This isn't what we meant when we said, "Let things slide."
Patrick Corbin struck out 10 of his career-high 12 batters with the slider and the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0, on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field.
Corbin grew up playing basketball in North Syracuse and did not pick up a baseball until his junior year of high school. A quarterback on the football team, his teammates urged him to try his hand at baseball.
So at 17 years old, Corbin showed up to baseball tryouts in jeans and a t-shirt. He did not have a glove. After a coach leant him he glove, he put him on the mound to see if he could throw. Corbin reared back and threw an 80MPH fastball. The rest is history.
On Wednesday, Corbin outpitched All-Star Alex Wood and recorded two hits at the plate as the Snakes got a little payback for the National League Division Series sweep by the Dodgers last October.
Wood allowed leadoff doubles in each of the first three innings as the Diamondbacks recorded a run in each of the first three frames.
"It was a little bit more of a battle today," said Wood of his start. "When you give off a leadoff double to start the inning, its tough against that lineup to taper it down."
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Wood (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts in six innings. For the second straight start, he received no run support.
"I thought Alex competed really well today," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts to reporters. "Even without his best stuff he still made pitches when he needed to. Really good job by him, but we have got to put some runs on the board for him anyway."
Corbin (2-0) retired the first 14 batters he faced before allowing a bloop double to Matt Kemp in the fifth inning.
"That slider was tough," Chris Taylor told the media. "He was locating it well and it made his fastball play up. We're just not playing our best baseball right now."
The 28-year-old left-hander allowed just one hit with one walk and a career-high 12 strikeouts in 7 and 1/3 innings as he stymied Dodger hitters all day long.
UPDATE: Corbin is still nasty. pic.twitter.com/BTYRUA5jXH— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) April 4, 2018
At the plate, Corbin was 2-for-2 with a double, and a run scored.
The Dodgers have had just one hit in two different shutouts this season. Both came on games started by Alex Wood.
"It's April 4th," said Wood when asked why it's not time to panic yet. "We got off to a little slow start last year. Once everything clicks, we're going to get rolling."
The Dodgers are now 2-5 to start the season, their worst seven-game start since 1998.
Up Next:
The Dodgers will have an off-day on Thursday before heading to San Francisco for a three-game series with the Giants over the weekend. RHP Kenta Maeda will start opposite LHP Derek Holland. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15PM PST.
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