Goldschmidt busts out with 2 two-run shots
Slumping slugger goes 4-for-5, steals 20th base of season
CINCINNATI -- You can only keep Paul Goldschmidt quiet for so long, and that stretch ended on Saturday night.
After starting the series 0-for-9, Goldschmidt erupted out his recent slump with a pair of two-run homers to lead the D-backs to an 11-7 victory over the Reds. Goldschmidt went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and his 20th stolen base of the season.
"I was able to hit a few balls hard tonight and have some good at-bats," Goldschmidt said. "Most of all was us just getting that win. ... Stuff kind of comes in spurts, whether it's homers or strikeouts, wins, steals, whatever it is, so just try to do the same thing I was always doing. Fortunately tonight, I was able to get a couple pitches and hit them hard and get them out of there."
Goldschmidt began the night off on the right foot with a two-run blast off Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani in the first inning. The home run traveled an estimated 372 feet and triggered the strong evening.
The home run also was his first since July 27 and snapped a streak of 103 plate appearances without a long ball. He then punished another one -- this time off Pedro Villarreal -- to right field for his seventh career multi-homer game.
D-backs manager Chip Hale said before Friday's game that when players break out of slumps, it normally comes in bunches.
"We just talked, and he just feels great. He did some mechanical stuff with [hitting coach] Turner [Ward] the last couple days, and I think tonight he really felt good," Hale said. "He does so many good things for us that it's so hard for us to take him out of the lineup, and when we do take him out, we just basically do it to give him a breath. He was very impressive tonight."
Goldschmidt said he hadn't changed anything that's out of the ordinary during the recent drought. Nor did he stress too much about it, saying he only got frustrated when he didn't come through and the team didn't win.
"When you lose and you got some chances … I had a couple early in Atlanta, the one in the Philly game at home. I mean that's when you [get], I wouldn't say frustrated, but you just want to play well to try to help the team and you know there's some chances," Goldschmidt said. "But you also know that's baseball. You can't come through every time or even a majority of the time, so I think the big thing is just keep doing the same things when I was swinging the bat well and you know eventually it's going to change."