Jameson impresses in first start of season

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Drey Jameson

By DAVID BRANDT

AP Baseball Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — It’s just 13 games into the season, so Josh Rojas isn’t about to throw any parties, but the preseason hype surrounding the Arizona Diamondbacks appears justifed.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer for his first long ball with the D-backs, Greenfield rookie Drey Jameson pitched four scoreless innings and Arizona beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 on Wednesday.

The NL West-leading Diamondbacks took two of three in the series and have won five of their past six games.

“I don’t want to go out and say this is how we’re going to play the rest of the year — it’s a game of ups and downs,” Rojas said. “You fight and you work to be a consistent team, so it’ll be interesting how we battle those ups and downs.”

So far, so good.

The D-backs have languished near the bottom of the division over the last several years, losing 110 games in 2021 before improving to 74-88 last season. Thanks to a young nucleus of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy and Jameson, they opened as a trendy pick to contend for a playoff spot this season.

Jameson — wearing his usual ‘Scooby Doo’ themed shoes — gave up just three hits and struck out four in his first start this season. The hard-throwing righty started the season in the bullpen, but was recently moved to the rotation after Zach Davies suffered an oblique injury last week.

In four outings, including three out of the bullpen, Jameson, a 25-year old, 2017 Greenfield-Central grad, is 2-0 with one save and a 1.46 ERA. He has struck out 12 in 12.1 innings of work and given up eight hits. Opponents are batting just .186 against the right-hander.

Arizona is 8-5 after a 5-2 homestand against the Dodgers and Brewers.

“What I said to the team at the beginning of the year is I want them to be able to execute at a critical moment,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “We did that several times today.”

Milwaukee lost its first series this year.

Arizona took a 5-0 lead through four innings thanks to Gurriel’s third-inning drive and shoddy Brewers defense that committed three errors. Milwaukee starter Janson Junk (0-1) gave up five runs, including four earned, over 4 2/3 innings. The 27-year-old — making his first start of the season — surrendered eight hits, struck out two and walked two.

Jameson’s next scheduled start is Tuesday, April 18 at St. Louis, the second game of a three-game series with the Cardinals. The game is scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. ET.