Eduardo Rodriguez strikes out five in no-decision

Rodriguez struck out five and walked one, making for one of his better K/BBs of the year. He’s actually had just one start this season with more than four more strikeouts than walks, yet that was in one of his three losses; he struck out six and walked none while giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings versus the Rockies at Coors Field back in May. With the win, the first-time All-Star closes out the first half 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA.

Rodriguez kept the Brewers scoreless until giving up a single and a homer to Jake Bauers to begin the seventh, ending his day at 102 pitches. One inning earlier, he gave up a 423-foot double to Jackson Chourio that would have been a homer in 29 ballparks. Other than that, Rodriguez was quite good, even though his velocity was down a tad. He struck out just three, but then, he’s averaging only four strikeouts per start on the season. He walked none for a second straight outing, which is nice from a guy who had a 10 percent walk rate previously. Rodriguez was named to his first All-Star team on Saturday. His peripherals suggest that he’s due to regress, but he’s 7-3 with a 2.25 ERA right now. He’ll likely face the Dodgers on Friday.

One would think for Rodriguez to be 7-1 with a 2.21 ERA while sporting the worst strikeout and walk rates of his career, the left-hander would at least have to be producing an extraordinary amount of soft contact. That’s not what’s happening, though. He gave up 12 hard-hit balls tonight, and his hard hit and barrel rates are about a little higher than his career averages. It just hasn’t mattered for a full three months now. He surrendered three barrels tonight, all of which turned into outs. Two were off the bat off Rafael Devers and would have been homers in 17 and six ballparks, respectively. Rodriguez ranks fifth in the majors in ERA. He’ll take on the Brewers next.

The run came right away on Zach Neto’s leadoff homer in the first. Rodriguez allowed five more hits and walked three, but he induced three double-play balls to halt any rallies. Rodriguez is putting together a pretty amazing combination in boasting a career-low ERA (2.45), a career-low strikeout rate (17.9 percent) and a career-high walk rate (9.6 percent) this season. His groundball and exit velocity numbers aren’t any better than usual, so something will have to give at some point. He’ll pitch in St. Louis and St. Pete next week.

Rodriguez struggled with his command early in this one. He threw 40 pitches and walked three batters in the first inning, but somehow managed to escape the frame after forcing back-to-back flyouts to end a bases-loaded threat. Rodriguez would allow a leadoff homer to Noelvi Marte to start the second inning, and he only recorded two outs in the third before being pulled with a runner on and 85 pitches thrown. The five walks Rodriguez allowed are the most he has allowed in any game this season. We’ll assume this was just a bad night, and he’ll regain his command in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday against the Angels.

Things did not start out well for Rodriguez when Curtis Mead socked a two-run homer as the second batter of the game. Then, after cruising in the middle innings, he gave up two more runs when the Diamondbacks tried to push him through the seventh. Still, his changeup and curveball were each highly effective as they’ve been for most of his resurgent season. He’ll take a 2.52 ERA into his next scheduled start against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Rodriguez endured an amusing sequence in the fourth, when Miguel Rojas challenged a pair of strike calls and both were found to have missed the zone by 0.1 inches. That put Rodriguez behind 3-1, but Rodriguez came back with an obvious strike and then another close call that Rojas again challenged. This time, the strike call stood, with about one-quarter of the baseball catching the corner. In truth, Rojas really shouldn’t have challenged any of them, considering there were two outs and none on at the time. The D-backs didn’t go ahead until the bottom of the seventh tonight, so Rodriguez remained 5-1 with a 2.24 ERA. Arizona did improve to 9-3 in his starts, however. Rodriguez will face the Nationals on Saturday.

Rodriguez surrendered a solo homer to Casey Schmitt in the first inning. A double and a base hit brought a second run in for the Giants in the third. Rodriguez settled in nicely, giving the Diamondbacks three more scoreless frames, ending his day after six with six strikeouts on his way to a win. The 33-year-old left-hander will take a 2.31 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 49/25 K/BB ratio across 66 1/3 innings into a start against the Dodgers in Arizona on Monday.

Rodriguez was much more effective than his previous start against the Rockies when he worked 5 1/3 innings and gave up three runs. He scattered four hits allowed — just one of them for extra bases — and he whiffed four against one walk. What a comeback season it has been for Rodriguez; a pitcher that was borderline unusable over the last two seasons now has a 2.24 ERA over 60 1/3 innings in his first 10 starts. Unfortunately, this one comes with no win because the D-backs were blanked while was in the game. His next scheduled start comes Tuesday versus the Giants in San Francisco.

Rodriguez had some trouble in the first inning, giving up two runs on four hits. Two more hits in the second brought a third run home for the Rockies. After it looked like he’d get chased early, he settled in to pitch into the sixth without giving up another run, keeping the Diamondbacks in the game. He struck out six. The 33-year-old left-hander will take a 2.53 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and a 39/22 K/BB ratio across 53 1/3 innings into a rematch against the Rockies in Arizona on Thursday.