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Snap Judgments: MLB Game of the Week (Diamondbacks at Rangers; 08.14.18)

Ross James/ALOST/Capture Photography

 

akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

 

ARLINGTON, Texas — It did not take long for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt to continue his torrid hitting stretch on Tuesday. Immediately afterward, starting pitcher Patrick Corbin took advantage of Goldschmidt’s early strike in making sure Arizona maintained first place at the end of another series.

Goldschmidt got Arizona on the board early with a solo home run in the first inning while Corbin pitched seven strong innings, giving a taxed bullpen a much-needed respite, as the Diamondbacks defeated the Texas Rangers 6-4 to garner a split of the two-game series at Globe Life Park in Arlington and maintain a one-game lead over the Colorado Rockies atop the National League West.

It took just two batters before Arizona went ahead, with Goldschmidt lining a homer off of Rangers starter Yovani Gallardo over the high left-field wall for his 27th dinger of the season. The hit extended Goldschmidt’s on-base streak to 21 games, a stretch in which he has hit .424 with six homers and 13 runs batted in.

Arizona extended its lead to 4-0 by the fourth inning. After tacking on a run in the second on an RBI groundout by Daniel Descalso, the Diamondbacks scored two in the fourth inning when Descalso, after hitting an RBI double to drive home Ketel Marte and reaching third base on the throw home, scored on a wild pitch by Gallardo while facing Nick Ahmed.

Those runs proved enough for Corbin, who allowed three earned runs on six hits while striking out seven in seven innings of work. Corbin did not allow a walk for a third straight start as his ERA on the season rose slightly, from 3.15 to 3.18, in picking up his 10th win. Even more impressive, Corbin did not allow a home run tonight, marking the 10th consecutive start in which Corbin has not allowed a long ball.

“He makes pitches, and I think he has a really innate quality to locate balls to the bottom of the zone,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said of Corbin. “You come into this ballpark, you wonder often what are going to be the conditions. The ball does fly out of here, especially with this group of guys. This group of hitters here, they’re very, very potent.”

Two of the three runs scored by the Rangers were driven in by third baseman Jurickson Profar, as he hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and doubled home Shin-Soo Choo as part of a two-run sixth inning for Texas.

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with all photos taken by Capture Photography owner and photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 26 pictures in total.

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