Henry's Quality Start Carries D-backs Over Nationals

The Diamondbacks had a quick turnaround for today's game, as they had to stop in Washington DC to make up a game postponed earlier this month due to poor air quality. Facing the Nationals a third time this season, Tommy Henry pitched into the seventh and held them to one run in a 5-3 victory to secure a series sweep.

"The pitcher set the tone for our day. It was one run through 6 2/3 innings" said D-backs manager Torey Lovullo. "He had quality stuff, he was mixing his pitches very well. I think he and Carson [Kelly] got into a good rhythm."

Henry did an excellent job to mix in all of his pitches, with only 38 fastballs and nearly equal usage of his secondary stuff. That kept the Nationals off-balance at the plate, as he struck out five and got an inning-ending double play. It was his fifth quality start of the year, which ranks third on the team. The lone blemish was a Lane Thomas solo home run in the third inning.

Henry had this to say when reflecting upon his outing. "It was good. Command could have been better, but got some nice calls in some crucial moments. There were some big plays on defense, the wind was swirling. Command could have been better, could have been ahead of more hitters, so those are areas to improve and we'll work on that moving forward."

The D-backs took advantage of Washington misplays in the field. In the first, Corbin Carroll scored from first on a ground ball single up the middle after the ball was booted. In the fourth, a pop-up was caught up in the wind and fell safely to the grass, as Carroll advanced to third then scored on a sacrifice fly. A throwing error gave the D-backs an extra base runner in the seventh, which would prove critical with two outs as Ketel Marte blasted out a three-run home run to right for what proved to be valuable insurance runs.

Marte has another on-base streak going. This long ball improves it to 16 games. pic.twitter.com/d4PTTfTIsN
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcD8393) June 22, 2023

Geraldo Perdomo had a big game out of the leadoff spot, reaching four times in five plate appearances on two singles and two walks. He keyed two run-scoring innings, with his first inning single coming around to score later in the inning and a walk that extended the seventh in front of the Marte home run.

"I told Torey he can put me wherever he needs me" said Perdomo when talking about hitting leadoff. "I know my job is to get on base. I have really good hitters behind me, Marte and Corbin. If I can get on base for those guys, something can happen."

The game got a bit closer in the ninth, as Riley Adams connected for a two-run home run against Joe Mantiply to cut Arizona's lead in half. Scott McGough came in and retired the final two batters to secure his fifth save of the year.

Once again, the D-backs have tied their high water mark of 16 games over .500 on the season. They travel to San Francisco to play the Giants for a pivotal three-game series this weekend. The D-backs have a 2.5 game lead over the Giants, so it will be important for them to pick up some ground. Tomorrow Zach Davies (1-3, 7.11 ERA) will toe the rubber, facing Logan Webb (6-6, 3.11 ERA). First pitch will be 7:15 PM MST.