Ray Shuts Down Pirates 3-0

Hope you got to your seat in time or you missed the start; Ivan Nova took six pitches to tuck Arizona away while Robbie Ray used up 11 tosses, but then he struck out two Buccos. The second was also well-hurled with Cutch’s two-out single the only action. The third was a clean frame, and it was another perfecto for Ivan in the fourth. J-Hay got a gift double to open the fourth when his routine fly was lost by the LF’er and moved to third on a grounder, but Freeser and Amore fanned (Ray’s fifth & sixth victims) to douse the flame. Jake Lamb opened the fifth with the Snakes first hit; an out later he was erased via the ol’ around-the-horn DP. Ray tucked the Bucs away with another pair of whiffs. The D-Backs drew first blood with a single and two-out Chris Owings’ double in the sixth. Nova tried to rally the troops with a leadoff knock, but a Jordy DP calmed the inning down in a hurry.

Though only at 52 pitches to start the seventh frame, Nova began to struggle. Paul Goldschmidt doubled off the top off the wall (an ump review confirmed it wasn’t a homer) and he was bloop singled to third. After a whiff , Ivan got a grounder but Jordy couldn’t do much with it and it became an RBI infield knock. A walk loaded ‘em up and a dribbled out up the right side was soft enough to chase home a second tally and make it 3-0. Pittsburgh went down in order. Huddy was back in his eighth inning spot, albeit w/o the lead, and tossed a 1-2-3 frame. The Bucs managed a knock in their half by pinch-hitter Fraze. Wade LeBlanc worked the ninth, giving up a stranded double. Jordy and J-Hay made solid contact off Ray in the ninth, but both lined out to third. J-Bell fanned and that was the ballgame.

Won’t win many games without scoring, and Robbie Ray has spun 24-2/3 straight shutout frames during a breakout campaign. But Clint may have given the boys a better chance if he had played Fraze in left and J-Hay at second, especially against a pitcher with no discernible split instead of taking the load-em-up with righties approach. An argument also could be made that the pen should have heated up earlier for the seventh, but the killing knocks were more well-placed than well-hit; Goldschmidt’s ball was the only rocket. The bottom line: you can’t manage your way into winning with a zero on the board.

Notes:

• Ivan Nova was 0-for-28 before his sixth inning single.
• Gregory didn’t have his walking boot on today, so he may have lucked out with his ankle sprain.
• It was a big night for Robbie Ray. It was his first complete game and first shutout in the majors, tossing a 116-pitch four-hitter with 10 K and no walks.
• One thing about pitching duels – they’re quick. This one took two hours and 10 minutes in front of 14,996 fans and an unknown number of pooches.
• Neil Walker got his 1,000th hit tonight.