The Diamondbacks’ week in review
Happy Father’s Day to one and all. This week’s report is a little late: that’s not because I’m lazy. Well, not entirely - there won’t be one next weekend, since we’re going to New York, so the next one will be in two weeks. Thus, it made sense to delay this one as long as possible and include the extra game. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it. :-) Anyway, Arizona split the eight games since last report. They lost the series against Boston but won the finale, then got hammered by the Yankees, and turned around, sweeping the Orioles. They occupy second-place in the NL West, one game behind the Padres - along with the Dodgers, the division now has the three teams with the best records in the National League.
AZ 3, Red Sox 4 After a drubbing in the opener, Arizona lost again, but at least pushed the Red Sox all the way. It took a tenth-inning sacrifice fly off Juan Cruz for Boston to take this one. Arizona actually led for most of the game: a Miguel Montero double in the second gave them a 1-0 lead, and a Drew homer made it 3-0 in the fourth. Micah Owings posted five shutout innings, before a Varitek homer made it 3-2 in the sixth.
To the delight of the teeming hordes of Red Sox Nation at Chase Field, the visitors then tied it up in the eighth, Varitek again proving the D-backs killer, this time with an RBI double off Brandon Lyon. Drew and Orlando Hudson had two hits apiece for Arizona, but the failure to add on after the fourth cost the Diamondbacks dearly. After Boston took the lead in the tenth, Arizona did get the tying run to second, but Mark Reynolds lined out to end the game. At least the D-backs did show some fight, a distinct improvement over Friday.
AZ 5, Red Sox 1 Randy Johnson went his traditional six innings, striking out nine hitters and allowing only one run, and this time, the bullpen made it stand up, avoiding the sweep. Johnson gave up four hits and walked three, throwing 113 pitches in his longest outing of the season to date. Jailen Peguero, in only his second major-league appearance, preserved a one-run lead in the seventh; Tony Peña had a scoreless eighth, and Jose Valverde came in for the ninth, though it was no longer a save situation by that point.
This was because Arizona added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, more by Boston’s mistakes than their own prowess. With runners on first and second, Carlos Quentin attempted to bunt, but the pitcher threw the ball away: both runners scored and Quentin ended up on third. Before that, the D-backs took the lead on an RBI double from Quentin; the teams had traded runs in the fourth. Eric Byrnes had three hits for Arizona.
AZ 1, Yankees 4 This series inevitably brought back memories of the 2001 World Series, but was much less of a contest. Indeed Arizona led for just seven pitches over the three games. In the opener, New York scored three times before Webb got the first out; he wasn’t helped by a Hudson error which allowed the leadoff batter to reach, and Abreu’s three-run homer was all the offense the Yankees would need. Webb did settle down, pitching seven innings without further damage.
However, we just couldn’t get hold of New York’s Wang - I should (quickly!) explain he’s their sinkerball specialist, and all we managed was a solo homer by Chad Tracy in the fourth. He also walked, our only free pass of the night, and so was the only Diamondback to reach safely twice. In what would become a recurring theme of this series, Arizona didn’t manage a single hit with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-6.
AZ 2, Yankees 7 Livan Hernandez got the start on Wednesday, but got thrashed for nine hits and five walks in only four innings. Seven runs resulted, and it would have been worse if the Yankees had taken advantage of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third. However, a three-run homer for Matsui in the fourth still put them 7-1 up. Edgar Gonzalez pitched three innings of mop-up relief, and was very effective, with only one hit.
Mike Mussina had had his problems this year, but Arizona made him look like a Cy Young winner. He pitched into the eighth inning, with the remainder of work going to two former Diamondbacks, Mike Myers and Brian Bruney - the latter has found new life in the Big Apple, with a 1.63 ERA in 49.2 innings of work, since joining the Yankees. Orlando Hudson had two hits and our solitary walk, as Arizona this time was 0-5 with runners in scoring position.
AZ 1, Yankees 7 Things got even worse for Arizona in the finale. Again, they were hitless with runners in scoring positon - but the offense only had two at-bats there to begin with. The sole run scored on an RBI groundout by Hairston in the second: otherwise, it was all Yankees, with Doug Davis losing control and giving them five walks in five innings. Without that, he was inevitably in trouble, and allowed four earned runs in five innings.
Long reliever Edgar Gonzalez having been used the night before, the rest of the bullpen was forced into action. Juan Cruz pitched a scoreless sixth, but ran into trouble in the seventh, and New York added on three more runs. Doug Slaten, Peña and Cruz mopped up, but Arizona only managed five hits and six total bases, with only one walk. The final tally for the series: four runs, a .196 batting average, three walks and nineteen strikeouts. I love New York? I don’t think so.
AZ 7, Orioles 3 This was looking like Arizona was going to sink to their seventh defeat in eight games, as Baltimore held a 3-0 lead going into the eighth inning, with the D-backs continuing their streak of offensive indifference. However, Arizona exploded for five runs in the eighth, the big blow a three-run homer off the bench by a hobbling Orlando Hudson (left). Chris Snyder opened the inning with a solo shot, and Reynolds came back from an 0-2 count to get a two-out walk which set the table for O-Dawg’s heroics.
Micah Owings allowed three runs, all in the sixth - he does seem to have some stamina issues, as batters are hitting .365 off him after the fifth inning, compared to just .237 up to that point. Slaten got the win for a scoreless seventh, and Peña and Valverde also posted zeroes. Veteran Augie Ojeda, called up from the minors to replace Alberto Callaspo, had two hits in his first major-league game since 2004, including a ninth-inning homer.
AZ 8, Orioles 4 The D-backs long-ball assault continued, with Tracy, Hairston and Young all going yard, before the end of the third inning. That put Arizona up 5-0, but the Orioles chipped away, scoring once in the third, twice in sixth and made it a one-run game in the seventh, seemingly grabbing momentum. A tense ninth was in prospect, but Arizona added three runs against the Baltimore bullpen, with Montero’s two-RBI single the key hit. Tracy had two hits.
Edgar Gonzalez was called upon to start, due to Johnson going onto the DL, and gave Arizona everything they could have hoped for, pitching five innings of two-hit ball, on three days rest. That was enough for the win, though Juan Cruz had another wobbly outing, giving up a two-run homer to Mora in the sixth. By the time this one was over, Peguero, Slaten, Lyon and Peña were also forced into action, but the win was preserved.
AZ 6, Orioles 4 Arizona completed the sweep, Brandon Webb giving the pen a much-needed break by going seven innings. He allowed seven hits and three runs, two earned, and got the win in the eighth, as the Diamondbacks scored three times to break a 3-3 tie. They had taken a lead early on: Byrnes homered to lead off the game, and Snyder followed him deep in the second. An RBI by Conor Jackson made it 3-0, and this looked all but over. However, the Orioles had a good approach against Webb, scoring twice in the second and tying the game in the third.
That was how the game stayed until the eighth, when Arizona was helped immensely by Baltimore: we only managed two singles, but a walk, a wild-pitch, an error and a sacrifice fly led to the three runs. Lyon allowed a run in the eighth, but Valverde closed things out for his 22nd save. He’s now just one behind Matt Mantei as the all-time franchise record-holder in that category, and Arizona heads back to Phoenix having gone 3-3 on the trip. That’s a record which looked very, very unlikely after the drubbing administered by New York.
News and Notes
Soaring: Orlando Hudson (6-for-17); Edgar Gonzalez (8 IP, 1 ER); Tony Peña (3.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K). Falling: Chris Snyder (1-for-12); Stephen Drew (4-for-22); Livan Hernandez (4 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 7 ER); Juan Cruz (3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 ER). [Stats are for last week, excluding today’s game.]
Injury Report: Chad Tracy returned to the team, with Robbie Hammock getting optioned to Tucson. However, Randy Johnson was forced onto the DL with what was described as “glute tightness”. That’s a sore ass to you and me. He is expected to miss no more than the minimum 15 days, returning against the Dodgers at the end of June. Enrique Gonzalez was called up as a replacement; Edgar Gonzalez will start as necessary, with Enrique being used as long-relief from the bullpen.
The Week Ahead: The Diamondbacks return to Arizona, and will be looking to keep up with the leaders. They first play three games against their expansion brothers, Tampa Bay, who have a 30-37 record, and then play the same Orioles they swept this weekend. Winning at least four of those games seems like an absolute minimum target, and they have been good at beating up bad teams this year. The D-backs are 21-8 against opponents below .500, but only 19-22 against those with a winning record.
Max Headroom 3: In what seems like our weekly Max Scherzer update, he pitched seven perfect innings for Visalia, before being pulled. The first reliever promptly destroyed the perfecto with a leadoff walk! He added five more shutout innings today, and with a 0.53 ERA this far, seems destined not long for High-A. A promotion to Double-A Mobile would appear very likely in the near future.
Bits and pieces: Minor-league AAA infielder Danny Richar was traded to the Chicago White Sox for A-level outfielder Aaron Cunningham. And our first-round draft pick this year, Jarrod Parker, got the win in the Indiana state 3A championship: he pitched six innings, and also hit a two-run homer in the first.
Join the discussion at The Locker Room Forum. Arizona Sports 24/7.
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
(Rate this post)
Loading ...Related Articles:
[…] The complete report can be found here. […]