondbacks’ wallet was not fat enough to keep J. D. Martinez, the outfielder eventually signed with the Boston Red Sox. Coming into Friday’s game, the Bosox and Diamondbacks had identical 6-1 records, and Martinez is hitting .240 (6-for-25). As a team, the Red Sox were eighth in the American League after the first week and hitting .240 as a team. The Diamondbacks were fourth in the National League with a team batting average of .258.

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Going forward …

Following an off-day Friday, the Diamondbacks returned to Busch Stadium to face the Cardinals Saturday afternoon. Look for Zack Greinke to get his second start of the season, and Michael Wacha gets the nod for St. Louis. The series wraps up on Sunday afternoon with snow in the forecast and temps around 40 degrees. It should be Taijuan Walker taking on Cards’ right-hander Luke Weaver.

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