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Arizona Diamondbacks extend winning streak to five

By Scott Johnson, The Sports Xchange
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

SEATTLE -- The Arizona Diamondbacks never really bought into the belief that they were just a National League afterthought, and now their play is beginning to match their collective belief.

The Diamondbacks won their fifth straight game Wednesday afternoon when catcher Welington Castillo hit two home runs and Arizona pounded Seattle starter Felix Hernandez on the way to a 8-2 victory over the Mariners.

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"We've been playing good baseball this season," Diamondbacks second baseman Chris Owings said, "and this series and the way the end of our last homestand went is proving it."

Arizona (49-51) has won six of its last seven and posted its first sweep since June 13-15.

"I felt like even when we were losing, we were playing hard," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "They gave it everything they had every night, so it's hard for a manager to be upset. ... The big thing has been our starting pitching."

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Wednesday starter Patrick Corbin provided the latest example, outdueling Hernandez on an afternoon when the Seattle ace was off his game. Corbin (2-3) allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He had six strikeouts and two walks.

"We've been pitching really well lately and our offense has been there all year," Corbin said. "This may be the first time this year we've got both going at the same time. We'll see if we can keep this going."

The Diamondbacks jumped on Hernandez for four runs before he recorded the second out of the game. Castillo capped the uprising with a two-run homer to give Arizona a 4-0 lead.

The first three Diamondbacks batters reached base and Arizona needed only three Hernandez pitches to put runners on second and third.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt then drilled Hernandez's seventh pitch into left field to drive in both runners for a 2-0 lead. After Hernandez struck out left fielder David Peralta, Castillo drilled his ninth home run of the season and his second in as many games.

Castillo added another home run, his 10th of the season and his eighth as a Diamondback, in the fourth.

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Hernandez (12-6) was able to settle down enough to last 6 2/3 innings, but the Diamondbacks got to him again in the seventh. Seattle's No. 1 starter allowed seven runs and a season-high 12 hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

"I was making mistakes, that's all," Hernandez told reporters after the game. "Balls that were (supposed to be) on the corners were in the middle of the plate, and they put good swings on them."

Castillo became the second player this season (Oakland's Marcus Semien in May) and the sixth in Hernandez's 11-year to hit multiple homers off the 29-year-old starter in a game.

"He's a really good pitcher, one of the best in the game," Castillo said. "I was guessing right with him. Every pitch, I was guessing right."

Arizona finished with a season-high 15 hits, giving the Diamondbacks a total of 27 hits and 16 runs in the final two games of the series. The last time the Diamondbacks scored more than eight runs in consecutive games was April 28-29 when they beat Colorado 12-5 and 9-1.

Arizona center fielder A.J. Pollock went 3-for-5. Goldschmidt, Castillo, right fielder Ender Inciarte and designated hitter Yasmany Tomas each added two hits. Peralta drove in two runs with a seventh-inning triple.

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Seattle (46-56) stumbled to its third consecutive loss, its longest losing streak since early June.

"We got our butts kicked in this series," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We've got to regroup and go on the road and try to win a game (at Minnesota on Thursday)."

Arizona reliever Addison Reed, who had been recalled from Triple-A after Tuesday night's win, got into the game and pitched two innings, allowing one run and three hits. Reed began the season as the Diamondbacks' closer but had his role reduced and eventually spent more than a month at Triple-A Reno.

NOTES: Diamondbacks C Welington Castillo was back in the lineup on Wednesday after sitting out Tuesday's game with a bruised left elbow. Castillo was beaned in the same spot twice in a span of three days. He got hit in the left hand in the ninth inning on Wednesday but said afterward that he was fine. ... Mariners 2B Robinson Cano (strained abdominal muscle) sat out Wednesday's game. He had an MRI afterward and manager Lloyd McClendon said Cano will likely miss another game or two before serving as designated hitter at some point in the upcoming road trip. By the beginning of next week, McClendon added, Cano should be ready to play full time. ... Seattle 1B Logan Morrison sprained a thumb during a seventh-inning at bat Wednesday. McClendon said he is day to day. ... Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez is now 8-2 in day starts since the beginning of the 2014 season. ... Seattle LHP J.A. Happ, the scheduled Thursday starter, will be coming off just two full days of rest after pitching an inning of relief in Monday's 10-inning loss to Arizona. Happ threw 15 pitches in that game after making it through just 1 2/3 innings, on 52 pitches, during his Saturday start. ... The Mariners wrapped up their six-game homestand and were scheduled to leave for Minnesota, where they will begin a three-game series Wednesday. Arizona will take Thursday off before starting a three-game series at Houston on Friday.

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