Diamondbacks 7, Rangers 0
The Arizona Diamondbacks socked 11 hits while Caleb Smith and Riley Smith – no relation – combined to blank the Texas Rangers, 7-0, Tuesday night in Phoenix. This gave the Diamondbacks their first shutout of the season, either complete game or combined.
The top of the first did not at all foreshadow a shutout, as Caleb Smith walked the first three batters of the game. This loaded the bases for right fielder Joey Gallo, a dangerous slugger. He hit a foul popup outside third for the first out of the inning. The next two hitters – second baseman Rougned Odor and shortstop Anderson Tejada – both struck out, retiring the side with the bases left loaded. In the bottom of the inning, the Diamondbacks managed a two-out single off Rangers starter Jordan Lyles, but that did not translate into a run.
Diamondbacks Take Lead while Shutting Rangers Down
Both teams stranded runners in scoring position in the second and went down 1-2-3 in the third. The fourth saw the Rangers go down in order once again, but the Diamondbacks did not follow suit. Right fielder Kole Calhoun opened the bottom of the fourth with a grounder to first that looked to be a simple groundout with the pitcher covering. However, Lyles botched the catch at first, and Calhoun was safe. Calhoun advanced to second when third baseman Eduardo Escobar singled. That brought up left fielder David Peralta, who poked a slow-bouncing single under Odor’s glove and into right. Calhoun rounded third and scored as Escobar took third. After shortstop Nick Ahmed struck out, rookie first baseman Pavin Smith smashed a deep liner to right. Gallo caught it, but it was deep enough to score Escobar from third, making the score 2-0.
Another run came across in the fifth. Center fielder Daulton Varsho, the leadoff hitter, reached base when Lyles plunked him. Second baseman Ketel Marte, in his first game back after a stint on the injured list, advanced him to second with a single. An errant throw on a pickoff attempt by Lyles allowed Varsho to take third, and that became more important when Calhoun hit a one-out fly to left. Had Varsho still been on second, the fly would not have amounted to anything. However, Varsho was on third, so he scored, making the score 3-0.
The Big Inning
The sixth inning both blew the game open and chased Lyles from the game. Peralta, Ahmed, and Smith started the inning with a double, RBI triple, and infield single, respectively. That brought up catcher Carson Kelly with runners on the corners and nobody out. Kelly had gone 21-for-110 up to that point, giving him a .191 batting average. The first pitch was a ball. On the second pitch, Lyles “threw that slider up in the zone. I’m just looking to elevate – put something in the air to give our guy an opportunity to tag up,” according to Kelly.
It went in the air, alright. According to StatCast, it rose as high as 121 feet on its 425-foot journey into the left field bleachers, giving Kelly a three-run home run to blow the game open. The 104-mph missile gave Kelly home run number five; RBIs number 13, 14, and 15; and something to smile about on his way back to the dugout. Most importantly, it gave the Diamondbacks a commanding 7-0 lead.
Slamming the Door
Caleb Smith faced 16 hitters across four innings, walking the three in the first inning while allowing only one hit, a single by left fielder Eli White in the top of the second. He gave way – due to his pitch count limit – to Riley Smith in the fifth. Riley scattered five hits across the final five innings, walking no one en route to victory.
The Rangers threatened in the top of the ninth. After Odor struck out to lead it off, Tejada and catcher Sam Huff – who attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix – each singled. The runners advanced on a slow bouncer up the middle by first baseman Sherten Apostel, bringing up White with two out and runners on second and third. White had singled in each of his three plate appearances up to that point. He worked the count to 3-2 before Riley Smith locked him up with a slider right down the middle. Plate umpire John Libka rang White up, giving the Diamondbacks the shutout victory. It was their first since they defeated the San Diego Padres, 1-0, in the very last game of the 2019 season.
Outlook
Manager Torey Lovullo praised his team’s effort after the game. “It was a pretty complete game. I couldn’t be more happy about several things. When you talk about the type of game that we’re expecting to play, that was it.” Lovullo pointed to Caleb Smith escaping the bases loaded, nobody out situation in the first inning as a key to the rest of the game. “Right there, it set a great tone for us. He wiggled out of that jam, and it was 0-0 walking off that mound.”
Riley Smith (2-0, 1.65 ERA) earned the win in relief while Lyles (1-6, 7.08 ERA) took the loss. The two teams will play the final game of their quick two-game series Wednesday afternoon. A pair of lefties – Wes Benjamin (1-1, 4.41 ERA) of the Rangers and Alex Young (2-4, 5.44 ERA) for the Diamondbacks – will take the hill. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 Pacific.
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
