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Luke Weaver pitched five scoreless innings in his first start since May 16, Josh VanMeter hit a two-run home run and the Arizona Diamondbacks avoided a sixth straight loss and three-game series sweep with their 8-3 win over the San Diego Padres Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field.
Weaver, reinstated from the 60-day disabled list Wednesday morning, looked sharp throughout. He was on a pitch count, but worked efficiently with 79 pitches thrown over six innings and the opportunity to bat three times in the game.
The Padres, battling for the second wild card spot in the NL, finally got to Weaver (3-3) in the sixth with Trent Grisham’s solo home run. But Weaver didn’t falter and finished the inning quickly.
The Diamondbacks jumped all over Padres starter Yu Darvish in the bottom of the third inning, scoring six runs and sending all nine players up to bat with two plate appearances for Josh Rojas and Ketel Marte in the inning.
VanMeter’s home run was the highlight, but Pavin Smith doubled in Marte for the Diamondbacks’ first run, then came a Darvish wild pitch to allow Smith to race home.
Jake McCarthy walked and stole his first base as Diamondback, scoring on Nick Ahmed’s single. Even Weaver got into the act, reaching on a Manny Machado throwing error and getting as far as third base.
Darvish, a five-time All-Star, hasn’t won a game since June 21 and is 0-7 in his last 10 starts since then. He hasn’t earned win a win over Arizona since April 27, 2019. He was done after 2 ? innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits.
The Diamondbacks totaled 13 hits for the game, three each for Marte and Smith.
Jake McCarthy’s missed catch of an Eric Hosmer sinking fly ball in the fifth didn’t come back to hurt the D-Backs, but a leadoff double for Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers’ two-run home off reliever Noé Ramirez in the seventh gave the Padres some life.
Then Padres reliever Austin Adams allowed the first four Diamondbacks to reach in the bottom of the eighth inning on a hit, two hit batsmen and a walk, and the Coyotes added on.
With MLB active rosters expanded to 28 players on Wednesday, the Diamondbacks reinstated Weaver and recalled OF Stuart Fairchild from Triple-A Reno before the game.
Widener to the ‘pen
Lovullo said RHP Taylor Widener would miss his scheduled turn in the rotation Friday due to him being moved to the bullpen, and with Weaver back in with the starting pitchers.
“We had a discussion with him and we feel at this point and time … we want to see what others can do,” Lovullo said. “That’s one part of it. The other part of it is, we want to manage his work load a little bit. He’s come off of two stints on the IL (injured list) and we want to give him the ability to go in the bullpen and catch his breath a little bit.”
This doesn’t mean Widener will be a reliever for good going forward, Lovullo said, but just for the rest of this season before the decision is re-evaluated.
Sportsbook look
Caesar’s Entertainment on Wednesday revealed renderings of its new sportsbook, sports bar and broadcast studio made possible that will be in place at Chase Field and is scheduled to open in early 2022.
Caesar’s is the official sports betting and daily fantasy partner of the Diamondbacks. The sportsbook will be located at the former Game 7 Grill space outside of Chase Field.
When sports betting becomes officially legal in Arizona on September 9, fans can make a bet at Chase Field at ticket windows 21 through 25 outside the main gate, making it the first MLB stadium where sports fans can place an in-person wager. Eventually, bets can also be placed at five temporary betting kiosks on the north side of the plaza.
Get in touch with Jose Romero at [email protected]. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.
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