Major League Baseball

Owings, Ahmed back Bradley against Rangers

Published Apr. 23, 2015 1:04 a.m. ET

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PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks gladly will accept baby steps from a pairof infielders who have been spinning their wheels trying to get the bats engaged through their team's 8-7 start to the season.

Shortstop Nick Ahmed and second baseman Chris Owings might soon find their offensive groove, but in the meantime they'll continue earning chances at the plate while keeping things tight in the infield.

The Diamondbacks' infield accounted for four double-plays in support of Archie Bradley and the pitching staff on Wednesday night, helping the D-backs earn a split of the two-game series with an 8-5 victory over the Texas Rangers. And middle infielders Owings and Ahmed did more than contributed with their leather.

Arizona led 3-1 heading into the fourth inning when Owings, who was hitting .196 to start the day, sent the first pitch out of the park for his first home run of the season. And Ahmed recorded his first multi-hit game of the season.

"The issue we had with both of them is swinging at bad pitches," manager Chip Hale said of his middle infielders. "When they don't swing at balls, they're pretty good hitters. And they're learning that."

That offense from the middle infielders is the cherry on top of the defensive production on which the D-backs know they must lean.

Starting pitcher Bradley admitted to hearing the bullpen phone ring in the first inning, when he walked three and hit another to fall behind 1-0. But he pitched to his defense, thus leaving with a victory despite struggling with command.

"Just hats off to my defense," said Bradley, who felt off while walking five and striking out two while going six innings on 92 pitches. "They made some plays there, they shortened some innings for me, and then the offense backed it up and was just able to grind through six innings."

With their defense being the constant in keeping them in the lineup, Owings and Ahmed have earned time to find confidence at the plate.

"I think it's just getting more at-bats," Owings said. "With more at-bats, get more confident, get comfortable out there. Getting back in the zone and hitting the ball hard -- that's pretty much what's being going on since that San Fran series, just slow things down."

The top of the D-backs lineup also came through, getting their team off on the right foot after the Rangers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first after Bradley walked in the first run. Lead-off man Ender Inciarte led off with a single and scored when third baseman Adrian Beltre air-mailed a throw past first base on A.J. Pollock's infield hit. Pollock reached third, and Goldschmidt grounded out for another RBI, making it 2-1.

Inciarte reached in the third inning on a bunt leading to an error by first baseman Prince Fielder, moved up on a Pollock single and scored from third on a Trumbo groundout.

The offensive contributions from Owings and Ahmed helped stretch the lead to 8-1, and the cushion came in handy when reliever Andrew Chafin was roughed up for four runs in the ninth.

1 -- wins the D-backs have all-time against Rangers pitcher Yovani Gallardo, who entered with a 7-0 record in 10 games against Arizona.

* After retiring the first two batters in the first inning, Bradley loaded the bases via two walks and a hit-by-pitch, then walked Robinson Chirinos to force in a run but got out of the inning by retiring Jake Smolinski. He ran his pitch count to 37 but would only need 55 innings through the next five innings. Bradley gave up just two hits in addition to the five walks and one hit batter.

* Bradley's 1.45 ERA is the lowest in the Diamondbacks history for a pitcher through their first three starts, and it's fifth in MLB in that category dating back to 2012.

* Label the results of Hale's lineup tweak as "to-be-determined," but don't be surprised to see it again. The Diamondbacks put a pitcher eighth in the batting order for the second time in franchise history, hitting Bradley eighth in front of Ahmed, who responded with his best offensive game of the season.

* After a noteworthy start to 2015, the D-backs' bullpen came crashing to earth in the two-game series against the Rangers. Texas broke open a 1-1 game on Tuesday by scoring six times in the final two innings off Daniel Hudson, Evan Marshall and Oliver Perez, then came back and scored four in the ninth on Wednesday off Chafin -- Hale said he couldn't get his location down in the zone -- though the final run scored on a single off of Addison Reed. 

"You play to our defense, that's a smart thing to do on our staff." -- manager Chip Hale.

The history between D-backs batters and their pitching opponents weigh heavily in Hale's decision-making when he makes the nightly lineups. Some guys, for whatever reasons, hit well against specific pitchers. Asked who he hit well as a player, Hale said he found success against Roger Clemens -- before Clemens mastered his split-finger fastball.

And in reminiscing of Hale's playing days, we learned this tidbit: teammate Kirby Puckett used to call Hale "Munk," as in Chipmunk.

Follow Kevin Zimmerman on Twitter

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