Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Michael Soroka will try to continue winning games at a steady pace when he faces the host Cincinnati Reds on Saturday afternoon.
Even though Soroka (8-3, 3.28 ERA) is looking more like the pitcher who went 13-4 for the Atlanta Braves in 2019 — becoming at age 21 the youngest pitcher in team history to make the All-Star Game — he isn’t looking too far ahead.
“I’ve been on the other end of the win stat in my career. I went 0-10 in ’24 (with the Chicago White Sox),” said Soroka, now 28. “I didn’t pitch all that well for a good chunk of that, but (the Diamondbacks) have supported me with some runs and some good defense. … That’s a real big team stat, so I appreciate it all.”
On Friday night, the Diamondbacks stole five bases against the Reds and took advantage of a dropped fly ball in the ninth inning to score three unearned runs and win the series opener 5-2.
It marked the seventh loss in the past eight games for Cincinnati.
Soroka pitched a gem in his most recent outing, holding the Washington Nationals to one run and three hits in seven innings of a 5-1 win on Sunday.
He’s lasted at least five innings in 12 of his 13 starts this season and surrendered two runs or less in 10 of those outings.
“He’s healthy,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “I think that’s the most important thing. When he has good health, he’s going to go out there and he’s going to follow a game plan and keep us in a baseball game. But it’s been pretty dominant. He’s been really, really good.”
Nationals manager Blake Butera was impressed with Soroka’s command of the strike zone.
“He was landing everything,” Butera said. “I know he has a bunch of pitches; we knew that coming into it. He just landed everything and kept our guys off balance.”
Soroka has made five appearances (four starts) against the Reds in his career, going 1-2 with a 3.79 ERA.
Cincinnati plans to counter with right-hander Rhett Lowder (3-3, 5.01 ERA), who tossed three shutout innings Sunday in his last outing, his first game back after missing a month with right shoulder discomfort. Lowder navigated around five walks and a hit batter in his team’s 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Early on, he was like 2-0 on almost everybody,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “To his credit, man, he fought back. … We were hoping to get a little more, as far as pitch-count wise, but it’s his first time back, and when you throw that many pitches that early, to me that’s harder than having lower- pitch innings.”
Lowder said he knows what he needs to improve his next time out.
“Got to get ahead and throw strikes,” he said. “I’ve got to keep them off the board, but I’ve got to get ahead.”
Lowder missed last season with oblique and forearm injuries but won a spot in the rotation during spring training and was 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA through his first six outings this year.
Lowder hasn’t faced Arizona in his career.
–Field Level Media
