 in the first inning and had a two-run single in the second. Kole Calhoun also homered off Montas and Weaver (1-4) allowed a run on three hits, retiring the final 10 batters he faced.Arizona's bullpen took it from there, holding the A's to four hits - one after the second inning - with 13 strikeouts.''When things don't go well, you're concerned about it, and when you score some runs, hit some homers, you're not as much,'' A's manager Bob Melvin said. ''We do have some guys who will strike out. At some point in time it becomes a little bit of a concern.'' The right-handed Weaver has struggled to start his second season in the desert, allowing at least four earned runs in three of his four starts. He was on a tight pitch count (3 1/3 innings) the last time out in attempt the limit the potential for blowup.Weaver worked out of a jam in the first inning, but pitched so well manager Torey Lovullo left him on the mound to earn his first win. He let out a yell after striking out Marcus Semien to end the fifth, his sixth of the night.''I just feel like I pitch better, the game flows more to what I'm trying to do when the emotion is flowing, a little bit more of an edge,'' Weaver said. ''As pitchers, we try to minimize our emotion, try to keep an even-keel demeanor, but there's got a little bit of a show of it.'' Montas was scratched from his last start Friday against San Francisco and had not pitched since Aug. 8 against Houston.The right-hander had control issues coming off the long layoff, uncorking a wild pitch for the game's first run and walking three in the first inning. Ahmed's homer put Arizona up 5-0.Montas gave up a leadoff homer to Calhoun in the second inning and was lifted after his fourth walk loaded the bases with two outs. Ahmed greeted Lou Trivino with a two-run single to put the Diamondbacks up 8-1.Montas allowed nine runs on six hits.''He was just a little out of sync,'' Melvin said. ''He spiked some pitches in the dirt, other ones hung up a little bit. You're trying to find your arm slot, maybe early on you're a little bit tentative, but the velocity was there. It just ended up being a tough game for him.'' GROUNDS CREW CHEERFans have not been allowed in the stands during baseball's pandemic restart, the sounds replaced by recordings.The Diamondbacks have a few vocal supporters inside Chase Field: their grounds crew.''I can hear it very clearly, almost like a normal cheer coming from over my shoulder,'' Lovullo said. ''We know that there are artificial sounds making a little bit of noise, but this one is very pure and we certainly appreciate it.'' TRAINING TABLEA's: LHP A. J. Puk will likely need a couple more bullpens before facing live hitters as he tries to return from a shoulder injury. He threw 30-pitch bullpen at the club's alternate site Monday and is scheduled to throw again Wednesday.Diamondbacks: OF/INF Ketel Marte was given the day off. ... 3B Jake Lamb took a bad-hop shot to the neck on a ball hit by Stephen Piscotty to third in the second inning, but stayed in the game.UP NEXTA's: LHP Jesus Luzardo (1-0, 4.79 ERA) will start Wednesday's series opener at home against Arizona after allowing six runs in 3 1/3 innings against San Francisco his last start.Diamondbacis: RHP Merrill Kelly (3-1, 1.71) has allowed one run in 12 2/3 innings his past two starts heading into Wednesday's game.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Surging D-backs seek to keep rolling against A'sThe Arizona Diamondbacks are finding ways to win, and they are above .500 for the first time this season. They take a season high five-game winning streak into a Tuesday afternoon game against the Oakland Athletics in Phoenix.David Peralta was the hero on Monday night, his bases-loaded single scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Arizona's 4-3 win. The Diamondbacks are 18-8 in interleague play since the start of 2019."Anytime you end the game in a walk-off fashion, it feels really nice," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "There's just some offensive catalysts that have been very consistent and somebody else will jump in and pick it up, and I think that's what good teams do. They hand it off to the next guy." In earlier games this season, the Diamondbacks might not have recovered from a mistake the likes of which sure-handed shortstop Nick Ahmed made on Monday. He missed catching a soft popup to shallow left field that would have ended the top of the eighth inning, and the tying run scored on the play.Then came a mound visit that showed Lovullo a different Arizona club."I heard some comments that were coming out of that mound visit that made me feel like this is a special group," Lovullo said. "They picked up one another, and in this case they picked up Nicky, who's usually picking everybody else up defensively." Outfielder Starling Marte has a seven-game hitting streak (.344, 11-for-32) and is batting .373 (19-for-51) in his past 12 games.Right-hander Luke Weaver (0-3, 11.85 ERA) looks to get his first victory and keep the wins coming for Arizona on Tuesday. He has yet to pitch past the fourth inning in four starts this season.The A's saw a four-game winning streak come to an end on Monday, but they trailed 3-0 before tying the game in the eighth inning. Rallying late has been Oakland's way of late."It seems like the early innings has given us the biggest problems and the later innings we've been really good," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "I think we've done pretty well up to this point with that recipe. Maybe it takes a time around to figure out a starter, but once the game gets going and we get into the flow of it, we seem to swing the bats better." Oakland's late-inning magic has included 14 home runs hit in the seventh inning or later this season. Robbie Grossman went deep in the seventh on Monday. The A's rank fifth in the majors with 1.82 runs scored per game in the seventh inning or later.The AL West leaders turn to right-hander Frankie Montas (2-1, 1.57 ERA) on Tuesday. Montas was scratched before his scheduled start on Friday at San Francisco due to upper back tightness, but he has allowed two runs or fewer and five hits or fewer in each of his four starts.Montas has a win in his only career appearance against Arizona. On May 27, 2018, he allowed a run on three hits in six innings, striking out seven.--Field Level Media
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