Arizona Diamondbacks closer J.J. Putz got his mojo working again last night at Chase Field, pitching three solid strikeouts in the ninth inning to help his team nail down a close 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Thursday's win moved the D-backs (13-9) into a tie with the San Francisco Giants for second place in the National League West standings.
It also gave starting pitcher Trevor Cahill (1-3, 3.00 ERA) his first "W" of the season.
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Like Putz, the 25-year-old hurler has been pretty beleaguered this season, having given up a total of 25 hits and 12 runs in the five games he's pitched. Cahill managed to get his sinker working last night, however, and scattered four hits and struck out six Rockies over the course of five innings.
His only earned run came in the fourth via a Michael Cuddyer double and a Yorvit Torrealba two-out tapper that D-backs third baseman Martín Prado bobbled and couldn't get over to first in time to end the inning.
A Will Nieves RBI single in the second and a Paul Goldschmidt two-run homer in the fourth inning (his fifth of 2013) gave Arizona a 3-1 lead and also helped give Corbin some breathing room.
Reliever Josh Collmenter (who pitched from the sixth until the eighth) provided Colorado its only other run of the game when he allowed doubles by Eric Young and Troy Tulowitzki in the seventh.
Overall, Cahill and Collmenter's efforts denied the Rox the sort of epic homers they've been regularly dishing out in abundance this season, which has allowed the team to ascend to their current position atop the NL West.
Speaking of such, if the Diamondbacks (currently only a game behind Colorado) can beat their Mile-High City foes again tonight at Chase Field, they'll grab the crown for themselves (or at least share it with San Francisco, depending on how the Giants do tonight against the San Diego Padres). It's too bad then that Arizona's sending the winless Brandon McCarthy (0-2, 7.06) out to go against the undefeated Juan Nicasio (2-0, 5.31). Who knows? Maybe McCarthy can find redemption on the mound like his teammates Putz and Cahill.
First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR 620 AM. More info: www.dbacks.com.
