Diamondbacks down Indians, enjoy their winning ways

A group of players sat in a circle in the corner of the Diamondbacks clubhouse on Saturday night. They told stories and laughed loudly, each with a drink in their hand. Moments earlier, when reporters were allowed inside, a strobe light flickered from the center of the room, music blared and just about everyone there wore a smile on his face.

The Diamondbacks seem to be enjoying this whole winning thing.

For the second day in a row, the reigning American League champions were no match for them. Zack Greinke was terrific in his 6 2/3 innings, the offense did its usual slow-burn and the Diamondbacks cruised to an 11-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 11, Indians 2

Through their first six games, in which they are 5-1, they have scored a franchise-record 45 runs. They are hitting an absurd .431 with runners in scoring position. They are rolling.

“We’re pretty happy with how things are going at the moment,” Greinke said, exercising his powers of understatement.

As they have in each of their wins this season, the Diamondbacks did not score first. The opposing starter, this time Trevor Bauer, shut them down early. But they broke through in a big way, scoring four times in the sixth and adding six more in the eighth.

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“I think you’d definitely rather play from ahead,” Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. “We haven’t been able to do it. The pitching has done a good job of not letting it get out of control where we’re way behind.”

While it was a slew of hitters contributing, the comeback began in earnest with one out in the sixth. David Peralta took a 3-1 pitch that he thought was high and started toward first. Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez called it a strike. Peralta was not pleased. But it worked out for him.

The next pitch was a belt-high fastball on the inner-half of the plate, and Peralta turned on it, sending it on a laser toward the right field foul pole. He watched it – bat in hand, a few steps toward first base – as it clanked off the pole.

That began a stretch in which six of seven hitters reached base, chasing Bauer from the game and turning a pitchers’ duel into a game the Diamondbacks had under control.

“I think the biggest thing is us just, regardless of the score, trying to have good at-bats as a team,” Goldschmidt said. “Not kind of basing your mentality off the score of the game. I think that’s where the comeback happens. It’s not like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to score.’ It’s just, ‘Hey, let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing.’”

Goldschmidt, though, would not allow himself to get caught up in the moment. Asked to compare things to the way last year began – when the Diamondbacks didn’t win their first home series until late May and didn’t record a winning homestand until August – Goldschmidt downplayed the hot start.

“It’s obviously been fun,” he said. “When you’re winning, it’s fun. But I think we also realize it hasn’t even been a week of baseball. We just try to keep playing hard, having good at-bats, playing good ‘D’ and see what happens. It’s been a good start, but there’s a long road ahead.”

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The Diamondbacks’ 45 runs scored surpass the previous record of 41 for the most in the first six games.

“It definitely doesn’t surprise me,” Greinke said. “It’s been really good, though. I feel like our offense has been good for several years now. I don’t know about this good, but it’s always good.”

Greinke’s dominance was almost overshadowed by the offensive barrage, but he threw about as well as he ever has in a Diamondbacks uniform at Chase Field, allowing just one run while walking none and striking out six.

His fastball, which rarely cracked 91 mph in the spring, averaged 91.3 on Saturday and topped at 93.6. He mixed in change-ups, sliders and curveballs, limiting hard contact and ultimately giving the Diamondbacks their first quality start of the season.

“Everything was great,” Greinke said. “Just a good game all the way around. It was a lot of fun.”

It was an opinion shared by everyone in the room.

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

Sunday’s game

Indians at Diamondbacks

When: 1:10 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (0-1, 4.50) vs. Indians RHP Corey Kluber (0-0, 7.50).

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

Corbin lasted just four innings in his first start of the year, departing for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning against the Giants. He gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks. … He continued to have trouble with RF Hunter Pence, who hit two balls hard against him, including one that went for a double. … Kluber had a somewhat rough first start against the Rangers, giving up five runs in six innings and serving up a pair of home runs to 2B Rougned Odor. … Kluber finished third in AL Cy Young voting last season; he won the award in 2014. … That was the year he made his lone career start against the Diamondbacks, tossing seven scoreless innings with one walk and eight strikeouts in a game at Chase Field.

Coming up

Monday: At San Francisco, 1:35 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (1-0, 6.00) vs. Giants LHP Matt Moore (0-1, 5.06).

Tuesday: At San Francisco, 7:15 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (0-0, 4.76) vs. Giants RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-1, 10.13).

Wednesday: At San Francisco, 7:15 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (1-0, 5.06) vs. Giants RHP Matt Cain (0-0, 8.31).