Eduardo Rodriguez anchors a gritty victory as the Arizona Diamondbacks' bullpen delivers perfection, and two key at-bats keep the winning streak alive.
Not only have the Arizona Diamondbacks won four consecutive games, but they've beaten three different teams in the last three days.
Arizona began a three-game slate with the Washington Nationals by taking care of business, 3-2.
It was a bit different than their previous two games, where they scored 10-plus runs in each of those, but a win is a win, and the D-backs have now improved to 55-49.
1. Bounce-back performance from Eduardo Rodriguez
Eduardo Rodriguez has given this starting rotation a huge boost, but he was coming off a start where he allowed five earned runs on seven hits in just 2.2 innings. Thankfully, the 33-year-old got back on track.
"My last start, I was missing a lot of spots,” Rodriguez said, according to MLB.com. “That happens, and today I just tried to execute. And I executed, and we ended up winning the game.”
Rodriguez improved to 9-3 on the year after going six solid innings. The Nationals had a lot of traffic on the basepaths, but he ended up allowing only two earned runs as his season ERA drops to 2.64.
2. Bullpen was perfect
The trio of Juan Morillo, Kevin Ginkel, and Paul Sewald was truly perfect. All three pitchers got through an inning of work in fewer than nine pitches. None of those three allowed a run, and they all tallied one strikeout.
Morillo picked up his 12th hold while Ginkel recorded his 10th. In the end, Sewald notched his 24th save of the season. Together, these three combined for just 24 pitches, 19 of which were strikes.
3. Big night for Tim Tawa
The Diamondbacks outfielder could be on the chopping block with the upcoming trade deadline. That's not to say that Tim Tawa would be traded, but there are a few solid outfielders that Arizona has been linked to.
Tawa put together a strong 2-for-4 performance, one that saw him record an RBI and give the D-backs one of their two hits with runners in scoring position.
4. Gabriel Moreno was the hero
Similar to Tawa, Gabriel Moreno went 2-for-4 with an RBI. That said, Moreno's RBI couldn't have come at a bigger spot.
With the game tied 2-2 in the seventh inning, Moreno hit a 76 mph sweeper to left field, one that was deep enough to bring in Ketel Marte on a sacrifice fly. That ended up being the deciding run as the 26-year-old saw his batting average increase to an unbelievable .312.
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