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PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks were not expecting perfection from closer Brad Boxberger Devin Singletary Jersey , even though members of their front office had seen exactly that several years before.

Boxberger, back in the closer’s role, converted his 21st save opportunity in Arizona’s 3-1 victory over San Diego in the second game of a four-game series Friday. He is fifth in the league in saves, and his 84 percent conversion rate ranks near the top among his peers.

He came to Arizona after an eye-popping eyeball test. Boxberger is having the sort of success that general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo might have envisioned when they acquired him in a deal with Tampa Bay over the winter.

It is the sort of work they saw first-hand while in Boston during Boxberger’s 41-save season with the Rays in 2015. Boxberger faced the Red Sox 11 times that season and was just about flawless. He did not allow a run while going 2-0 with six saves. He gave up five hits, all singles, and three walks while striking out 17 in 10 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters’ slash line: .143/.143/.211.

The D-backs felt they acquired him at just the right time this offseason, after he spent the previous two seasons working through adductor, oblique and flexor muscle injuries.

“We felt he was on the up elevator when it came to health,” said Lovullo, the bench coach in Boston from 2013-16. “We knew a healthy Brad Boxberger is going to be a very, very good closer for us.”

Like Fernando Rodney last season, Boxberger has a fastball/changeup repertoire, a combination that has enabled him to log 41 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings. Unlike Rodney Kyler Murray Jersey , there is less drama.

“I’ve seen it very good,” Lovullo said, “and I’ve seen it in live action on major league fields and I’ve heard major league hitters come back to the dugout talking about it. I know it creates a lot of discomfort for hitters.”

Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray is scheduled to oppose San Diego right-hander Tyson Ross in the third game of the series Saturday night.

“There is nothing like those last three outs in the game,” Boxberger said “There is a lot of stuff that can happen. It is just a matter of being able to control that situation. Whatever happens, to be able to control it and shut the game down.

“The more time you do something, the more comfortable you get at it. Pitching in any back-end situation is going to have its high leverage and stress situations. It is just a matter of keeping a level head and manage your ability to get the hitter out.”

San Diego won the first game of the series with Wil Myers getting two hits and driving in two runs, but Myers was given a start off Friday after playing 13 consecutive games following his return from the disabled list June 21. He missed 47 games with a strained muscle in his side.

Myers is hitting .261 with a homer and eight RBIs since his return, and he has four two-hit games in his last eight. He homered last Saturday, tripled Thursday and also has three walks in the last four games.

“He’s getting more and more comfortable,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “The 3-2 walks he had (in Oakland on Wednesday) were really good signs. They were battle at-bats, and the confidence to take close borderline pitches, that they are balls. I think when guys see the ball well, they eventually start hitting the ball well. He’s had good swings periodically. He hasn’t been in his groove or his rhythm. He’s been solid. We are waiting for him to be spectacular.”

Ray http://www.billscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-dawson-knox-jersey , 3-1 with a 4.89 ERA, will make his third start since returning from an oblique injury. He gave up six runs and nine hits in five innings to St. Louis in his only loss Monday. The Cardinals scored four runs in the first inning.

“They were swinging early,” said Ray, who hinted that he might have been tipping his pitches. “I don’t know if they had something that they saw. I just have to do a better job.”

Ray is 4-4 with a 3.98 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres.

Ross (5-6, 3.78 ERA) took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his start April 20 at Chase Field, a game the Padres won but in which he did not receive a decision. He is 4-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 14 career appearances, including 13 starts, against Arizona.

Brandon Nimmo began the game with an inside-the-park home run. Turned out he was just getting started.

Nimmo homered twice during a huge night at the plate, and the New York Mets finally gave Jacob deGrom some run support Monday in a 12-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

”It took a funny bounce (off the wall), so something was working my way for that first at-bat,” Nimmo said. ”That was pretty cool and a great way to start it off. Just kind of loosened things up after that.”

Wilmer Flores and Devin Mesoraco also went deep for New York, which won its third straight following a prolonged slide. Nimmo had four hits and set a career high with four RBIs – one night after his go-ahead, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning staved off defeat for the Mets and rallied them to a win at Arizona.

”I think everybody knew he was capable of playing at an elite level and that is pretty elite http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dexter-lawrence-jersey ,” New York manager Mickey Callaway said. ”He goes out there and plays the game right every single day. He brings energy and it’s paying off for him.”

After pitching in terrible luck for weeks as New York’s hitters slumped, deGrom (5-2) got some help from his teammates at last. He allowed two runs – one earned – in eight innings to snap a two-game skid and win for the first time in six outings since May 18 against the Diamondbacks.

On the eve of his 30th birthday, the right-hander struck out seven, walked one and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.51. He improved to 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in six career starts against Colorado.

The 12 runs the Mets scored were more than they managed in deGrom’s previous eight starts combined. He had given up only five earned runs in his last five games – without a single win to show for it.

”I think he’s proven over the last two years that he’s in the conversation as one of the best pitchers in baseball,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.

It was the eighth home loss in a row for the Rockies, who have permitted at least seven runs in all those games. Black was ejected in the fourth for arguing a call by first base umpire Bill Welke.

Tyler Anderson (4-2) went 5 1/3 innings for Colorado, yielding three runs and seven hits. And it was another rough outing collectively for the bullpen. Four relievers were tagged for nine runs in 4 2/3 innings.

”We’re going to get out of this funk,” said Jake McGee, who gave up Mesoraco’s homer. ”For how close our clubhouse is, I know we’re going to get out of it. And once we get out of it, we’re going to be stronger than we were before.”

Playing in front of family and friends from his Wyoming hometown, Nimmo got the game off to a rousing start. He lofted a deep drive that hit off the right-center field wall and rolled away from Carlos Gonzalez. By the time the right fielder chased it down, Nimmo had charged past third base and went into home standing up http://www.arizonacardinalsteamonline.com/zach-allen-jersey , well ahead of a weak throw.

”I haven’t done that before,” he said. ”That was fun.”

Nimmo became the third Mets player to lead off a game with an inside-the-park home run and first since Angel Pagan on Aug. 23, 2009, against Philadelphia. The previous New York player with an inside-the-park homer was Ruben Tejada on Sept. 2, 2015, also against the Phillies.

Nimmo’s second home run of the night came in the seventh off Harrison Musgrave and went over the center-field fence, allowing him to round the bases at a more conventional pace.

The Mets added six runs in the ninth on a pair of bases-loaded walks by reliever Jeff Hoffman, Amed Rosario’s two-run double and Nimmo’s two-run single.

TOUGH UMP

Plate umpire Tony Randazzo endured a painful night, twice getting struck by foul balls, but he saw it through. He was hit on his left hand by a foul tip off the bat of Nolan Arenado in the third inning but had team trainers wrap some protective tape around his hand and went back to work. In the sixth, a foul ball off the bat of Michael Conforto struck him at the base of his neck just above his protective breastplate. Clearly in pain, Randazzo was tended to again by trainers but managed to shake it off after a few minutes and stay in the game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Slumping RF Jay Bruce was scratched from the lineup because of nagging hip soreness. He has missed four of the last five starts, and Callaway said Bruce will be re-evaluated in the next day or two. Callaway said the disabled list remains an option. … RHP Noah Syndergaard Cullen Gillaspia Jersey , sidelined since May 26 with a strained ligament in his right index finger, played catch and came out of it well. He’s expected to do some longer tosses, 75 to 80 feet, as part of his ongoing rehab effort.

Rockies: RHP Carlos Estevez faced hitters for the first time since going on the DL with a strain in his pitching elbow near the end of spring training. Estevez threw about 20 pitches to Tony Wolters, Ryan McMahon and Noel Cuevas and reported to team trainers that he came out of the session pain-free.

UP NEXT

Mets: LHP Jason Vargas (2-5, 7.39 ERA) starts Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Rockies: RHP German Marquez (4-7, 5.13) is 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA in three starts this month.

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