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D-backs' Corbin looks to bounce back versus Giants (Aug 06, 2017)
SAN FRANCISCO -- Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin never saw his nightmare start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field coming Tuesday.
Corbin had won back-to-back games against Cincinnati and Atlanta, allowing a combined three runs over 13 1/3 innings in those victories.
Then the Cubs knocked him around for eight runs on 10 hits, including three home runs, over a season-low three innings in a 16-4 loss. To make matters more galling for Corbin, he gave up Cubs pitcher Jon Lester's first career home run.
"I think the best thing is just to get over it and move on," Corbin said Saturday. "I was excited to throw a bullpen. Felt really good doing that. Just looking forward to getting out there against the Giants. I feel good. Just one of those days it seemed like nothing went right for me."
Corbin (8-10, 4.77 ERA) will face San Francisco and right-hander Jeff Samardzija on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the three-game series. After falling 2-1 in the series opener Friday, the Giants rallied for a 5-4, 10-inning walkoff win Saturday.
Corbin is 4-6 with a 3.51 ERA in 17 games (15 starts) against the Giants. He's 1-3 with a 4.63 ERA in six starts at AT&T Park.
"I've thrown here a bunch," Corbin said. "It's a great atmosphere, a great ballpark, for pitchers especially. The Giants are a very good team, even though their season isn't going the way they'd like now. They have some hitters in their lineup. It's going to be a battle."
The Giants added third baseman Pablo Sandoval to their roster Saturday, purchasing his contract from Triple-A Sacramento. In his first game as a Giant since 2014, he hit leadoff double in a three-run seventh inning when San Francisco cut the Diamondbacks' lead to 4-3.
Corbin has had plenty to work on during his time since that start at Wrigley.
"Just working on fastball command, getting my sinker back, just locating it down in the zone," Corbin said. "Throwing some off-speed pitches. Trying to feel confident and comfortable with everything again and just try and prepare as best I can for the start."
Samardzija (6-11, 4.77 ERA) has won back-to-back decisions for the second time this season and tries for a season-high third straight victory Sunday. On July 26, he allowed one run on four hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts and two walks in a 2-1 victory against Pittsburgh. On Tuesday in Oakland, he gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits over eight innings in a 10-4 victory.
Samardzija is 2-3 with a 4.45 ERA in 14 games (nine starts) in his career against Arizona. Both those losses came this season in his first two starts. He gave up six runs and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 9-3 loss at Arizona then gave up three runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings in a 4-3 loss at AT&T.
"It's another one of those premier lineups in the league," Samardzija said. "I think you're starting to see nowadays with these teams piecing together eight, nine hitters in a row that can all play. A guy like (2B Brandon Drury) hitting there in the 8 hole is a big bat. You look at depths of lineups and this is definitely a lineup that has that.
"It just makes you realize you need to be in the zone early and you can't give these guys too many good hitters pitches in hitters counts. Just another one of those lineup you got to be on top of your game for."
The Diamondbacks dropped into the second wild-card spot in the National League, one-half game behind Colorado and five ahead of Milwaukee.
