Eduardo Rodriguez improves to 13-4 with win

Rodriguez gave up five hits, walked none and struck out five. He improved to 12-4 with the win. Rodriguez allowed two runs on three hits in the first inning before settling in to blank the Braves for the next five innings. After posting a 5.03 ERA in 39 starts with the Diamondbacks over the last two seasons, Rodriguez has been excellent this year with a 2.71 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Reds at home next weekend.

It looked like Rodriguez was going to be pulled in the seventh, but the Diamondbacks wanted him to face Shohei Ohtani, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, for a fourth time, and he retired Ohtani on a groundout with his 115th and final pitch of the day. Rodriguez, who hadn’t previously fanned more than seven batters in a game this season, moved to 11-4 with a 2.70 ERA. He finishes the season series 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers. He’ll face the Braves next.

The Padres were all over Rodriguez in this one, starting with a three-run first inning on two doubles and two base hits. San Diego would bring three more runs in to score in the second, though two were unearned following a fielding error. Rodriguez settled in to pitch into the sixth, departing with two outs and a runner on. The inherited runner would eventually come in to score. The 33-year-old left-hander will take a 2.64 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 92/45 K/BB ratio across 136 1/3 innings into a start against the Dodgers in Arizona on Sunday.

Rodriguez struck out two and walked one in the 105-pitch outing. Per Alex Weiner of AZ Sports, this was his fourth start of the season with at least seven shutout innings. The veteran southpaw has a 2.48 ERA through four months, though he’s outperforming every ERA indicator. A .258 BABIP and an 86% left-on-base rate have helped, but the season-long performance has been impressive. Fantasy managers will hope he can keep it rolling in his next start, at home versus the Padres.

Rodriguez held the Nationals in check all night, with his lone blemish coming in the fourth inning thanks to a two-run homer by Dylan Crews. Three of the seven hits Rodriguez allowed in this one came in the fourth inning, but overall, he did a nice job of limiting base runners against one of the top offenses in the league. A sacrifice fly RBI by Gabriel Moreno in the top of the seventh allowed Rodriguez to exit this one with the lead, and the Diamondbacks’ bullpen did its part to secure him his ninth victory of the season. Rodriguez’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday on the road against the Pirates.

This seems long overdue for Rodriguez, who just went to his first All-Star game in spite of a career-worst 17 percent strikeout rate. He allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out three today. It’s the first time in 20 starts this year that he’s allowed more than four runs. However, since the D-backs pulled off a big comeback, he remained 8-3. He’ll face the Nationals next weekend.

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.

Rodriguez gave up three hits, walked three and struck out five. The 33-year-old left-hander continues to defy logic and statistics with his 2.27 ERA in 16 starts. Rodriguez skills paint a very different story as he has a 17 percent strikeout percentage, eight percent walk percentage and 4.40 xFIP. Rodriguez is lined up to face the Rays on the road this weekend and regression could be waiting for him regardless of the opponent.