Corbin stung by homers in otherwise solid '16 debut

PHOENIX -- As a first step in his second season removed from Tommy John surgery, Patrick Corbin's 2016 debut included plenty of positives.
But mistakes that resulted in three more Colorado home runs in a series in which they belted 10 left the D-backs left-hander on the wrong end of a 4-3 loss to the Rockies on Wednesday.
Corbin made it through seven innings on only 88 pitches (57 strikes), and said he felt strong enough to have pitched another. But in his final inning, he allowed a home run to Ryan Raburn that turned out to be the difference. Raburn lofted a fly ball that landed just two rows into the seats despite a leaping effort from left fielder Brandon Drury.
"I thought [Raburn] got under it, popped it up, that it jammed him a little bit. But it got out,'' Corbin said. "I would have liked to get out of that seventh inning and kept it at [at] one run.''
Corbin had kept the Rockies off the scoreboard since the third inning, allowing only two singles in a stretch of 13 batters while striking out four hitters, including red-hot rookie Trevor Story on consecutive at-bats. But Corbin couldn't escape some early-inning damage.
Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu homered with one out in the third, and was on base in the top of the first when Story struck again with a deep blast to left-center for his unprecedented fourth homer in the first three games of his Major League career.

"I made a couple of mistakes early,'' Corbin said. "I wish I could have those back.''
Added D-backs manager Chip Hale, "But I thought he did a good job. He was able to pitch deep into the game, which is what we ask our starters to do. He gave us a chance to win the game.''
Corbin slotted third in the D-backs' rotation out of Spring Training following 16 starts made in the final three months of last season, when he went 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA. His return came last July 4, about 16 months following the surgery on March 24, 2014.
On Wednesday, Corbin allowed four runs and eight hits, and didn't walk a batter while striking out six.
"I felt pretty good with all my pitches; that's a positive,'' he said. "But maybe not make those mistakes in situations where if they put a good swing on it, they can hurt you.
"My changeup was really good today, except maybe one to LeMahieu. It was pitch that got ground balls, and got me back into counts. I was pleased with that."