The Arizona Diamondbacks take aim at a season-high fifth straight victory on Friday night as they continue a four-game series versus the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.
Arizona matched its longest win streak of the season in Thursday's opener as Patrick Corbin threw a solid 6 1/3 innings to remain unbeaten on the season. He scattered a run and four hits while also driving in a run in a 2-1 win, moving to 5-0 on the campaign.
Gerardo Parra had two hits and an RBI and Heath Bell stranded a runner in the ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the campaign as the Diamondbacks pulled into a tie with the San Francisco Giants for first place in the NL West.
"I'm glad we came out with a win today. I just want to keep going, we've got a nice little streak going the with team, and I just wanted to keep that up," said Corbin, the first Arizona pitcher to start 5-0 since Brandon Webb won his first nine decisions in 2008.
Kevin Frandsen drove in the lone run for the Phillies, who saw starter Cole Hamels give up two runs on six hits and five walks to drop his second straight start.
"I am able to execute a lot of pitches the right way, then ultimately put a little too much pressure on trying to do that," Hamels said.
Philadelphia lost its second in a row and will try to avoid dropping three straight for the first time since April 23-25. However, it will be youngster Tyler Cloyd rather than Roy Halladay given that task of playing stopper.
Cloyd will enter the Phillies' rotation in place of the injured Halladay, who is set to undergo right shoulder surgery on Wednesday that will sideline him for an indefinite amount of time. The former Cy Young winner does hope to pitch again this season, one that saw him go 2-4 with an 8.65 earned run average in seven starts before getting shut down.
So in steps the 26-year-old Cloyd, who went 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in six starts with Philadelphia at the end of last season. The righty was 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA this season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and has never faced the Diamondbacks.
"It was an unfortunate situation, Doc's situation, having him going down and having surgery," Cloyd said on Philadelphia's website. "For me, it's just obviously another opportunity to prove myself and hopefully have some success."
The Diamondbacks are hoping that Ian Kennedy can record his first win since April 1 when he takes the mound on Friday.
Kennedy is 0-3 in his six starts since winning his season debut and the righty picked up a loss at San Diego on Sunday. He matched a season low with 5 2/3 innings pitched while yielding five runs on five hits, two homers and three walks.
"Ian didn't have his secondary stuff early in the game and they got on his fastball," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said.
The 28-year-old fell to 1-3 with a 5.19 ERA this season and will face the Phillies for the fifth time in his career tonight. Kennedy is 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA over the previous encounters.
The Phillies went 4-2 versus the Diamondbacks last season.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.