Tommy Henry Dominates Rockies For 7 Shutout Innings
Tommy Henry was one of the main topics of conversation before the game with pitching coach Brent Strom. The two had been working closely together to fix a flaw in Henry's delivery that was causing him to miss wide to the arm side. The fix must have worked, as Henry hurled seven shutout innings in a 6-0 Diamondbacks victory. He allowed just two hits and tied his career high with seven strikeouts.
Henry threw 95 pitches, 63 for strikes. He was in total command for the entire outing. The best pitch for him tonight was the changeup. He threw 21 of them and got six swing and miss and a lot of soft contact. Talking about the pitch after the game Henry was able to articulate exactly what he was trying to do.
"It felt pretty good tonight. It's been feeling pretty good as of lately. I like the trajectory that it's heading on. I like the work we're doing mechanically, I feel like we're heading in the right direction to increase the consistency of everything. The changeup has been a positive by product of that. I feel like I'm able to command it in the bottom part of the zone more consistently, which is the biggest part of the changeup. Swings and misses are nice, but you kind of want action on it."
There were only three hard hit balls by the Rockies in total (exit velocity over 95 MPH) and all three of those were outs. He induced nine ground ball outs including two ground ball double plays, squelching what little hopes the Rockies had of mounting an attack against him.
Henry also spoke about how good it felt to be on the same page as his catcher Gabriel Moreno, and how comfortable he was with the game plan going in. "It was easy to buy in and get on a roll" he said.
The offense meanwhile was on point right out of the gates, jumping all over Rockies starter Dinelson Lamet. Pavin Smith led off with a base hit and was followed by hits from Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll, the latter of which drove in Smith for the first run. One out later Lourdes Gurriel Jr had a two-run knock to stake Henry to a 3-0 lead.
They went right back at it in the second inning. Jake McCarthy singled, stole second, and moved up to third on a balk when Lamet disengaged from the rubber for the third time. Smith doubled him home and Carroll singled to drive in Smith again, making it 5-0 Diamondbacks. It stayed that way until the fifth inning, when Christian Walker led off the inning sitting on career home run number 99.
McCarthy had two hits in the game, stole a base, and reached on an error forced by his speed getting down the line. "It feels good to contribute," McCarthy said. We're winning games, I'm just trying to do my part. It's always fun when you win, but it's nice when you help out a little bit too."
Smith reached base five times, walking three times after his double in he second inning. After struggling for over a month, Smith has come alive with clutch hits and getting on base out of the lead off spot.
Austin Adams and Jose Ruiz each worked a scoreless inning to close out the D-backs' fourth win in a row and 33rd on the year. They are 10 games over .500, and just a half game back of the Dodgers who lost tonight. They will go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon at Chase Field starting at 12:40 P.M. Zach Davies will start for Arizona and Connor Seabold gets the ball for he Rockies.
