See also: Arizona Diamondbacks Lose in Extra Innings See also: Arizona Diamondbacks Slaughtered By Miami Marlins
It was a landmark day at Chase Field for the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, and a pretty hectic one at that. Arizona played its first-ever doubleheader at the stadium against the Miami Marlins, beating the fishy Florida team in back-to-back games.
Rookie pitcher Tyler Skaggs also made his Major League debut during the first game, and the southpaw helped the D-backs secure a 3-2 win over the Marlins with some excellent work on the mound.
Speaking of pitching wunderkinds, Wade Miley picked up his 14th victory of the season, the most by a rookie hurler in the National League since 2005, while leading Arizona to a 3-0 victory in the nightcap.
This tale of two pitchers started during the afternoon game when Skaggs (1-0, 2.70 ERA), who was recalled from Arizona's Triple-A affiliate in Reno earlier this week, struck out four batters, dished out five walks, and scattered three hits over 6.2 innings of work. The left-hander nipped at the edges of the strike zone with four-seam fastballs that averaged around 90 miles per hour.
Skaggs kept Miami scoreless during most of his time in the opening game, save for a two-run homer by Justin Ruggiano in the second. Luckily, Aaron Hill already had bashed a two-run homer of his own in the first and later knocked in an RBI single in the third inning to give the D-backs the 3-2 lead.
When Skaggs headed for the dugout in the top of the sixth after dispensing back-to-back walks to walking Donovan Solano and Jose Reyes, most of the 17,239 on hand at Chase gave him a standing ovation, causing the rookie to cap doffing.
Meanwhile, Miley (14-8, 2.80) damn near went the distance during the nightcap as he fried the fish over eight strong innings to complete the daylong sweep of the Marlins with a 3-0 shutout. The hurler's gem included fanning five (including striking out the side in the eighth inning) and enduring four hits while unleashing a career high 116 pitches.
Meanwhile, Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Johnson notched RBI singles, and a throwing error by Miami's Rob Brantly in the fourth inning allowed Goldy to slip through to the plate for an additional run.
Arizona has the day off today and will rest up for their weekend series with the San Diego Padres, which kicks off tomorrow night. Patrick Corbin (5-4, 3.60) faces Eric Stults (3-2, 3.02) during Friday's game, while Ian Kennedy (11-10, 4.24) takes on lefty Clayton Richards (10-12, 3.73 on Saturday night. And the finale on Sunday afternoon features Joe Saunders (6-10, 4.22) attempting to rebound from his meltdown against the Marlins earlier this week when he goes against Edinson Volquez (8-9, 4.18)
First pitch tomorrow evening is at 6:40 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR 620-AM. More info: www.dbacks.com.
