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Washington's Gonzalez takes aim at All-Star appearance (May 03, 2017)
WASHINGTON -- Two left-handers with a lot to prove will meet on Wednesday in the second game of the series between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona's Robbie Ray will try to show the Nationals they should not have traded him to the Detroit Tigers in a deal that netted Washington veteran right-hander Doug Fister.
"We have our hands full," said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, well aware the Nationals scored at least 10 runs six times in April.
Meanwhile, Gio Gonzalez, the Washington lefty, is seeing stars, or at least he hopes to.
Gonzalez has stated he wants to make the National League All-Star team because the Midsummer Classic will be held in Miami, not far from where he grew up.
"I feel I am better than what I have been showing. I want to go out there and do my job," said Gonzalez, whose ERA went up every season from 2013-16. "Why not? If I am going to set a goal, that is a great start. If the opportunity comes, I am going to try my hardest to get there."
Gonzalez has pitched well in his first five starts this year, going 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA. He won 21 games in 2012 with Washington and last year was 11-11 with a 4.57 ERA in 32 starts.
He gives a lot of credit to his teammates, including new catcher Matt Wieters, reserve backstop Jose Lobaton and pitching coach Mike Maddux. Wieters was sick and didn't play Tuesday.
"Great communication between me and my catcher," said Gonzalez, standing by his locker Tuesday in the Washington clubhouse. "I have been getting a lot of help from the middle infielders. I think (second baseman Daniel) Murphy has been a great help in my success."
"I also don't want to take away from Mike," he added of Maddux. "He has been phenomenal. We sit down and go over every hitter. We are talking every inning. I am all ears. You have to have an open mind. You have to use your talent and also take advantage of what other people give you."
Gonzalez is 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA in six career starts against Arizona. He last pitched on Thursday, when he got the win in Colorado as the Nationals ended a 10-game road trip with a 9-1 record.
He will be opposed by Ray, who was drafted by the Nationals in the 12th round in 2010 out of a Tennessee high school.
He was traded by Washington to the Detroit Tigers during the 2014 season, dealt to Arizona after the 2014 season and then made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks in 2015.
Ray, 25, is 2-1 with a 3.56 ERA in five starts this year and has allowed just 24 hits in 30 1/3 innings with 39 strikeouts and 17 walks. Opponents are hitting just .220 against him.
Ray is 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA in two career starts against Washington. In his last start against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, he allowed three earned runs with nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
"I see a guy that is very determined," Lovullo said Tuesday. "At times he has been very dominant."
Lovullo announced Tuesday that right-hander Braden Shipley would come up from Triple-A to start Thursday in the series finale in Washington. Shipley is 3-1 with a 4.18 ERA in five starts for Reno.
The Diamondbacks want to keep Archie Bradley in the bullpen instead of putting him in the rotation to take the spot of Shelby Miller, who is out for the year with an elbow injury.
"We had a lot of great baseball conversations with everybody involved. It just seemed like it was the right guy in the right situation," Lovullo said of Shipley.
The Washington bullpen, which has been struggling, had to go three innings Tuesday in a 6-3 loss to Arizona. Former closer Blake Treinen allowed three runs and one hit in two innings, boosting his ERA to 8.25. Joe Blanton, who gave up a homer in the ninth, has a 9.82 ERA.
"I think we're all right for (Wednesday," Baker said. "That's why we went two with (Treinen), so hopefully the guys that were down today will be better (Wednesday)."
