Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez tossed six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in Monday’s 10-0 win at the Chicago White Sox, his first start with at least five scoreless innings since joining the club ahead of last season.
Rodriguez allowed five hits (four singles) with two walks, as he has significantly improved his results since coming off the injured list earlier this month.
The veteran went on the IL with left shoulder inflammation on May 15 after giving up 21 earned runs over his previous four appearances. He has now made four starts since coming back, and Monday lowered his ERA since returning to 2.05 ERA in 22 innings.
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His ability to command five pitches is key to cruising through a lineup, and he effectively worked the fastball up and the changeup down to induce whiffs and weak contact on Monday. Eleven of 44 swings against Rodriguez were whiffs, and the five non-strikeout outs recorded were all groundouts.
Rodriguez had a solid start to the season with 34 strikeouts through his first 28.2 innings and an ERA of 4.40 that was impacted by poor defense. It is unclear just how much his ailing shoulder contributed to such a brutal stretch that followed, but he’s seemingly picked up where he left off early on.
The White Sox are not an offensive juggernaut by any means, but given the lackluster and injury-marred start to Rodriguez’s Diamondbacks tenure, these recent results have been promising. And the D-backs will need more of them, particularly considering the lack of consistency from Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt.
Pavin Smith, Ketel Marte lead another big hitting performance
The Diamondbacks jumped on the White Sox with multiple runs in three of the first four innings. Against a lesser opponent, the D-backs did well at putting the game out of reach early, and they did so with two-out execution and slug.
Josh Naylor roped a two-run double in the first inning off White Sox starter Shane Smith, who entered the game with a 2.85 ERA. Naylor extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
With two outs in the second inning, Pavin Smith cracked a three-run home run to lead 5-0. Ketel Marte and Smith then blasted back-to-back home runs with two outs in the fourth.
Marte finished the game with three hits, his fourth straight start with three or more hits, which tied his career high. His 13 hits through his last four starts also matched a career high.
Smith hit multiple home runs in a game for the first time this season, reaching eight big flies. The last time he did so was back in September, when he crushed three home runs on Sunday Night Baseball in Houston.
The Diamondbacks finished with 13 hits, reaching double digits in three of the last four games.
Injury concerns pile up
With Corbin Carroll out of the lineup as he awaits MRI results on his hand, red-hot corner infielders Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor left Monday’s game. Suarez was hit by a pitch in the first inning and was removed with a contusion. The team said his X-ray came back negative, and he returned to the dugout without a wrap or ice visible from the TV cameras during the game.
Naylor exited with right shoulder discomfort and is considered day-to-day.
Diamondbacks’ next game
The Diamondbacks have won four of the last five games to improve their record to 40-38.
They play to win the series on Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. MST with Ryne Nelson on the mound.
Catch the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
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