McCarthy struggles, bats silent in D-Backs loss


14 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PHOENIX (AP) — Another bad outing for an Arizona starting pitcher. And a night the Diamondbacks couldn't hit, either.

The result was a 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.

The Dodgers were making their first trip to Chase Field since clinching the NL West title there last September and, to the Diamondbacks' disdain, celebrating in the ballpark's swimming pool.

Arizona did nothing to make it a painful return.

Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed two hits in seven dominant innings and Adrian Gonzalez drove in five runs, including a two-run first-inning homer off Brandon McCarthy.

McCarthy (0-2) allowed six runs on 10 hits in seven innings.

The Diamondbacks were shut out at home by the Dodgers for the first time in 11 seasons.

"I haven't really felt like I have thrown terribly this season," he said. "It has just been a few pitches in there that have gone wrong and they happen to really hurt me. Whether it is a combination of bad luck and bad pitches, it is really getting old."

McCarthy's ERA stands at 7.78, and to show how the Arizona rotation is stumbling, it's only the third-worst among Arizona's five starters. One of those starters, Randall Delgado, has been demoted to the bullpen. Manager Kirk Gibson said after the game that Josh Collmenter would be the starter Monday against the New York Mets.

Ryu, pitching on an extra day's rest, threw seven dominant innings, allowing two hits, striking out eight and walking one. He retired 18 of his last 19 batters and allowed only a pair of singles by Miguel Montero.

Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off Brandon McCarthy (0-2) in the first inning, doubled in two more in the third and had an RBI single in the eighth. The Dodgers' Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 4 with two doubles, drove in a run and scored three times.

Gonzalez and Ramirez said the Dodgers talked about being aggressive because they knew McCarthy throws a lot of strikes.

Gonzalez certainly was, swinging on the first pitch he saw and sending the ball into the right-field seats, not too far from the pool.

"I wasn't going to give him an easy strike" he said.

Jamey Wright pitched two hitless innings to complete the shutout, which took just 2 hours, 26 minutes. The Dodgers had not blanked the Diamondbacks in Arizona since July 27, 2003, according to STATS.

Ryu rebounded from a rough outing a week earlier against San Francisco, when he was tagged for eight runs — six earned — in two innings.

He said the difference this time was he kept the ball down in the strike zone.

"Because I got hit around last game," Ryu said through an interpreter, "I was trying a little harder today."er

He beat the Diamondbacks for the second time this season. He was the winning pitcher in the Dodgers' 7-5 victory over Arizona in Australia on March 23.

"He is good, man," Montero said. "He doesn't really make a lot of mistakes."

McCarthy retired the first two batters in the first inning, then Ramirez singled up the middle. That brought up Gonzalez, who had been hitting the ball had lately with little to show for it. That changed in one swing that made it 2-0.

The Dodgers got two more on Gonzalez's two-run single in the third.

McCarthy settled down after that, retiring 11 in a row before Dee Gordon's one-out single in the seventh.

Yasiel Puig doubled leading off the eighth and scored when Ramirez doubled into the left-field corner. Ramirez came home on Gonzalez's single.

Puig was back in the starting lineup after being sidelined by a sprained left thumb, the result of a headfirst slide into first base against San Francisco last Saturday. He missed two games and struck out on three pitches as a pinch hitter against Detroit on Wednesday.

NOTES: Paul Goldschmidt was 0 for 4 and failed to reach base for the first time in 32 games, ending the fourth-longest streak in Diamondbacks' history. ... The Diamondbacks signed 37-year-old LHP Randy Wolf to a minor league contract. He will pitch for Triple-A Reno. ... Arizona goes with LH Wade Miley (2-1, 4.05 ERA) on Wednesday, the Dodgers start RHP Zack Greinke (2-0, 3.27). ... Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after the game that RHP Dan Haren will start on Sunday.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent MLB stories

Related topics

MLB
BOB BAUM

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast