D-backs win rain-shortened game in Washington
WASHINGTON -- Right-hander Shelby Miller pitched five scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs and Jean Segura had three hits as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals 3-0 Wednesday in a game that was called by rain with one out in the top of the sixth after a delay of 69 minutes.
Miller (3-12) picked up his first win since June 20 as he gave up just five hits, two coming from Anthony Rendon. The other win this season for Miller came May 7 at Atlanta. Miller, who lowered his ERA to 6.15, had five strikeouts with one walk against Washington.
He spent part of this season at Triple-A Reno but has now gone 11 scoreless innings after pitching six scoreless against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.
The losing pitcher was Gio Gonzalez (11-11), who did not get past the fourth and has not gone more than five innings in his last three starts. Matt Belisle took over for Gonzalez in the fourth and retired four batters without giving up a hit or run.
Washington (92-66), which clinched the National League East on Saturday, has lost seven of its last 12 games. Last-place Arizona (66-92) has won two of three against the Nationals after being swept in three games last weekend in Baltimore.
Arizona's Chris Owings had two hits for the second day in a row after he began the day 6-for-33 on the current road trip.
It may have been the last outing for lefty Gonzalez until Oct. 10, when he could pitch Game 3 of the NLDS against the lefty-heavy Dodgers offense.
Segura led off the game with a single and he went to second on a single by Chris Owings. After a double steal, Segura scored on a groundout by Goldschmidt to give Arizona a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Diamondbacks made it 2-0 in the third as Brandon Drury had an RBI double to score Segura, who led off with an infield single.
Segura also had an infield single in the fourth, and Goldschmidt drove him in to give the D-backsa 3-0 lead and knock out Gonzalez.
NOTES: There was a 33-minute rain delay before the game began. ... Nationals RF Bryce Harper (thumb) was out of the starting lineup for a third straight game. ... Washington GM Mike Rizzo spent seven years with the Diamondbacks front office and was part of the World Series-winning team in 2001. ... Arizona third base coach Matt Williams was the Manager of the Year in the National League with the Nationals in 2014. ... Washington RHP Max Scherzer, who won his 19th game Tuesday by beating Arizona, was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2006 and made his MLB debut two years later with Arizona. ... Arizona assistant general manager Bryan Minniti worked in the Washington front office through the 2014 season. He has been in Washington for the series this week. ... Washington 1B Ryan Zimmerman, hitting .217 with 15 homers, turned 32 on Wednesday. He was not in the starting lineup, as 1B Clint Robinson was penciled in to start.