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 After scoring 10 runs in Ray's last seven starts, the Diamondbacks
gave him 10 runs in the first two innings of a 12-4 victory over the
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field on Friday.
"It's huge," Ray said of the early outpouring. "A weight is lifted
off your shoulders. You can make the pitches you need to make ...
that you know you can do in a zero-zero ballgame, but it is just a
little easier to do when you have that kind of run support."
Ray gave up two singles in five scoreless innings and got home run
support from catcher Welington Castillo, first baseman Paul
Goldschmidt and shortstop Nick Ahmed for his first victory in 11
starts, since July 7.
Ray (4-11) struck out two and walked three while winning his first
game at Chase Field.
Castillo hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning and
Goldschmidt and Ahmed had two-run homers in a six-run second inning,
knocking out left-hander Alex Wood (10-10) after eight hits and
eight runs (six earned).
"The biggest thing was just getting that lead in the first inning,"
said Goldschmidt, whose homer was his 28th. "That put some pressure
on those guys. Any time you can play with a lead, it is good. He
made a couple of mistakes and guys hit them hard."
Every Arizona position player had a hit and scored a run in the
first two innings, the first time in franchise history the team
batted around in each of the first two innings.
Ahmed had his first career four-hit game and drove in three runs as
the Diamondbacks (68-73) won for the third time in their last their
last four.
Los Angeles left fielder Justin Ruggiano hit a grand slam with two
outs in the ninth inning off Allen Webster after a walk, a single
and an infield error to prevent Arizona's 10th shutout of the
season.
Ruggiano has three homers in 15 at-bats since joining the Dodgers on
Aug. 31.
Rookie shortstop Corey Seager, pinch-hitter Alex Guerrero and center
fielder Chris Heisey had singles for the Dodgers' other three hits.
"It didn't take long," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
"Obviously the first inning, not good. You are just hoping that you
can kind of go out the next inning and salvage.
"In this ballpark you actually do have a chance to get back in it if
you put some runs up, but the second inning put us in a bind.
Obviously we are going to try at that point to throw a couple of
zeros, hopefully put some runs on the board. Then at some point you
try to save some guys."
The Dodgers (80-60), who have won five of their last seven, used six
pitchers and played the final several innings with starters Adrian
Gonzalez and Justin Turner on the bench.
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Arizona left fielder Ender Inciarte had three hits and right fielder
Yasmany Tomas had two hits and drove in two runs. Second baseman
Chris Owings had two hits and an RBI.
Castillo has 19 homers this season, 17 since joining the
Diamondbacks in a June 3 trade with Seattle. Ahmed has nine homers.
Goldschmidt has 18 homers against the Dodgers, the most by any
active player.
Wood held the Diamondbacks to one run and seven innings while going
eight innings in an 8-1 victory while with Atlanta on July 1.
"Baseball is funny," Wood said. "Probably my best one since I have
been over here in the last one and I had the worst one of the year
today. It is a cruel game. Usually it is only one or two (pitches)
that you don't have, not all three. Chalk it up to just one of those
nights."
NOTES: Home plate umpire Jim Wolf left in the game after being
struck by a foul ball during Arizona SS Nick Ahmed's at-bat in the
second inning. Wolf was hit squarely in the mask but stayed in for
the final two batters of the second inning. First base umpire Alan
Porter took over behind the plate in the third. ... Dodgers RHP Mat
Latos, who was scratched from a scheduled Wednesday start because of
a stiff neck, saw Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles on Thursday and
was found to have no structural damage. Latos is not scheduled into
his next start, manager Don Mattingly said. ... Dodgers SS Jimmy
Rollins missed his fourth straight start with a sore finger,
although he was used as a pinch-runner when pinch-hitter Alex
Guerrero suffered a left calf strain while beating out an infield
single in the third inning. Dodgers SS Corey Seager and Arizona
2B/3B Brandon Drury were named to Baseball America's
all-classification minor league all-star team Thursday. Seager hit
.297 with 37 doubles and 76 RBIs at Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A
Oklahoma City. Drury, chosen as the second baseman, hit .303 with 40
doubles and 61 RBIs at Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno. Drury
leads minor league baseball with 133 doubles the last three seasons.
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