Diamondbacks take second straight from Brewers, 9-5
MILWAUKEE -- Having not pitched in eight days, Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin was eager to get his 2013 season under way, and his eagerness showed early against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
Corbin allowed a run in each of the first two innings but settled down quickly and held the Brewers scoreless over his final four innings as the Diamondbacks took their second straight from Milwaukee with a 9-5 victory at Miller Park.
After being staked to an early 1-0 lead, Corbin allowed the first two Milwaukee batters to reach, catching a break when Rickie Weeks grounded into a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners.
Alex Gonzalez tied the score on a sac fly and after Jonathan Lucroy singled -- snapping an 0-for-13 skid to start the season -- Yuniesky Betancourt grounded out to end the first.
The trouble continued in the second, when Corbin allowed a one-out double to Khris Davis, who scored after Norichika Aoki walked and Jean Segura doubled. But Weeks ended the inning with a groundout to short, stranding two Brewers in scoring position and giving Corbin a break.
"It was good not giving up a couple runs in each of those innings, which easily could have happened, but it's good to get out of there with one in the first in second and keep my team in the game," Corbin said. "I was a little off, having eight days off coming in, and I was a little excited. Left some balls up early and then came in after the third and talked about a few things: keeping the ball down. That's what I did and (got) a lot of ground balls."
Corbin retired the next eight Milwaukee batters and finished the day with two runs on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts for his first victory of the season.
"When he got out of the stretch early on, he was struggling a little bit," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "He was falling off the ball and couldn't locate it. The big thing: In the second inning he got in trouble but cut it off and get back on track. That's a good start for him."
With Corbin in a groove, the offense went to work against Milwaukee starter Mike Fiers. Both Paul Goldschmidt and Eric Chavez collected two hits against Fiers. Goldschmidt finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, home run, two RBI and three runs. Chavez was 2-for-3 and scored twice.
The inconsistency that had plagued Fiers throughout spring training was problematic in his first regular-season start. The right-hander fell behind 1-0 when Aaron Hill doubled to score Martin Prado in the first inning.
After retiring eight of the next 10 batters, Fiers opened the fourth by allowing a double by Goldschmidt and gave up a home run to Jason Kubel, making it 3-2 Arizona. After Chavez and Cliff Pennington followed with singles, Corbin struck out and Gerardo Parra made it 4-2 on an RBI single that scored Chavez.
Arizona scored two more on Goldschmidt's two-run homer with one out in the fifth. Chris Narveson took over in the sixth, ending Fiers' day after he allowed six runs and nine hits with a walk, a strikeout and two home runs in six innings.
"Commanding the baseball is the main problem," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said of Fiers' struggles, unsure whether they were a by-product of fatigue, a lack of confidence or rhythm. "We need to find out what the answer is and get him on the right track."
The Diamondbacks added two more in the seventh thanks to a pair of Milwaukee errors and added another in the eighth on Aaron Hill's first home run of the season.
Brewers' rookie Jean Segura was one of the lone offensive bright spots for Milwaukee, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Norichka Aoki had two hits with a walk and a run scored.
NOTES: Arizona pitchers recorded 10 or more strikeouts in their first four games but had just five Saturday. ... Brewers opponents have scored first in all five games this season. ... Third baseman Eric Chavez returned to the Diamondbacks' lineup after being hit on the arm with a pitch in Arizona's 16-inning victory over St. Louis on Wednesday. ... The seventh-inning wild pitch that led to two runs in Arizona's 3-1 victory Friday was changed to a passed ball Saturday, reducing the number of earned runs charged to Milwaukee reliever Burke Badenhop from two to one.
