A.J. Pollock homered, Zack Godley tied a career high with 10 strikeouts, and the Arizona Diamondbacks regained first place in the National League West with a 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday in Phoenix.
Jon Jay had two singles and an RBI, and Nick Ahmed had a two-run double for the Diamondbacks, who have won seven of 10 and moved one-half game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies in the division.
Godley (12-6) gave up two hits in seven innings, singles by Robinson Chirinos in the second inning and Willie Calhoun in the fifth, walked one and hit a batter. Godley struck out the first batter in each of his seven innings, the first in the majors to do that since 1974, according to STATS LLC.
T.J. McFarland pitched the final two innings to complete the shutout.
The Rangers, who had a four-game winning streak broken, had only two runners on base in one inning, when Chirinos singled and Calhoun walked with two outs in the second inning.
Godley has won seven of his past eight decisions and is tied with teammate Zack Greinke and two others for second in the NL in victories. Washington's Max Scherzer has 14 wins.
Bartolo Colon (5-10) gave up seven hits and five runs in five innings, with three strikeouts and two walks. He lost his fifth straight start and remains tied with Dennis Martinez for the most victories in major league history by a Latin American pitcher. Each has 245. Colon's ERA rose to a season-high 5.18.
Pollock hit his 15th homer of the season for a 1-0 lead with two outs in the first inning off Colon, the 24th homer the right-hander has allowed this season. Arizona has scored 82 runs in the first inning, tied with Colorado for the major league high.
Jay singled with two outs in the second inning and scored on Paul Goldschmidt's double for a 2-0 lead.
Steven Souza Jr. walked to open a three-run fourth inning. Daniel Descalso singled with one out before Ahmed hit a two-run double down the left field line to make it 4-0 lead. Jay singled in Ahmed for a 5-0 lead.
Ahmed walked and later scored on a wild pitch by left-hander Jeffrey Springs in the sixth inning. Springs, making his major league debut, allowed one run in two innings.
--Field Level Media
Texas | Arizona | |
Bartolo Colon | Player | Zack Godley |
Loss | W/L | Win |
5.0 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 10 |
7 | Hits | 2 |
9.00 | ERA | 0.00 |
Texas | Arizona | |
Willie Calhoun | Player | Alex Avila |
1 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
1 | TB | 2 |
.500 | Avg | .667 |