True Elation 5: Owings, Byrnes Snatch Victory from the Jaws of Defeat
(AP Photo/Matt York)
Sometimes, ya gotta win ugly. Today was one of those times, as Randy Johnson did not have his good stuff. For the second day in a row the Arizona starter did not bring his A or even his B game. But unlike yesterday, the Snakes were able to slither back with an all-team offense highlighted by the 2-run pinch-hit homer by Micah Owings to tie the game at 7, followed by a double by Chris Young and a single by Eric Byrnes that broke an 0-11 streak and brought home Young for what turned out to be an 8-7 victory in the rubber match of a three-game series with the Houston Astros.
The right-handed Owings hit the first pitch he saw from reliever Dave Borkowski over the right-field fence. Yeah, opposite field. He’s now on the board with 2 RBI, after having given his brother pitchers a head start. Bob Melvin says that Owings is being worked into batting practice groups. Houston manager Cecil Cooper was very unhappy about his reliever not being able to get a pitcher out, but Micah isn’t a typical pitcher.
Conor Jackson also homered, a solo shot in the 3rd. He now has 25 RBIs. Other runs were driven in by Orlando Hudson, Justin Upton, Jeff Salazar and Chris Young. Salazar’s RBI came in the form of a pinch-hit double in the 4th, when the D’Backs were rallying and Melvin had to pull Johnson even though he had just thrown 2 scoreless innings.
Miguel Montero went 3-4 with a run scored.
Brandon Medders got the win. Chad Qualls and Tony Pena got holds and Brandon Lyon got the save but it was nerve wracking. He gave up a hit and a walk while facing the tough part of the Houston lineup. Kaz Matsui singled and eventually stole second, and Lance Berkman walked, but Lyon got the difficult to strike-out Miguel Tejada to K, and Carlos Lee to fly out. Lyon actually has been doing very well of late, after the rough early times. Still, I was nervous, probably because a blown save would mean a blown True Elation game for Eric Byrnes.
Byrnesie still is not himself. He played the first game of the series and was run ragged trying to steal with Hudson fouling off the pitches. Melvin made him sit out the middle game until the very end when he struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the game. He then went 0-3 before he got the game winning hit, but then grounded out his last time up. He will tell you that the leg problem is not affecting his hitting, but it is. Mark Grace showed close ups of the way Byrnesie was standing at the plate and explained how important to how the hitter can drive the ball.
Byrnesie’s general body language was not good, and I could see by the look on his face that he was frustrated. It’s a difficult time. I still think Byrnesie and thus the team would benefit from him just going on the 15-day DL. Gracie thinks it would help and he knows a thing or two about hitting. I wish sometimes that Bob Melvin would order him onto the DL, but when he comes through like he did today, with a two-out single for the winning RBI, it’s hard to think that way. A manager has to think of the game ahead of him. And Byrnesie will point to an AB like his fourth today and say “See, I can still contribute.” And he did today for sure.
Now comes May, typically Byrnesie’s best month. Let’s hope that is a harbinger of good things to come.
ByrnesBlogger1
// Click here to read the rest from Down the Left Field Line: Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes
Join the discussion at The Locker Room Forum. Arizona Sports 24/7.
Posted by ByrnesBlogger1
Kellia Ramares is a freelance journalist, poet and baseball blogger from Oakland, CA. Kellia writes (and does some audio work) about baseball, especially the Arizona Diamondbacks, on her blog, Down The Left Field Line: Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes. (http://byrnesblog.azsportshub.com), under the name ByrnesBlogger1. She expects to expand her sports journalism from baseball fandom to stories on social issues in a sports context in a website she is building in the fourth quarter of 2007 to be an annex to the "Byrnesblog".
Contact: ByrnesBlogger1[at]azsportshub.com
http://byrnesblog.azsportshub.com
(Rate this post)
Loading ...Related Articles:
- True Elation 8: Byrnes’ 1st Grand Slam Beats Glavine, Braves
- True Elation 3: Remembering to win the close ones
- True Elation 2: D’Backs Pound Rox 8-2
- True Elation 6: Byrnes Breaks Slump to Lead D’Backs over Tigers 4-3
- True Elation 7: Byrnes’ 100th Career Homer Part of Run Barrage Marking Doug Davis’ Comeback
