More at-bats help Peralta, Castillo thrive against Dodgers
PHOENIX -- David Peralta and Welington Castillo, the Arizona Diamondbacks' two biggest heroes in a 10-6 victory against the Dodgers, are riding high from the simple advantage of seeing more pitches.
The setup to Thursday's victory goes like so:
The D-backs evened the score after Dodgers starter and former D-back Mike Bolsinger left after four innings with a 4-0 lead and flu-like symptoms. Los Angeles put two runs on D-backs reliever Andrew Chafin in the seventh, going back ahead 6-4. So in the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers arranged a favorable lefty-on-lefty matchup, with reliever Adam Liberatore facing Peralta.
It did not look like a good matchup for the D-backs.
Peralta entered the game hitting .188 against lefties this season but has seen more at-bats against them since earning everyday duties following Ender Inciarte's injury. With runners on second and third, Peralta tripled on a slider going away, scoring two to tie the game once again.
"We know Liberatore has been one of their guys, been a real good lefty specialist," Hale said.
"We could hit (Aaron Hill) there, but we only had a couple guys in the bench. That pitch, I think if you look at it, it was a couple balls off the plate. Just a strong guy, strong guy that was able to put the ball in the gap."
Maybe it helped that the D-backs had successfully pulled off a double-steal just beforehand.
Those were two of six steals on an aggressive base-running evening, and it said something about the urgency Arizona played with to end a seven-game skid against the Dodgers -- and about the Diamondbacks' resiliency.
"He repeated the same pitch, but it was kind of away so I just let the ball get deep and drive it to the gap," Peralta said of Liberatore. "The more I see lefty, the more I'll get better. I'm seeing the ball well, I'm hitting the ball pretty well now."
Similarly, Arizona catcher Welington Castillo's more frequent at-bats since being acquired from the Seattle Mariners served him well on Monday. His RBI-double gave the D-backs their first lead, 7-6, in the eighth inning before he scored an insurance run on a Chris Owings bunt single.
"You see more pitches, you have more chances," Castillo said. "I can be really good, but I don't worry about my offense. I have a job to do behind the plate with this pitching staff. I know I can hit but when I go 0-for-4, I don't really think about it."
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt added a bases-loaded, two-run single with two outs in the eighth to stretch the lead to four runs. All of Arizona's comeback came against the Dodgers' bullpen.
"Our guys answered it," Hale said. "Bolsinger was sick ... so we basically did it against their bullpen. They have a good bullpen. The guys throw hard, they have other guys that throw funky stuff."
David Peralta has often beat shifts to the right side of the field in the last few weeks. He's lined balls to far right field or lofted them over the heads of the infielders moved into shallow right, but on Monday he met the shift with a new look -- a bunt toward a vacated third base to reach safely. It forced the Dodgers out of the radical look of placing the third baseman in between the first baseman and shortstop. This, all before his critical left-field hit.
* Bolsinger, who the D-backs traded to the Dodgers for cash in the offseason, cruised through four innings, striking out four, allowing three hits and no earned runs. Here's how Arizona fought back: Shortstop Nick Ahmed's fifth home on the year came off reliever Joel Peralta -- who hasn't allowed a home run since August 2014 -- and the two-run shot cut a 4-0 Los Angeles lead in half in the bottom of the fifth inning. Then, with Goldschmidt on base (having extended a hit streak to 10 games), Yasmany Tomas' deep shot to right deflected off the forearm of a fan reaching over the fence and into the stands. Replay reviews couldn't overturn the called home run that tied the game at 4.
* D-backs starter Allen Webster threw only two strikes in his first 13 pitches, though he didn't get favorable calls on from the umpire. He escaped the first inning by allowing one run thanks to a double play, but he found trouble in the fourth, allowing three solo home runs because of balls left up in the zone. Overall, he went 3 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs. He threw 35 strikes in 72 pitches, adding that his fastball command needs consistency. With starter Patrick Corbin aiming for a July 7 or 8 return from Tommy John surgery, there is room for one more start from Webster -- the odd man out of the rotation -- but Hale said it's not certain Webster will get another go. "We'll talk to Dave (Stewart) and Tony (La Russa) and (Mike Harkey) and we'll see if we can make some adjustment and get him down in the zone and get his off-speed pitches working. We have to sit down and talk about it," Hale said.
20 - Joining Albert Pujols, Joc Pederson become the second rookie in National League history to eclipse the 20-home run mark before the All-Star break, per ESPN Stats & Info. His home run Monday measured 461 feet.
Hey, Yasmani Grandal, we know it might get complicated for you as a switch-hitter, but just a heads up that your batting helmet should protect the ear that's at risk of being drilled by an errant pitch.
Awkward! @YazmanianDVL08 did not wear the correct helmet to home plate tonight: http://t.co/K28sTZlBQq pic.twitter.com/AJdSDuZXB0
— Cut4 (@Cut4) June 30, 2015
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