When the showers subsided Josh Reynolds Jersey , Lovullo gave the ball back to Zack Greinke, and the ace right-hander delivered.
Greinke pitched six scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt homered and the Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 on Saturday for their third consecutive win.
”We were having debates in here whether we should send Zack out or not,” Lovullo said. ”He said he felt great and he wanted to keep pitching. Just felt like we had to do the right thing and take him off the mound, but he saved us today. He did a great job.”
David Peralta had two hits and two RBIs for NL West-leading Arizona. Goldschmidt also walked twice and scored three times.
Greinke (7-5) allowed two hits, struck out seven and walked none. He also doubled and scored on Jon Jay’s double in the fourth.
The Pirates hit just four balls out of the infield against Greinke, who had never before stayed in through two rain delays. They combined to halt play for 1 hour, 21 minutes.
”Didn’t really know how to respond,” he said. ”Told Torey if it feels terrible, I’d let them know. It wasn’t too bad.”
Greinke’s extra-slow curveball was especially effective. Sitting around 69 mph at a big separation from his 89 mph fastball Taylor Gabriel Jersey , it accounted for four of his strikeouts.
”It’s obviously a weapon that slows the hitters down because it’s such a slow pitch,” Arizona catcher Jeff Mathis said. “He has a good feel for it too. He’s always looking for an opportunity to drop it in there.”
Arizona grabbed control with five runs in the first four innings against Joe Musgrove (2-3).
Goldschmidt walked and scored on Peralta’s triple in the first. Peralta then scored when Sean Rodriguez’s relay throw landed in the Pirates’ dugout.
The duo combined for another run in the third when Goldschmidt walked again and scored on Peralta’s double. Chris Owings singled in Jake Lamb to make it 4-0.
”If I can’t control the inner half to the lefties, it’s a tough day for me to get them out,” Musgrove said. ”It showed today.”
Goldschmidt hit his 17th homer in the seventh, and Lamb added an RBI single in the ninth.
Musgrove’s day ended with the second rain stoppage. He allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked three.
ROUGH DAY
Rodriguez went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in addition to his error on his bobblehead day. He is hitting .149 on the season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (strained right oblique) will make his third rehab start on Monday.
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli, already on the seven-day disabled list, has been diagnosed with a concussion. There is no timeframe for his return. … LF Corey Dickerson returned from the Family Medical Emergency Leave List and started. INF/OF Adam Frazier was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 2.94 ERA) is expected to start the series finale on Sunday. In three starts on the road, he has a 2.12 ERA and is holding opponents to a .180 batting average.
Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (6-4 Marcell Dareus Jersey , 4.00 ERA) is coming off one of his best outings of the season, when he struck out seven over seven one-hit innings Monday against Milwaukee.
Tiger Woods attracted most of the attention. Jordan Spieth caused the most concern.Opening day at the Masters had a wide-open feel until Spieth hit his stride. He saved three straight pars with that superb short game. He ran off three straight birdies to take the lead. And then he fired an 8-iron at the pin on the par-3 16th, letting the club twirl through his hands as he walked away, knowing only that it was another good one. It plopped down 5 feet away.
Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine. He made five straight birdies, a career best for him in the majors. Even a bogey on the final hole felt like a par the way he navigated out of the trees and limited the damage with a pitch that stopped inches from going in.
That gave him a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.
Woods has some catching up to do. He failed to birdie any of the par 5s. He was under par one only one hole. He hit a 9-iron into Rae’s Creek. And only a pair of birdies over the last five holes enabled him to scratch out a 73 and at least stay in range, seven shots behind.
PRO BASKETBALL
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) – Tyronn Lue returned to work humbled, changed and with a new perspective.
Cleveland’s coach has been rewired by a serious health scare.
Lue was back on the sidelines Thursday night and had his blood pressure tested as the Cavaliers rallied to win in his first game following a medical absence that became necessary after he experienced ”piercing” chest pains during two games this season.
Now that he’s feeling better, Lue even joked about his heart after the Cavs overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Washington Wizards 119-115.
”I told the guys after the game, `Good job of bailing me out.’ It was tough Matt Kalil Jersey ,” Lue said. ”First game back and not having a point guard and not knowing what sets to call and what to run because you haven’t worked on it. Our rotations were a little off tonight so, I mean, I was rusty.”
Earlier in the day, Lue, who guided the Cavs to an NBA title in 2016, described his ordeal in some detail for the first time. Lue said he had been bothered by chest pains for more than a year, but when they worsened during a March 17 game in Chicago, he realized it was time to step away and get help.
PRO HOCKEY
CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago Blackhawks are not making changes behind the bench after missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
Team President John McDonough told reporters Thursday that he plans to bring back both coach Joel Quenneville and general manager Stan Bowman after a dismal season for a team that has won three Stanley Cup championships since 2010 but stumbled to a last-place finish in the Central Division this season.
”I believe in continuity, they’ve had an incredible body of success,” McDonough told reporters. ”We’re not tethered to the past. This has been a very disappointing year and our expectations are incredibly high. We’re not going to deviate from those expectations. But I believe both Stan and Joel are the guys that are going to bring this back.”
Chicago had reached the playoffs every year since Quenneville took over four games into the 2008-09 season Josh Sitton Jersey , winning it all in 2010, 2013 and 2015. But the Blackhawks lost in the first round each of the past two years and this year was a nightmare.
BASEBALL
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) – Tim Tebow sure knows how to make an entrance.
Playing his first game in Double-A ball, Tebow hit a three-run homer on the first pitch he saw. The New York Mets minor leaguer connected on a frigid night at home for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in the Eastern League, facing Portland.
Last April, Tebow homered in his first at-bat with the Class A Columbia Fireflies of the South Atlantic League.
This time, the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback sent a liner far over the fence down the right-field line as the crowd at NYSEG Stadium stood and cheered the 30-year-old outfielder.
The lefty-swinging Tebow capped a five-run first inning against righty Teddy Stankiewicz, a second-round draft pick by Boston in 2013. The Sea Dogs are a Red Sox affiliate.
Adidas Henrik Sedin Jersey