Diamondbacks cruise to another big road win over Padres

SAN DIEGO – Robbie Ray took a shutout into the eighth inning, David Peralta had four hits, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 9-1 Saturday night for their fifth straight win.

Ray (3-3) limited the Padres to just two hits and three walks while striking out six in 7 2/3 innings. Tom Wilhelmsen struck out Wil Myers with the bases loaded in the eighth, and J.J. Hoover allowed the Padres’ lone run on an infield single by Allen Cordoba in the ninth.

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 9, Padres 1

Paul Goldschmidt had a two-run single in the Diamondbacks’ five-run first inning as the first four batters got hits against Luis Perdomo (0-1). Jake Lamb had an RBI double and Chris Herrmann added a two-run homer in the inning.

Yasmany Tomas had a two-run single in the second and Lamb’s run-scoring single in the fourth made it 8-0.

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Ray departs in 8th with D-Backs in command

Lefty Robbie Ray gave up just two hits in 7 2/3 scoreless innings, leaving with the Diamondbacks leading the San Diego Padres 8-0 on Saturday night.

Ray departed with two on and two out in the eighth inning, giving way to reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, who walked the first batter he faced but struck out Wil Myers with the bases loaded to end the inning.

For Ray, it was his most effective outing of the season in terms of pure results, though it might have been less impressive than his April 17 outing against the Washington Nationals given the level of competition.

D-Backs’ Robbie Ray in control vs. Padres

Staked to an 8-0 lead, Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray is having little trouble making it stand.

He has allowed just one hit – an infield single to Cory Spangenberg in the third inning – through five scoreless innings.

Ray, who issued eight walks in his past two starts and struggled with high pitch counts, has not issued a walk and has thrown just 42 pitches through four innings.

Ray also doubled to center field in the third inning; he’s 6 for 17 (.353) at the plate this season.

D-Backs jump ahead again vs. Padres

The Diamondbacks scored five times in the first inning and added two more in the second to take an early 7-0 lead over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park. They jumped to an 8-0 lead in the first inning on Friday night then cruised to a 10-1 win.

On Saturday, they benefitted from three consecutive well-placed hits to start the game but then proceeded to hammer Padres right-hander Luis Perdomo.

After Paul Goldschmidt’s two-run single made it 2-0 in the first, Jake Lamb slammed an RBI double and Chris Herrmann capped the scoring with a monstrous two-run homer to dead center, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-0 lead.

For Herrmann, it was his second homer in as many at-bats – he also hit the walk-off homer on Wednesday afternoon – with both going to straightaway center. The blasts went a combined 861 feet.

The Diamondbacks added two more in the second on a Yasmany Tomas bases-loaded single.

Iannetta replaces Bracho on D-Backs’ roster

Catcher Chris Iannetta was activated from the seven-day concussion disabled list on Saturday, taking the place of reliever Silvino Bracho, who was optioned to Triple-A Reno after Friday night’s game.

Iannetta missed the minimum seven days after he was hit in the face by a 93 mph fastball from Pirates reliever Johnny Barbato on May 12.

He needed stitches for a split lip and sustained damage to two or three teeth, he said, but thinks he helped avoid a concussion by sitting out a few days after the initial injury, thus avoiding foul tips or other blows to the catcher’s mask.

The move brings the Diamondbacks back to 13 position players after they’d played the past five games with just 12.

Short hops

The Diamondbacks traded right-hander Enrique Burgos to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations. Burgos had been in the Diamondbacks organization since July 2007, when he received a $295,000 bonus to sign out of Panama as a 16-year-old.

Burgos posted strong numbers in the minors as a reliever in recent years but never put it together at the big league level, logging a 5.27 ERA in 68 1/3 innings the previous two years. He had a 6.23 ERA in 13 innings for Reno before being designated for assignment on Monday.

*Outfielder Socrates Brito, who needed surgery in March to repair a badly dislocated ring finger on his left hand, will report to Triple-A Reno on Sunday to begin a rehab assignment, manager Torey Lovullo said.

Hazen keeping tabs as D-Backs prep for draft

SAN DIEGO – Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen plans to head to the SEC Tournament next week in Hoover, Ala., to get a firsthand look at a handful of prospects in advance of next month’s draft.

Hazen said he’s already made two other scouting trips this spring, and he’s hoping that by the time the draft begins on June 12, he’ll have had a chance to lay eyes on the player the club ultimately selects with the seventh overall pick.

But he said he mostly tries to stay out of the way when he takes these sorts of trips.

“I’m a question-asker and that’s about it,” Hazen said. “I think if you haven’t seen a lot of players, it’s hard to see a player and say, ‘This is the guy.’ I don’t think I can do that. But it’s good to be able to ask questions.”

Hazen said that even though he delegates responsibilities to scouting director Deric Ladnier when it comes to running the draft, he’s ultimately responsible, as the GM, for whom the club selects, so he wants to have a sense for how things play out.

“Even though Deric is going to be making the pick, ultimately I’m accountable for that, too,” he said. “Being able to at least ask questions about why we would want to take this type of player, having seen them, I think it adds a little context. You read all the reports and you watch video, but I think getting to go watch them play it helps me to be able to at least put a little bit more of the picture together.”

Among the SEC’s top prospects are Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright; Florida right-hander Alex Faedo; Vanderbilt outfielder Jeren Kendall and Louisiana State right-hander Alex Lange.

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Lineup

1. Chris Owings SS

2. David Peralta RF

3. Paul Goldschmidt 1B

4. Jake Lamb 3B

5. Yasmany Tomas LF

6. Brandon Drury 2B

7. Chris Herrmann C

8. Rey Fuentes CF

9. Robbie Ray P

Pregame notes

Ray labored through four innings his last time out, giving up four runs on six hits and three walks against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Since posting a 1.96 ERA in his first three outings, Ray has a 6.33 ERA in his past five. Ray is averaging 5.2 walks per nine innings, fourth highest in the majors.

Perdomo allowed eight runs in 10 1/3 innings in his first two starts but has a 3.00 ERA in four starts since. He has shown improvement in several statistical categories, including lowering his hits, walks and homers allowed and increasing his strikeout rate.

Perdomo throws a sinking fastball that averages 94.5 mph, according to BrooksBaseball.net.

Saturday’s game

Diamondbacks at Padres

When: 7:10 p.m.

Where: Petco Park, San Diego.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (2-3, 4.57) vs. Padres RHP Luis Perdomo (0-0, 4.19).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Coming up

Sunday: At San Diego, 1:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (1-0, 1.93) vs. Padres LHP Clayton Richard (2-5, 4.86).

Monday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (5-2, 3.09) vs. White Sox RHP Miguel Gonzalez (3-4, 4.29).

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (3-4, 4.38) vs. White Sox RHP Dylan Covery (0-3, 7.64).