Eduardo Rodriguez was on his game Tuesday night with seven innings of shutout ball as Arizona Diamondbacks halt Pittsburgh Pirates.
Getting back home to familiar territory never felt better for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Eduardo Rodriguez threw seven innings of two-hit ball, leaving Pittsburgh Pirates hitters shaking their heads while leaving the batter's box. And, it didn't hurt that the Diamondbacks' bats were alive in a 9-0 win on Tuesday night at Chase Field in Downtown Phoenix.
In his seven innings of work, Rodriguez, now 3-0 this season, walked three and struck out seven. He lowered his ERA this season to 2.50 with a stellar effort.
Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno had two hits apiece against Pirates pitching, while Ildemaro Vargas didn't miss a beat and picked up another hit. Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Adrian Del Castillo all had two RBIs apiece in the nine-hit Arizona offensive attack.
Pirates starter Bubba Chandler worked five innings and gave up just two runs, but he picked up the loss. Chandler's record goes to 1-4 for the Pirates.
But the Diamondbacks really got to Pirates reliever Yohan Ramirez. In one-third of an inning, Ramirez gave up five runs as Arizona put some distance between it and Pittsburgh.
With one out in the first inning, Marte tripled. Del Castillo followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Diamondbacks up 1-0. Then, with two outs and Corbin Carroll at second base, Vargas doubled to bring in Carroll and give Arizona a 2-0 lead.
Moving onto the sixth inning, with runners at first and second base with one out, Moreno doubled to right field. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. scored and Nolan Arenado advanced to third base. That set the table for a five-run sixth, giving the Diamondbacks an insurmountable 7-0 advantage.
The D-backs tacked on two more runs in the home half of the eighth inning.
By that time, it was ballgame and Arizona fans had reason to celebrate along with the Diamondbacks players.
The D-backs are now back at .500 with a 17-17 season record and in third place in the National League West Division. As for the Buckos, they fall to 19-17 and are in fifth place in the National League East Division.
These two teams go back at it on Wednesday night and wrap up the three-game series with a Thursday afternoon matchup. Diamondbacks fans who work in Downtown Phoenix have a reason to skip out of the office if they choose to do so.
Once Pittsburgh heads out of the Valley of the Sun, the New York Mets come to town and that three-game series kicks off on Friday night at Chase Field.
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