Arizona 11, Cincinnati 7
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, August 22, 2015
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
Temperature:
77°
Umpires:
Home -
Mike Muchlinski, 1B -
Mark Wegner, 2B -
Marty Foster, 3B -
Mike Winters
Attendance:
36216
By The Sports Xchange
CINCINNATI -- Paul Goldschmidt had homered twice since June, just once since the All-Star break.
But, aside from a few minor adjustments in his swing, the Arizona Diamondbacks' first baseman stayed the course.
"That's just how the game is," Goldschmidt said. "Things (happen) in spurts, whether it's homers ... or whatever it is. That's just baseball. I've got a plan that I believe gives me the best chance to succeed."
On Saturday night, Goldschmidt broke through with a pair of two-run homers and Ender Inciarte added a solo shot on the game's first pitch, lifting the Diamondbacks to a wild 11-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Goldschmidt went deep to right field in the first inning against Anthony DeSclafani and again in the seventh against Pedro Villarreal for his seventh career multi-homer game. He finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs.
"He just feels great," manager Chip Hale said. "He did some mechanical stuff with (hitting coach) Turner (Ward) the past couple of days. I think tonight it really felt good for him."
Arizona center fielder A.J. Pollock collected three more hits, making him 11-for-15 in the series.
The Diamondbacks (61-61) won their third straight to reach .500 for just the third time since April and will try for the four-game sweep on Sunday.
Zach Godley (4-0) allowed a run in 3 2/3 innings to pick up the victory.
Cincinnati had the tying run on deck in the ninth, but Daniel Hudson retired the final two batters for his second save.
Reds third baseman Todd Frazier showed signs that he's coming out of his slump, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI. Right fielder Jay Bruce had a two-run double for Cincinnati (51-70), which has lost eight straight.
DeSclafani (7-9) struggled from the outset, allowing six earned runs and 10 hits, including two homers, in five innings.
The Diamondbacks scored immediately when Inciarte launched his fourth home run of the season into the right-field seats. It was his first career leadoff homer.
After Pollock reached on an infield single, Goldschmidt hit his first home run since July 27, putting Arizona ahead 3-0 only eight pitches into the game.
Goldschmidt snapped a homerless streak of 103 plate appearances.
"They were aggressive in the first inning," DeSclafani said. "They were aggressive all game. I didn't have an off-speed pitch to back them off tonight. I wanted to break the losing streak. But this wasn't what I had planned. I just want to finish the season strong."
D-backs starter Randall Delgado needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning, nearly halfway to his pitch limit of 60-70. He didn't make it out of the third.
"You could tell he didn't have his good stuff," Hale said. "We're trying to extend him out now, so hopefully his next start he'll have his good stuff."
Bruce snapped an 0-for-15 skid with a double to right, driving home two runs to cut the Diamondbacks' lead to 4-3.
"In this ballpark, you're never comfortable," Hale said. "You have to keep scoring to win games."
A double off the right-center-field wall by Reds left fielder Brennan Boesch on Delgado's 65th pitch brought home Bruce to tie the score.
"We did a nice job of coming back, but they did what we've talked about all season," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "They added on and got that separation."
Arizona regained the lead in the fourth when Godley reached on a bunt single, his first career hit, to load the bases. Inciarte's sacrifice fly put the Diamondbacks ahead 5-4.
In the fifth, Goldschmidt singled for his third straight hit and later scored on second baseman Aaron Hill's sacrifice fly, making it 6-4. Arizona piled on from there.
"I just told our coaches I want to have a happy flight one of these times," Hale said. "We've been flying after a lot of losses. So let's win (Sunday) so we have a happy one."
NOTES: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips returned to the starting lineup after missing two starts with inflammation in his right biceps tendon. ... Reds OF Ryan LaMarre made his first start, playing center field and batting eighth. LaMarre was eighth Reds player to make his major-league debut this season. ... CF A.J. Pollock is the first Arizona player with consecutive four-hit games since Steve Finley in 2003. ... Diamondbacks RHP Randall Delgado made his first start since Sept. 11, 2014. ... In a ceremony before the game, a statue was unveiled outside Great American Ball Park honoring Reds Hall of Famer Tony Perez. ... Cincinnati's eight straight losses are one shy of the season-high nine May 15-25.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Arizona
|
16 |
3 |
28 |
.400 |
11 |
6 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Cincinnati
|
13 |
0 |
17 |
.325 |
32 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0 |