All in: D-backs let loose to shed struggles
Lineup tallies 15 hits to snap 5-game losing streak
PHOENIX -- Paul Goldschmidt started it off with a home run in the first inning and as the hits kept coming for the Arizona D-backs en route to a 12-2 win over the Yankees on Monday night, manager Chip Hale could sense a difference in the home dugout.
After struggling in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Giants, the D-backs offense finally flexed its muscle, delivering 15 hits, including six with runners in scoring position. That's two more hits than they got in those situations in all four games against San Francisco.
And with that, a weight was lifted.
"If you watched the guys during the game, that was happening as the game was going on," Hale said of the release of tension. "The guys really came out with good at-bats right out of the shoot. Obviously Goldy hitting the home run was big."
Jake Lamb finished a triple shy of the cycle, but his biggest contribution was a three-run homer during a five-run fifth that broke a 2-2 tie.
"Big hit by Lamber right there to put us up by three after the Yankees got two to tie up the game," Goldschmidt said. "And then we kept adding on there with some big hits pretty much the whole lineup. So it was a good game offensively."
Lamb had two shots at the cycle, but walked in the sixth and struck out looking in the seventh.
"I'm not fast enough for a cycle," Lamb said with a smile.
Every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit, even left-hander Robbie Ray, who delivered his first RBI of the year with a single in the fifth.
It was a huge output for a team that had scored just seven runs over the four games while squandering some good pitching performances.
"We weren't stressing, but we were all kind of feeling it," Lamb said. "We weren't getting it done and a game like this, when everyone's a part of it, including Robbie Ray, that was big for us. People say it a lot, but I think that hitting is a little contagious. Just to get a game like this and it's kind of like you can take that deep breath and be like OK, we can hit, just focus on the process and slow it down when you're up there, especially in those [RISP] situations."
Whether it carries over into Tuesday night's game remains to be seen.
"I don't know," Goldschmidt said. "Hopefully there's some positive carryover, but it's not like any of the hits or runs carry over. So we both start at 0-0 tomorrow, so we'll see what happens."