Finally, Justin Upton sucking is a good thing.
Upton went 0-for-2 last night for the Atlanta Braves, although he did draw two walks, as Patrick Corbin and the Diamondbacks bullpen shutout the Braves for a 2-0 victory last night at Chase Field.
See also:
-Justin Upton Returns to Chase Field to Punish the Diamondbacks During 10-1 Rout
Corbin, who was supposedly in a three-way battle for the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training (we personally doubt this battle actually existed) with Tyler Skaggs and Randall Delgado, now has a 6-0 record with a 1.52 ERA, which is truly amazing.
Corbin struck out five and walked five, which may not have been exceptional, but he pitched seven innings, giving up three hits, and zero runs -- and at the end of the day, only the latter piece matters.
The Diamondbacks scored their two runs in the bottom of the third, as Cliff Pennington singled, Corbin lined out, and Gerardo Parra "doubled" on a ball he placed in one of the most awkward parts of the infield/outfield -- a ball that should have been an out, but the Braves couldn't manage to field it there on the right side.
A hit's a hit, and Didi Gregorius -- who's hitting .354 (in 65 at-bats) -- singled in two runs.
When Corbin was pulled after seven innings, the bullpen did its job, which seems to be a rare event around here.
David Hernandez took over in the eighth inning, and looked like the David Hernandez of yore, striking out the side with what erstwhile D-backs color commentator Mark Grace would have referred to as "gaaaaaaasssss."
One of those strikeouts was of Upton, who embarrassed himself at the plate. After looking at strike one, Upton swung at the following slider seen in the bottom-right corner.
Hernandez struck out Upton on three pitches.
The only person who had a worse attempt at a pitch was Dan Uggla, who faced Heath Bell -- who's apparently the temporary closer -- in the bottom of the ninth.
Bell started off with a looping curveball that landed almost right now the center of the plate, maybe just inches out of the center of the strikezone -- just a touch up, and a touch away. Uggla ducked, and spun out of the batter's box.
Bell almost struck out the side, but former Diamondbacks third-baseman Chris Johnson flied out on a two-strike count to end the ballgame.
The winner of this series will be decided today, in a day game, with Ian Kennedy facing off against Tim Hudson.