Lawlar's first three-hit game comes with a two-run homer in a 9-0 win

Jordan Lawlar stacked the kind of night Arizona has been waiting for in a playoff-race August: a two-run homer, a career-high three RBI, and the first three-hit game of his big-league career.

The Associated Press recap on ESPN reported that the 24-year-old center fielder led the Diamondbacks past the Cincinnati Reds 9-0 on Friday night at Chase Field while Eduardo Rodriguez worked 5 2/3 shutout innings. ESPN's framing matched the AP — Lawlar's bat and Rodriguez's arm turning a wild-card chase night into a clean shutout.

The second-inning blast that opened the gap

Lawlar's two-run shot to left in the second made it 3-0 and was his second home run in the majors, the AP wrote. CBS Sports' play-by-play shows Tim Tawa singled, stole second, and scored when Lawlar cleared the left-field fence.

Arizona kept pouring it on: Jose Fernandez singled, stole second, moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on Ildemaro Vargas' sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead.

CBS Sports' box has Lawlar 3-for-5 with two runs, three RBI, and the homer. The AP's career-high three-RBI note and first three-hit game sit on the same night as that blast. In the third, Lawlar singled and later scored when Ryan Waldschmidt doubled to shallow left, stretching the margin to 5-0.

In the seventh, Lawlar singled to center to drive in Geraldo Perdomo and make it 7-0 — the third RBI that capped the career high.

A lineup that refused to go quiet

Arizona scored at least one run in each of the first four innings and led 6-0 by the fifth, the AP reported. Corbin Carroll walked, stole second, and scored on Gabriel Moreno's first-inning single. Carroll doubled and scored again on Perdomo's fourth-inning single.

By the eighth, Perdomo had doubled and scored on Nolan Arenado's single, and Tawa doubled home Arenado for the 9-0 final, per the CBS Sports scoring summary.

Perdomo finished with three hits, while Moreno, Tawa, and Carroll each had multi-hit nights, the AP noted. Arizona finished with 15 hits and no errors; Cincinnati managed four hits and no runs. The Diamondbacks also stole four bases in the first two innings — just the fourth time in franchise history, according to the AP.

Rodriguez sets the tone on the mound

Rodriguez improved to 13-4 with 5.2 innings, four hits, zero earned runs, four strikeouts, and two walks, lowering his ERA to 2.61, the AP and CBS Sports boards agree. The left-handed All-Star threw 99 pitches. Dennis Santana, Justin Martinez, and Taylor Clarke finished the shutout behind him.

Cincinnati left-hander Nick Lodolo took the loss after 3.1 innings, 10 hits, six earned runs, and two walks, falling to 3-3. The Reds have dropped six of their past eight games, the AP wrote. Cincinnati also lost left fielder Michael Toglia in the first inning to a dislocated right shoulder after a diving catch on Perdomo's fly ball in the gap.

Why Lawlar's line mattered on a wild-card night

The AP placed the shutout against Arizona's National League playoff chase: the Diamondbacks remained one game behind San Diego for the final wild-card spot in that account. Standings move daily, but Friday's 9-0 and Lawlar's 3-for-5 sheet are finished facts.

Michael Soroka (8-3, 2.93 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday against Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder (4-8, 5.17), the AP reported. Lawlar's second career homer, first three-hit game, and career-high three RBI gave Arizona a blueprint worth repeating — early pressure, a middle-of-the-order answer, and a starter who never let Cincinnati back into the night.

Sources

ESPN

ESPN

abcnews.com

CBS Sports