Webster could be squeezed out with Bradley on his way back
It was no coincidence Archie Bradley made his first rehab start at Triple-A Reno on Wednesday, the day Allen Webster took the mound for the Diamondbacks. That is the most likely landing rotation spot when Bradley returns.
Left-hander Robbie Ray was recalled from Reno to replace Bradley when he was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis on June 4, but Ray has pitched well in his four starts and earned more work. It looks more and more as if the Ray-for-Didi Gregorius deal will be a long-term plus for the D-backs.
Webster has the most tenuous hold on a rotation spot, and the group could be squeezed even more when left-hander Patrick Corbin returns from his rehab assignment next month.
Corbin is scheduled to make two more rehab starts, manager Chip Hale said, which would put him in line to join the team the week before the All-Star break. Both New York teams have tried six-man rotations this year, the Mets to lighten right-hander Matt Harvey's workload after he missed 2014 because of Tommy John surgery. While Corbin is in the same situation, it remains to be seen if the D-backs will go that way.
After taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his first start June 13, Webster has given up 13 hits and nine earned runs in 9 2/3 innings in his last two starts. He was hurt by two errors, one his errant pickoff throw, in the first inning of what turned into an 8-7 victory over Colorado on Wednesday, and he got himself in trouble with a single and a two-out walk in the fifth inning. He was removed after hitting 87 pitches with the walk, and the Rockies got two hits and two walks off Randall Delgado in a four-run inning that gave them a 7-5 lead they could not hold in the ninth inning.
Meanwhile, Bradley, who last pitched in a game June 1, gave up three runs in four innings for Reno, leaving after 63 pitches at Tacoma. He struck out three and did not walk a batter while throwing 40 strikes. Bradley gave up a bases-empty homer in the third inning and a couple of soft runs in a two-run fourth inning that included a looping single to center, a bunt single, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
Bradley will likely need two more rehab starts to get his pitch count to needed level on his way back from a second stint on the disabled list, and the D-backs have made no secret of the fact that they believe he will return as the same guy who beat Clayton Kershaw in his first major league start.
D-backs chief baseball Tony La Russa last week made a detour from the D-backs' California road trip to fly to Phoenix and watch Bradley's bullpen session at Salt River Fields. Then he jumped on a flight back to Anaheim to see the D-backs' game at Angels Stadium on June 15.
La Russa made his reputation by being honest with his players, and he shared some thoughts with Bradley after the throwing session.
"What he's done in baseball speaks for itself," Bradley said. "Any time he opens his mouth, you want to shut yours and hear what he has to offer."
The gist?
"Just reassurance," Bradley went on. "He was telling me they believed in me, and giving me some advice. Trying to take that in. Sometimes it's nice to hear it from a guy higher up."
The D-backs scored three runs in the ninth inning to win for the first time in their last 30 games when they trailed after eight innings.
"We battled. You just never know. You have to get lucky sometimes," Chip Hale told FOX Sports Arizona's Todd Walsh.
David Peralta had a swinging bunt single down the third base line to open the inning off John Axford before Paul Goldschmidt, handled carefully, walked. The D-backs made Axford pay for the extra base runner. After Yasmany Tomas singled in a run with his career-high fourth hit, Jake Lamb blopped a single to center to reload the bases. Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked a 10-pitch walk to force in the tying run, and Aaron Hill hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the go-ahead run.
"That at-bat by Saltalamacchia was unbelievable," Hale said. "Teams that get into the playoffs and win championships win late."
Daniel Hudson's final fastball was clocked at 98 mph when he struck out Daniel Descalso to end the eighth, and he was the winning pitcher when Brad Zielger -- 11-for-11 in save situations -- pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
10 -- pitches Saltalamacchia saw in his ninth-inning plate appearance before walking to force in a run.
* Yasmany Tomas' first trip to the Rocky Mountains brought out a case of altitude sickness Monday, but he kicked it Tuesday. Tomas had a career-high four hits, including an RBI single in the ninth, while returning to the cleanup spot after being held out of Monday's game. "He just continues to impress," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "With the bat, incredible. He goes up, no fear, puts the ball in play hard."
* Andrew Chafin entered the game with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth inning pretty much shut the door, allowing only one runner to score, a win in that situation and a contribution that could have been lost in later events. Chafin has inherited 20 runners this season and permitted only seven to score. Chafin has been scored upon in only of his last 13 appearances, dropping his ERA to 2.82.
* Jeremy Hellickson likely makes his next start Saturday despite being forced out of Sunday's game when he felt tweak his back during a swing in his plate appearance in the sixth inning. With Monday's off day, Hellickson will have an extra day to recover inasmuch as he will pitching on five days' rest. Hellickson is 4-1 with a 4.02 ERA in his last seven starts, six quality. He gone exactly six innings and given up two runs in five of those. "
*Triple-A Reno manager Phil Nevin was spotted in a UCLA hat in spring after son Tyler committed to the Bruins, but all that changed when Tyler signed for a $2 million bonus with the Colorado Rockies after being the 38th player taken in the draft two weeks ago. "He didn't spend too much time in the minor leagues, but now he's coaching in the minors," said Tyler, whose dad was the first overall selection in the 1992 draft. "I've seen first-hand the guys who spent five, six, seven, eight years working their way to the big-leagues. I'm ready for it."
*Chris Owings has seven walks in 248 plate appearances after getting one in the second inning.
As the D-backs know all too well, weather can be an issue in Colorado. Not only were they rained out of the first two games of a three-game series May 4-6 at Coors Field, there also have been 16 in-game delays there this season, including the 46-minute delay before the start of Wednesday's game. According to the Rockies, the total weather related down time at Coors Field this season is 18 hours, 11 minutes in 12 games. Or about the time it takes to drive from Phoenix to Denver and then turn around and hit Moab again.
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