PHOENIX -- In his last start, Taj Bradley had everything working. His four-pitch mix was so nasty against the Orioles on June 21 that catcher Christian Bethancourt referred to the rookie as a “right-handed [Shane] McClanahan.” Bradley got ahead in counts, and he put hitters away quickly in what he declared his best outing yet in the big leagues.
Tuesday night was a reminder of how things can change from start to start, especially for a young pitcher. Bradley fell behind, threw 40 pitches in a five-run first inning and gave up four homers in arguably his worst start of the season as the Rays lost to the D-backs, 8-4, at Chase Field.
“I just let the hitters see too many pitches,” Bradley said afterward. “Long at-bats and long counts, and they just saw too many pitches, then got ones they could handle. … The more they see, the more success they have.”
The Rays have lost six of their past nine games and eight of their last 14, with their Major League-best record (54-28, .659 winning percentage) now only slightly ahead of the Braves (52-27, .658).
Last week, Bradley held the Orioles to only one run on three hits while striking out eight. The rookie didn’t walk a batter and plowed through six innings for his first Major League quality start on only 83 pitches, including 61 strikes.
Facing the National League West-leading D-backs, the 22-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits, including four homers -- more than he had allowed in his last seven starts combined and just one fewer than he’d allowed all year -- while recording only two strikeouts over four innings.
The difference, manager Kevin Cash said, was a matter of count control. It was something Bradley did brilliantly last time out, throwing first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 21 hitters he faced. By comparison, he threw a first-pitch strike to only 10 of the 21 batters he faced on Tuesday night, which played a part in him needing 82 pitches (50 strikes) to complete four innings.
“Sometimes it just doesn't come easy,” Cash said. “We were coming in to [face] an offense that does a lot of good things. They don't strike out much, they hit the ball, and they don't chase much. So we didn't establish, probably, enough strikes early in the count early [in the game].”
The first inning was particularly rough for Bradley, as he faced nine hitters, allowed five hard-hit balls and forced the D-backs to whiff on just one of their 19 swings.
D-backs leadoff man Geraldo Perdomo reached on a 60.2 mph single, then Bradley issued his lone walk of the night to Ketel Marte. The free pass came back to haunt him, as Corbin Carroll promptly launched a full-count, 97.8 mph fastball off the batter’s eye for a three-run homer. Christian Walker then swatted a two-strike cutter out to left field.
As Bradley faced former Ray Evan Longoria with one out in the first, reliever Shawn Armstrong began warming up in the bullpen. After a Longoria single, center fielder Jose Siri botched an Alek Thomas fly ball, and the two-base error proved costly as Gabriel Moreno drove in Longoria with a sacrifice fly.
“At the last minute, I think it went away from me and hit off the end of the glove,” Siri said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “Just things that happen.”
Bradley allowed two more solo shots. Longoria took him deep to left in the third, belting a 2-0 cutter for the franchise icon’s first home run against his former team. Marte added another homer in the fourth, crushing a 3-1 fastball a projected 424 feet to right-center field.
“I think they saw too many pitches from him,” Cash said. “When they got pitches they could handle, they did some damage with them.”
The Rays made the most of a strange inning to make it interesting in the second. Randy Arozarena drew a leadoff walk and Isaac Paredes doubled, and both wound up scoring on consecutive wild pitches by D-backs starter Zac Gallen. Luke Raley walked and came around to score on a Christian Bethancourt groundout, and Siri -- sporting new dreadlocks after a 12-hour overnight hairstyling session -- cut the lead to one run with his team-leading 15th homer.
But the Rays wouldn’t produce another threat against Gallen until the sixth, when they put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Gallen responded by retiring Manuel Margot and Bethancourt en route to his 10th victory, joining McClanahan and Clayton Kershaw as the only pitchers with double-digit wins this season.
“It felt like Gallen locked in there,” Cash said. “He’s put together a good season for a reason, and we saw him get pretty good there at the end.”