Diamondbacks’ week in review
Arizona is now closing in on their first playoff spot since 2002, leading the division as we enter the last week. It’s not over yet - not with three games against the surging Rockies still to come - but things are looking pretty good for the desert boys. They went 4-2 against their divisional rivals in the past week, taking two out of three from both the Giants and Dodgers, during the final homestand of the season.
AZ 5, Giants 8 The series got off to a bad start, as Tony Peña blew a two-run lead, allowing San Francisco to score five runs on only 17 pitches during the eighth inning. Winn and Feliz did all the damage with two homers, costing Brandon Webb the win after he gave the D-backs a quality start, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings.
That was the Giants’ third lead of the day, the D-backs having come back to erase the previous two deficits, taking a 5-3 edge into the disastrous eighth. This was despite only managing six hits, as Arizona took advantage of eight walks from the San Francisco pitchers. Augie Ojeda reached safely three times, while Chris Young had the key hit a two-run triple in the seventh after Mark Reynolds had tied the game with an RBI single.
AZ 5, Giants 0 Micah Owings helped Arizona bounce back from that devastating loss, pitching his first career complete game shutout, restricting the Giants to two hits and one walk, striking out four. Thanks to a pair of double-plays, he faced only one batter over the minimum, and threw just 101 pitches: San Franciso had only one runner get past first all night.
Meanwhile, the offense jumped all over Giants’ starter Sanchez, who was gone after a first inning in which he allowed five hits and two walks, with Arizona rushing out to a 4-0 lead. After that, the offense did struggle against the San Franciso bullpen, with the only run the rest of the way coming on Reynolds’ 15th home-run of the season. He and Chris Young both had two hits and an RBI for the D-backs.
AZ 6, Giants 4 A see-saw battle finally tipped Arizona’s way in the fifth. Doug Davis had just allowed two runs in the top half, giving San Francisco a 4-3 lead. But after the D-backs loaded the bases with no-one out in the bottom of the inning, Chris Snyder gave us back the lead with a two-run double. Reynolds added an insurance run in the sixth, with his third hit of the game; Snyder also had three.
Doug Davis suffered another short outing, failing to get through five for the third straight appearance. However, the bullpen held firm, giving the D-backs 4.1 innings of shutout ball. Jose Valverde got the safe, though made things typically interesting, letting the first two Giants hitters reach, to put the tying run on base with no outs, and into scoring position with two outs, before a fly-ball gave him his 46th save.
AZ 12, Dodgers 3 Arizona came out strong, following a blank day on Thursday, roaring back from a 3-1 deficit by scoring eleven unanswered runs, in one of their best performances of the season. Tony Clark had three hits, including his 16th homer, and was joined in the long-ball by Reynolds (#16) and Young (#32). Clark ended with three hits and four RBI, while Reynolds, Ojeda and Jeff Salazar got two each.
Livan Hernandez looked very wobbly early on, allowing seven hits and three runs through the front third of the game. However, after driving in a run with a single, he settled down and gave us six innings, albeit reaching double-digits in hits for fifth time this year. The rest of the bullpen did the needful, even if, coming into the game with a nine-run lead was not exactly a high-pressure outing. I was at Chase for this one, and it was among the best times ever there.
AZ 6, Dodgers 2 The D-backs captured their fifth series in the past six, with this win, Brandon Webb pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning. He eventually exited with one out in the seventh, having given up two runs on eight hits and two walks, but secured his career-high seventeenth win. The relievers thereafter were impeccable, retiring all eight hitters they faced.
This was possibly David Wells’ penultimate-ever appearance, but he got no respect, right from the first pitch, which Young smoked into the bleachers. Snyder added an RBI single later that inning, and even Webb singled to drive in a run. Reynolds got his 17th homer, as he, Stephen Drew and Eric Byrnes all had two-hit nights. The attendance at Chase was 47,673, a number bested only by the home opener and the Saturday night Boston game.
AZ 1, Dodgers 7 The last home game of the regular season saw another good crowd, but they went away disappointed as the Dodgers outhit the D-backs 15-5, with the final score a good reflection of their domination. Edgar Gonzalez started, but suffered problems with a blister, and was yanked in the fourth inning, having given up eight hits and three runs in 3.1 innings. Cruz allowed the first bullpen runs since Peña’s meltdown on a two-run home by Loney, and eight pitchers in all were used by Arizona.
Things started brightly enough at the plate, as our first two batters hit safely. However, it was all downhill after Reynolds followed with an RBI single, and we managed only two more hits the rest of the way. Reynolds, with a hit and two walks, was the only batter to produce anything offensively, and it was a disappointing note on which to end the home leg of the regular season. However, Arizona ended with a record at Chase of 50-31, the best since 2002.
News and Notes
Soaring: Mark Reynolds (10-for-18, 8 RBI); Chris Young (7-for-17), Micah Owings (9 IP, 2 H, 0 R); Brandon Lyon (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R). Falling: Eric Byrnes (5-for-20); Justin Upton (2-for-11); Edgar Gonzalez (3.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R), Juan Cruz (2.0 IP, 2 ER).
Roster Report: Orlando Hudson had thumb surgery, and should be ready for spring. Chad Tracy also underwent surgery on his knee, but the prognosis there is less optimistic, with anything between five and eight months expected to pass before he comes back, so Opening Day 2008 is not guaranteed.
The Week Ahead: Arizona enjoyed a day-off today, and picked up half a game as the Padres lost to the Giants, to go three games ahead in the division. They play Pittsburgh in the next three, and will be keen to take care of business there, as far as possible. Because, they finish out the season against the Rockies, who have won eight straight and are right in the thick of the wild-card race, one game behind the Phillies and Padres. Best not have too much to do in Coors…
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Posted by Jim McLennan
Jim McLennan writes with near-fanatical zeal about the Diamondbacks at AZSnakePit.com, part of the SportsBlogs Nation network, and set up DiamondbacksBullpen.org, a forum for fans. He also writes a weekly column on the team here at azsportshub.com. Jim lives on the wrong side of the Scottsdale tracks, with his wife Chris, two children and a large pile of unwatched DVDs.
http://azsnakepit.com
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