Phoenix.BloggersPub

I used to think the dim sum at Great Wall was just as good as C-Fu Gourmet, but Lynn never has. After this last experience I have to agree with her.

There were activities for everyone at today’s game. It was Family Emergency Preparedness day with exhibits set up on the plaza to teach you how to keep your family safe. It was Bike to Chase day where families could ride bicycles to the ballpark to teach you about bike safety and give everyone an opportunity to get a little bit of exercise. Once you entered the stadium they had Diamondbacks Sportscaster and former Major League Baseball player Joe Garagiola Sr. there signing copies of his book Just Play Ball. Somewhere lost in the midst of all this activity was the fact that there was a baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants. It was the final game of the series and the homestand and a lot was on the line.

Wow.  Now that is Phoenix Suns basketball.
Shawn Marion - 22 points, 11 rebounds Steve Nash - 17 points, 23 assists Amare Stoudemire - 27 points, 21 rebounds
And with those stats, the Suns won the game 113-110.  
When the Suns are playing this way, is there any team that can beat them?  Kobe […]

Matt Morris, RHP (3-0, 2.49)

Randy Johnson, LHP (0-1, 10.80)

If we win today, and the Dodgers lose, we’ll be top of the National League West again. Okay, so it depends on another team - specifically, San Diego beating Los Angeles, but it’s a bit of a comeback from where we were last week. Be very interesting to see how Johnson looks in this start: the first one was very definitely a case of him hitting the wall in the fifth inning, so we’ll be hoping he avoid that. He needs to get a decent strike-zone from the home-plate umpire as well. The opposing starter, Matt Morris, has been almost impeccable too, so should make for a good game.

The last time we lost was the last time Johnson took the mound: here’s to us breaking that, running our streak to five, and doing our part to end the day leading the division. Should be around for most of it, if perhaps a little late arriving, since we’ll be catching up on 24…

Record: 14-11. Change on last season: +2. Pace: 91-71.

Quote of the day: “YEEESSSSSSSS! WOOOOOOOOO! SCOOOOOOOOOTTTTTYYYYYYY!” — Me. Last night. Seventh inning.

I have no voice left. What a phenomenal contest that was, certainly in the top three Diamondbacks games I’ve seen live. Already, eight of our fourteen wins have required us to come from behind, but this was the first time we needed to fight back from so far down. There was just something in the air: the crowd was amazingly loud during the seventh-inning stretch, singing Take Me Out lustily, and despite our offense slump and a 4-1 deficit, there was no sense of panic. First, we pulled one back on an RBI single by Montero that appeared to swerve as it made its way through the right-side of the infield. Or maybe the Giants defense just sucks.

Either way, it set the stage for Hairston, who wasted no time, taking the first-pitch he saw from Chulk the Chucker, and dispatch an absolute no-doubter, 418 ft into the left-field bleachers. That was his first-ever pinch-hit homer - and, his first HR of any kind in the majors since September 2nd, 2004. Once again, a seemingly-insurmountable deficit had been overturned with a single swing of the bat. The four runs we scored in the seventh not only matched the season high for any inning - they were also more than we’ve scored in the seventh inning of the previous 24 contests combined.

Of course, we still had the little matter of our bullpen, trying to hold a one-run lead over the remaining six outs. In their defense, they’ve actually been pretty good at this - we’re 7-1 when leading after six innings, and that improves to 9-0 when leading after eight. But they always seem to leave base-runners scattered like confetti: Cruz (WHIP of 1.44), Lyon (1.45), Valverde (1.55) and Medders (1.73) would be your chief culprits there, even though all bar the last-named have ERAs below 3.30. Way below in the case of Lyon, at 0.87. Quite how you allow only one earned run in 10.1 innings, on eleven hits and four walks, I’m not sure - it probably involves live chickens.

Last night, it started with Slaten, who got to go after Bonds, but ended up walking him on a full-count. He did nail the other two hitters he faced, however, and received a warm round of applause as he walked back to the dugout. Tony Peña came in, and retired Bengie Molina to end the eighth. Jose Valverde then appeared for the ninth - and about all I want to say here is, he got his major-league leading tenth save. Because, believe me, I will have much more to say about this one later on. That appearance reduced me to leaning on the seat in front, head in my hands and the wild pitch made me feel physically ill. I won’t say what I felt after Durham’s ball vanished into the right-field corner, in the seconds before it was declared foul.

It’s probably safe to say that this appearance, together with Micah Owings’ sterling work down in Tucson last night [five shutout innings, and a 7-0 K:BB ratio] has probably sealed EdGon’s fate. Five hits and three walks in five innings, led to three earned runs, and he was somewhat lucky to get away with that - good defense behind him significantly helped [not least Byrnes’ corkscrew grab in deep left] and his gopher-ball tendencies are troublesome. Bonds, I can understand, but Pedro Feliz? Expect Owings to replace him in the rotation, with EdGon shunted to the bullpen (maybe pending a trade?), replacing Nippert in the long relief role. Speaking of whom, Dustin was effectively wild last night: two perfect innings despite pitches that bounced or sailed to the backstop.

GAME NOTES

• I almost convinced Mrs. SnakePit that Hudson’s Gold Glove award meant that he has to wear an actual golden glove for the rest of the season. Damn my inability to keep a straight face. [shakes fist]

• Very vocal crowd, among the best I’ve seen: maybe the Hudson bobbleheads brought out the kids, who are always more enthusiastic. Heck, they even started a “Let’s go D-backs” chant without being prompted by the Jumbotron. Okay, that’d be laughable at, say, Fenway, but this is major progress at Chase Field, folks.

• Despite what Paolo Boivin said in the Republic, people still do care about steroids and Barry Bonds. Specifically, they loathe him intensely, and I’m right there with them, whether he’s clean now or not - that’s like liking OJ because he hasn’t murdered anyone lately. Best heckle of the night, after a wild hack at a Slaten pitch: “What happened, Barry - did your head get in the way of the ball?”

• We got on the Jumbotron! Still waiting to get onto the Kiss-cam though. Then we’ll show the crowd something… >-O I was hoping the Kiss-cam would show Barry Bonds and a mirror, but no such luck.

• Particularly bizarre diversion with the latest in-game contest. They throw something into the pool, and a contestant has to guess whether it will sink or float. The “thing” this time was Lou Seal, the Giants’ mascot. Let’s see, now. A) It’s a seal. B) It is very obviously wearing a life-preserver under its costume. The kid chosen still went for “Sink”. Hope springs eternal, I guess.

• Equally bizarre was the “Food Fight”. A race between a burrito, a taco and a large soda from the outfield to the third-base foul line. The costumes looked damn creepy, like something you’d nightmare up after a late-night stop at Filiberto’s. Call me gullible, but based on the word “Fight”, I was also hoping for something a little more violent. I must have watched too many episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, perhaps.

• Hairston’s homer came just in time to stop the late-inning exodus all but dead in its tracks. However, the family in front still packed up and left at the end of the eighth. I will never understand people who leave before the ninth inning of a one-run game. If you don’t want to see how it ends, what are you doing there to start with?

• Not a great day for my expectations, even if I don’t care much. Hudson did get a hit, the bullpen posted a shutout and I’m claiming half a point for Hairston’s homer - I didn’t list him explicitly as a Young Blood, because I didn’t think he’d play. The roof was very definitely closed; having seen the sandstorm in Scottsdale (appropriately, as we watched Aguirre, Wrath of God), I can understand why.

Thanks to everyone who hung out in the GameDay Thread, particularly during the long, dark early innings where Matt Cain looked like he was going to get away with it again. That has to be the least impressive one-hitter I’ve ever seen. More live chickens there, I think. Present: DBACKS KICK ARSE, VIII, shoewizard, DiamondbacksWIn, johngordonma, suitsmetoATnT, wimb [you can email me the essay - the address is in the sidebar], singaporedbacksfan, Goose, azdbacks51, icecoldmo and, since he asked, seton hall snake pit. Singapore is an early 2007 Nostradamus Award nominee for, “Cain is at 90 pitches… So chances are he will not last beyond the 7th, and then it will be time for us to exploit their bullpen.” Good call.

Gameday Graph

[Click graph to enlarge, in new window]
Master of his domain: Scott Hairston, +43.1%
God-emperor of suck: Edgar Gonzalez, -18.3%

This was another game where the D’backs won in spite of Melvin, rather than because of him, with two monumental blunders. Firstly, pitching to Bonds in the first with a base open and the score tied. We walked him three times in the same situation yesterday: why not today? He did admit it was an error, saying, “That’s not my crowning moment right there… I tried to go against the grain a little bit, and it didn’t work. I learned my lesson.” But, sheesh: the best home-run hitter of our era, against our most home-run surrendering starter? [eight in 30.1 IP now for EdGon, to go with nine in 42.2 last year] With somewhere safe to put him and a reserve player on-deck? This isn’t rocket science, folks.

Equally bad was the decision to use Valverde in the ninth, for the third straight night. But I guess Melvin’s Big Book of Baseball Management says, “If it’s the ninth and a save situation, you use your closer.” [Unfortunately, the chapter about blowing arms appears to have been torn out.] Valverde gamely gave it his best shot but, very obviously, had nothing. Ray Durham first sent a shot down the right-field line that was foul by inches, and finally flied out to uber-deep left-center, a smash that was only hauled in by a high-velocity Chris Young. And if you think I’m over-reacting, look at last year. Valverde’s mid-May melt-down was immediately preceded by a similar spell of appearances on three consecutive days, from the 14-16th…

I did wonder why Stephen Drew got the day off, since his bat has been hotter than anyone else’s over the past week. Turns out he was given a break because of a “little bit of a groin pull”. Should be back today, all being well. I think it’s time for both Hudson and Byrnes to be given a day off: they have played every inning of every game so far, and are 4-for-18 and 1-for-17 during the home-stand respectively. On the other hand, I notice that Chad Tracy is 7-for-13, which has increased his batting average over 50 points, to a respectable .278 - now higher than Byrnes.

The Suns could have been going for a sweep today.  But they somehow gave up a 17 point lead and lost to the Lakers on Thursday night.  In reading the reports after the game and especially yesterday, it sounds like the Suns know what they did wrong in that game and know how to resolve […]

Technically yesterday was Dakota’s birthday but plans had already been put into motion to allow him to have a birthday party today. It’s interesting how children’s birthday parties have changed over the years. I remember when I was a kid, a birthday party consisted of cupcakes, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and strange hats and noise makers that always seem to get broken as soon as you got home (I think parents broke these on purpose to save their sanity). Now though birthday parties have become events of a grand scale. There are businesses that have sprung up just to cater to this market. Places like Amazing Jakes, Game On, Makutu’s Island offer entire entertainment and party packages where kids can go and celebrate their special day. There are activity centers, games, music, themed rooms and music to provide the party with the appropriate ambiance. I don’t remember this much planning going into my wedding let alone a birthday party. So when Dakota’s special day was approaching I was never more grateful to his commitment to the Arizona Diamondbacks. I mean what do these other party centers have over Chase Field?

Matt Cain, RHP (1-1, 1.55)

Edgar Gonzalez, RHP (1-2, 4.26)

Matt Cain = vastly over-rated. If you just looked at his ERA, you’d think the guy has been phenomenal this year. However, his Batting Average on Balls in Play is easily the best in the majors at .120 - 25 points better than the next man, and far below the expected average, which is usually .290-.300. Basically, he’s been insanely lucky so far: DIPS, a defense-independent ERA, moves him all the way up to 4.37, again, the biggest jump in the majors. The wheels are overdue to fall off the Matt Cain bandwagon. Tonight would seem a good time.

By popular demand (okay, I forgot last time), we announce the return of the “things to watch for” section. Whenever Mrs. SnakePit and I go to a game, I come up with a set of eight predictions for what we want to happen (the obvious “win” is taken as read), and we see how many of those come true. Here are tonight’s expectations:

• The roof should be open
• O-Dawg celebrates his Golden Glove by getting at least one hit
• Quality start from EdGon
• Homer by one of the Young Bloods (Quentin, Drew, Young or Montero)
• No GIDPs by Arizona
• Bonds kept in the park
• Multi-hit game for Jackson
• Bullpen with ERA below 3.00 tonight.

Feel free to make predictions of your own too. Getting this one up very early, since the plan is to beat the rush by going downtown around 5pm, then snag a free parking spot, get some dinner, and take it gently as we head to the game. Always nice to beat the Giants. Particularly nice to take the series this evening, and give us the chance at sweeping them tomorrow, as they swept us by the Bay. And amazingly nice to do it while we’re there: last time’s game was pretty miserable, a 5-1 loss to the Dodgers in which we didn’t play well at all.

Curiously, EdGon started that game as well. But this might be his last outing, however: Micah Owings gets his rehab appearance for Tucson tonight, and if all goes well will be eligible to come off the DL on May 3rd, just in time for his/EdGon’s next start. So, this evening, EdGon could be playing for his spot in the rotation. Last time, he was excellent, very unluckily losing 1-0 to Barry Zito, so let’s hope he can be just as good this time. Another such outing might not make the upcoming decision on who’s our #5 any easier, but that would certainly be a nice dilemma to have: which of our above-NL average starters do we keep in the rotation?

The Diamondbacks had an even record at 3-3, but this was seriously a week of two halves. A miserable losing streak developed early on, as the team dropped five games, scoring only fourteen runs in total. And a sixth looked about to happen, as Trevor Hoffman had two outs in the ninth and a 2-1 […]