By Nick Piecoro | Arizona Republic
Clay Buchholz doesn’t try to out-stuff hitters anymore. He knows he can’t. But after shutting down the Los Angeles Angels over seven shutout innings of a 5-1 victory on Wednesday night, the Diamondbacks right-hander pointed to another possible reason for his unexpected resurgence this season.
“I pitch a little differently now,” he said. “I go more on what our catchers and our coaches see rather than how I feel. I try to pitch to hitters’ weaknesses a lot more than I used to. I used to rely solely on stuff.”
Buchholz said the scouting reports he receives from pitching strategist Dan Haren, coupled with his catchers’ ability to improvise within a game, are a couple of under-the-radar reasons why he’s been able to dominate over 80 innings this season with the Diamondbacks, for whom he has posted a sparkling 2.25 ERA.
“He’s made me better,” Buchholz said of Haren, the former All-Star pitcher who produces detailed scouting reports before every game for each of the Diamondbacks’ starting pitchers. “I’ve told him that. He’s made me better.”
With the win, the Diamondbacks finished a two-game sweep of the Angels. It was their third consecutive victory and their sixth in the past seven as they maintained their 1 1/2-game lead on the second-place Colorado Rockies while both clubs gained another game on the faltering Los Angeles Dodgers. With their loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dodgers are 4 1/2 games back, their largest deficit since May.
BOX SCORE:Diamondbacks 5, Angels 1
