PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Diamondbacks are looking for a fifth starting pitcher now that Shelby Miller’s season is over due to elbow surgery. Right-hander Zack Godley might very well have earned another opportunity to show he can be that guy.
Godley allowed four hits in seven innings after being called up from Triple-A in time to make his second start of the season, and the Diamondbacks beat the Detroit Tigers 7-1 on Wednesday night to end a three-game losing streak.
Nick Ahmed, Yasmany Tomas and Brandon Drury homered for the Diamondbacks (19-16), who have 13 wins at home this season.
Godley (1-0) allowed a run and struck out six, though Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was non-committal when asked about giving Godley another start in five days.
“He did a great job, I will say that,” Lovullo said. “We will sit down and talk about that in the coming days and figure out the best situation for us moving forward.”
Said Godley: “That’s up to them to decide. All I can do is keep doing what they ask of me. If they ask me to start, I’ll start. If they ask me to go out of the pen, I’ll do that. If they want me to go back down, I’ll do that, too. I’ll just keep trying to take advantage of the opportunities they give me.”
A.J. Pollock delivered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth for Arizona.
Tigers starter Matthew Boyd (2-2) allowed three earned runs on eight hits in six innings. Boyd had six strikeouts and three walks, two intentional, and collected his first career hit, an infield single in the third.
Arizona led 2-1 before Drury doubled with one out in the sixth and Ahmed was intentionally walked with two outs. Boyd walked Godley, and paid for allowing the pitcher to reach when Pollock knocked in a pair with the bases full.
“I need better focus and I can’t walk the pitcher. Got to make him put in play and what not. It cost us there,” Boyd said. “Pollock shouldn’t have come up to the plate, that’s just the fact of the matter.”
Anibal Sanchez relieved Boyd in the seventh and gave up back-to-back home runs to Tomas and Drury. Tomas hit his sixth of the season, a two-run shot, and Drury his second.
It marked the third time the Diamondbacks have hit back-to-back home runs this season.
STEALING STRATEGY
The Diamondbacks took over the major league lead in stolen bases Wednesday night with their 38th, courtesy of Goldschmidt in the seventh inning. Pollock leads the team with 11, and Lovullo was asked if Pollock has the green light to steal third base at any time. “I don’t want to give our strategy away,” Lovullo said, pausing for effect. “Yes, he does.”
DIAMONDBAC-KS
Arizona tied the major league record (since 1913) with its ninth consecutive home game with 10 or more strikeouts, recording 10 after reliever Randall Delgado added four to Godley’s six. That ties the 2017 Houston Astros’ streak from April 20-May 9.
BELL TOLLS
Left-hander Chad Bell made his major league debut for the Tigers, entering the game to pitch the bottom of the eighth. He’d been called up from Triple-A Toledo on May 1.
Bell pitched a scoreless inning with his first strikeout.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: OF J.D. Martinez played all nine innings for Toledo Tuesday night as part of a rehab assignment, and played again Wednesday though he complained of soreness prior to the game. He is on the 10-day disabled list with a right mid-foot sprain. … Manager Brad Ausmus said 2B Ian Kinsler will be able to play on Thursday after missing the past five games with left hamstring tightness. … A trainer came out to check on Boyd after he was hit in the leg, but Boyd threw some warmup pitches and stayed in. Boyd had a large bruise on his lower leg after the game.
Diamondbacks: Pitcher Shelby Miller had right elbow reconstructive surgery on Wednesday in Los Angeles, and Lovullo said he will be out for 15 months. Lovullo expects Miller to return to the team in the coming days. … LHP T.J. McFarland was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left ankle contusion sustained when he was hit by a line drive in Tuesday’s game.
UP NEXT
Tigers: Michael Fulmer (3-1) brings his 2.77 ERA into Friday’s start against the Los Angeles Angels in the series opener in Anaheim.
Diamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke (3-2) faces the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a four-game series in Phoenix. He’s 6-3 in his career against Pittsburgh.
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