Phoenix.BloggersPub

Randy Johnson files for free agency

Well, just for this season anyway.

I hit up Fry’s last night to fill up on gas before my trip to Phoenix this weekend, and they had all their Diamondback stuff on clearance 50-75% off. Hats, t-shirts, beer sleeves, stuff like that. Of particular note: those 10th anniversary DVDs were all the way down to a buck. And there were like 50 of them.

All Fry’s stores handle their clearance differently, but there’s a good chance one near you could have some good deals going. Might behoove you to check it out.

Record: 76-77. Pace: 80-82. Change on last season: -10
Elimination number: 6 (and counting). Playoff odds: narwhal to be found

With such fleeting opportunities down the stretch to have any chance of sneaking into the playoffs, nights like tonight are ones that have to be seized. Twiddling thumbs and hoping the Dodgers lose is one thing when you cling to a small division lead, but when coming from behind, that luxury disappears. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of a young phenom and a couple of crushed home runs, that wasn’t meant to be on this night.

Max Scherzer put up another fantastic outing, and still came up short of his first big league victory. He went six strong innings, giving up three runs on seven hits but striking out eight and walking just one. The only real damage was a couple of solo shots on pitches that weren’t that bad. He looked his best in the sixth, when Iannetta and Barmes came to the plate with runners on second and third with one out after a wild pitch. He struck them both out, setting down Barmes on his 98th pitch, and escaped the jam himself. Still, Max didn’t get the memo about having to drive in his own runs, and was stuck hoping for the Diamondbacks to score some runs in the top of the seventh — which, unsurprisingly, they did not.

The no decision happened because the offense got off to a slow start. (If the typical start is a slow one, does it really count to call it a slow start anymore?) Only an Upton single forced De La Rosa to face anything above the minimum in the first three innings. That didn’t change to start the fourth either, as Young and Jackson quietly grounded out. But Dunn reached on, of all things, an infield hit, and lumbered his way to second on a wild pitch. Upton and Reynolds both drew walks to load the bases…but Snyder lined out to end the inning and the threat. The only other bright spot against De La Rosa was Dunn’s solo shot in the sixth. Young reached on a bouncer through the hole at short to lead off the eighth, but was quickly erased when CoJack’s hard liner to the right side ended up being hit straight at Atkins.

In the ninth, however, Mark Reynolds looked at a pitch that juuuuust missed the outside corner for what he thought was ball four, but it was called strike two instead. Mark Reynolds was not pleased as he jogged back to the plate. Mark Reynolds hit the next pitch a good 430 feet or so, and the lead was down to one. Snyder immediately followed that up with a little flare to left, and was replaced by Romero on the basepaths. With one out, Eckstein tried to jump out of the way of a horrific Fuentes fastball, only to end up getting his knee in the way of it. He crumpled, couldn’t put enough weight on it to stay in the game, and had to be replaced by Ojeda. Clark got ahead 2-0, and then flailed miserably at three fastballs. Drew pulled a pitch just foul, and fought his way to a full count before drawing a walk. With the bases juiced and two outs, Young flailed miserably at three fastballs, and the game was over.

Master of his Domain: David Eckstein, +10.0%
God-Emperor of Suck: Chris Young, -23.9%
Honorable Mention: Conor Jackson, -18.4%; Tony Clark, -14.2%

An interesting fangraph, if only because somehow Eckstein’s HBP and BB contributed the most to our chances even though he didn’t end up scoring a run. Dunn and Reynolds were the only other starters in the positive thanks to their home runs. Young and Clark’s inability to come through in the ninth are reflected here accordingly.

Let’s see, other bright spots…well, Reynolds only struck out once, so thanks to Howard’s 2 Ks tonight, they are once again tied for the league lead. Rauch and Lyon both pitched scoreless innings, rareties for them in the past two months. And Scherzer was fantastic again. But all that amounted to was another loss and another day of hoping the Dodgers lose (which they were doing, 3-0, at the time of writing). What little chance remains for the playoffs shrunk even further with a wasted opportunity like tonight.

Less bright spots: 11 consecutive road losses, four-game winning streak snapped, 37 runs in the past 14 games. Twelve of 14 games with three runs or less. Including the wasted chances with the bases loaded, it was another 0-fer night with RISP — 0-for-5 tonight. A laundry list of futility that no one wants to read.

Quiet GDT, although it’s not all that surprising at this point. Less than 200 comments, and they ranged from resigned to noncommittal. Thanks to 4 Corners Fan, DbacksSkins, Jim McLennan, TwinnerA, Shums, kishi, AZWILDCATS, unnamedDBacksfan, Zephon and Scrbl.

Tomorrow, it’s Doug Davis against Aaron Cook. Neither gave up an earned run in their last start — Cook with eight shutout innings, Davis with seven and just an unearned run. Of course, this is Coors FIeld, where baseballs go to die. Even these oft-anemic offenses have the potential to go off at anytime.

Record: 71-73. Pace: 80-82. Change on last season: -10
Elimination number: 16. Playoff odds: i%.

A treatise, of course, is a different way of saying “long-ass explanation.” Of course, one isn’t really necessary to explain the track this season has taken — its Fangraph would resemble an old-school roller coaster, with a steady rise, and then a gut-wrenching plummet the rest of the way. Besides, if a lengthy exposition were needed, we’ve got Jim’s fanpost up to discuss the merits of looking ahead to next season.

Meanwhile, the sound you hear in the background is one of nagging persistence. It started out as the hum of what we assumed was inconsistency, given the April results. Over the past two weeks, however, that faint hum has turned into a full-blown buzzing noise that can no longer be ignored. This team is all but done, folks, and the dichotomy of results between the Diamondbacks and Dodgers tonight sum it up perfectly (if the past two head-to-head series weren’t enough on their own).

Things got off to a pretty decent start. The second inning was one where both managers probably lost a little of what remains of their hair. In the top half, the Diamondbacks took an early lead when Doug Davis, he of the .108 average, singled in a run with the bases loaded and one out. We managed another run on a Stephen Drew sac fly, but Zito retired Eckstein to stop the bleeding there. Zito, he of the .133 average, got a measure of revenge in the bottom half, singling in a run of his own after a two-out triple and an intentional walk to face him.

The two pitchers, having already asserted themselves at the plate, continued to trade zeroes through the sixth, when San Francisco scratched across another run and chased Davis in the process. Qualls came in and got out of the jam, however, and then put up another zero in the seventh to keep the game tied at 2. In the eighth, when Chad was replaced by Tony Peña, things went downhill. He gave up a leadoff double to Omar Vizquel, who was promptly sacrificed to third. They walked Winn to put the double play in order, but that backfired when Lewis got an RBI single, and Rich Aurilia followed with another single to drive in Winn.

But the Diamondbacks rallied in the top of the ninth against Brian Wilson (much to the chagrin of my fantasy team), with surprising haste. Young singled to lead things off, and Snyder belted a pitch into the left field seats to tie the game up very quickly. Ojeda, Romero and Drew and grounded out to end the inning, but the damage had been done and the Diamondbacks found themselves in a 4-4 game.

Enter Jon Rauch. Why Jon Rauch? Your guess is as good as mine. It can’t be about restoring confidence at this point, because seemingly anything would raise his confidence from zero. For the seventh time in his past nine appearances, he was charged with a run, and failed to retire either of the two batters he faced (base hit, walk). In came Juan Cruz to try and escape the jam, and wriggle he did. Cruz retired Vizquel on a liner, but Velez singled with one out, scoring Sandoval, and the game was over in crushing fashion.

Master of his Domain: Chris Snyder, +40.4%
Honorable Mention: Chad Qualls, +21.8%
God-Emperor of Suck: Tony Peña, -31.2%
Dishonorable Mention: Juan Cruz, -18.1%; Jon Rauch, -17.7%, Adam Dunn, -10.3%

This is another of those situations where Fangraphs can’t quite adequately measure the situation. Rauch was certainly more at fault for the events of the ninth inning, but Cruz gave up the game winning run, and that always moves the WE bar to 100 percent. The impact of Snyder’s home run and the bullpen’s collapse is certainly well represented, though. Dunn gets a slight mention because of his 0-for-4, 2 K performance.

The positive? Snyder had three hits along with his huge home run. Doug Davis pitched decently, albeit not great, and contributed at the plate. Chris Young had a couple of hits, and Conor Jackson reached twice on a hit and a walk. Oh, and Mark Reynolds managed to walk in the one plate appearance where he didn’t strike out.

It was a busy GDT that understandably was depressed at the end — 850ish comments and the first overflow thread we’ve seen in a while. Present and accounted for: Jim McLennan, foulpole, Scrbl, AF DBacks Fanatic, emilylovesthedbacks, kishi, DbacksSkins, snakecharmer, unnamedDBacksfan, TwinnerA, AZWILDCATS, damdrs1717, mrssoco, soco, singaporedbacksfan, Diamondhacks, victor frankenstein, utahdbacksfan, Wactivist, Augie’s Army, jazzbo13, Stile4aly, Turambar and pepperdinedevil.

We have no such “At least the Dodgers lost” tomfoolery to fall back on today, as LA feasted on San Diego’s bullpen for five runs in a 6-2 win. That puts us two and a half games back of the dreaded Dodgers, the farthest we’ve been behind at any point in the season (yes, this is somewhat misleading given the quick start and our clinging to the lead for three months). Needless to say, the window of opportunity is almost completely closed, and considerations are being made to put up bars and iron curtains as well.

It’s (Bizarro?) Dan Haren tomorrow, against a pitcher with a 12.46 ERA this season. In other words, it’s probably another loss on the schedule. It’s an afternoon start, though, so I guess we won’t have long to wait and see.

Record: 71-69. Pace: 82-80. Change on last season: -6
Magic number: 22. Playoff odds: TBA

Nothing fancy here, folks. I’m sure Jim’s grateful to not have to do the recap tonight, as Lowe pitched masterfully and the Diamondbacks put up a completely feeble effort to try and stop him. The Fangraph sums it up better than I could.

Master of his Domain: Chris Young, +5.8%
God-Emperor of Suck: Dan Haren, -25.9%

Two hits. Two walks. Chris Young, being responsible for two of those four base runners, is the master of what little domain we have left. Dan Haren turned out another disappointing start, although he didn’t last long enough to continue his string of seven hits or more in a start. I guess that’s good.

No other Diamondback was more than 1 percent to the positive. Conor Jackson was second with 0.6 percent. That also does a good job of summing things up.

Webb/Billingsley tomorrow. Maybe things will improve. Maybe we’ll be in second place. Time will tell.

Record: 69-66. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -6
Magic number: 24. Playoff odds: TBA.

Remember yesterday, when the offense poured from the mountaintops like spring water and quality defense paved the golden streets that paved their way through Diamondbacktown?

…Or something?

Nothing like that in today’s affair. A subpar outing from Dan Haren, a couple iffy defensive plays, and the offense reverted back to previous form. In other words, it was like a microcosm of all of the team’s shortcomings in August, combined in a handy (but infuriating) one-game package.

This game was close through the first three innings, but that was about it. Mandy had a solo shot in the top of the third, and the Diamondbacks answered back with a run of their own in the bottom half — Young had an RBI triple that scored Dan Haren, who continued to be a solid performer at the plate (if not so much on the mound). After that, it was a general malaise of Dodgers offense and Arizona outmaking.

The middle innings were particularly unpleasant. Drew’s error in the fourth allowed an extra run to score on a Berroa ground ball. Kemp had a two-run homer in the fifth, scoring ManRammer.

The only other serious chance to get back in the game came in the eighth inning. Gameday is still baffled by this inning (Billingsley made two outs by grounding out in our half, for example). Drew and Young had consecutive doubles to put a second run across, but that was the extent of the threat. Three quick outs later, any remote chance was gone.

Haren never looked particularly sharp, particularly after legging it out on the bases to score on Young’s triple. He gave up five runs on a whopping 10 hits, although he did avoid walking anyone, continuing the solid K:BB ratio he’s had all season. The hits are a more disturbing trend, however: in each of his last eight starts, dating back to July 25th, Haren has given up at least seven hits in all of them, and double digits three times. Just to perpetuate the second half slump idea, here are his numbers in that span:
5-2, 53.1 IP, 71 H, 29 ER, 6 BB, 57 K, 4.89 ERA

What aren’t we going to talk about? Ramirez’s two home runs, for one thing. Or the fact that Angel Berroa (.224) and Chad Billingsley (.093) were hit by pitches, and he was not. Or the Dodgers closing the gap back to 3.5 games and snapping their eight-game losing streak.

Master of his Domain: Chris Young, +17.7%
God-Emperor of Suck: Dan Haren, -25.4%
Dishonorable Mention: Mark Reynolds, -12.2%; Chad Tracy, -10.5%

Chris Young is not only the Master of his Domain, he’s the sole member of said domain. Besides CY, only Pena and Lyon managed to be in the positive for win expectancy, and their contributions (a scoreless inning apiece in what was essentially a mop-up job) were worth a whopping 0.4%. Evvvvvvverybody else was in the negative. Young had three hits, Ojeda and Drew a couple apiece, and Dunn drew two walks. That’s about it. The Fangraph accurately reflects what a downward spiral this game was.

Joining me in a disappointment-filled Gameday Thread were: DbacksSkins, GaryTheGaucho, emilylovesthedbacks, 4 Corners Fan, njjohn, TwinnerA, srdmad, foulpole, unnamedDBacksfan, Scrbl, kishi, rockiesfan4ever, LucaMaz3 and KLM. Nearly 600 comments, although I’d wager almost half of them came in the first three innings. Things seem to quiet down from that point on for some reason…

So enough about that, and enough about the negatives. We’re still where we were two days ago, which means we’re two days closer to maybe winning this division or something. It’s the sinkerballers on the mound tomorrow, with Webb once again trying for win #20, while Lowe attempts to get his record to .500 (despite pretty solid numbers on the year). Maybe the offense will show up. Maybe they won’t. Who knows.

Just a reminder: SB Nation will supposedly be down tonight. By all indications, it shouldn’t be down for long.

Record: 68-64. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -7
Magic number: 28. Playoff odds: TBA.

I generally avoid the first person in most of these recaps, as in most journalistic writing, but you’ll have to spare me a few faux pas this morning. I say this morning because I’ve spent the past 15 hours in the office getting the paper to press, and being blissfully unaware of what was happening in Brandon Webb’s quest to pick up win #20 on the season. Needless to say, I’m not particularly thrilled with any of the night’s events.

Webb struggled to control his curve and changeup, and without a great sinker to rely on, the results were a disaster. His shortest start since June. His winning streak snapped. His Cy Young chances diminished (but still strong). Early, things didn’t look so bad. Webb retired the first four hitters he faced via the ground ball, and all was right with the world. Come the third inning, however, the Padres batted around and battered Brandon. A three-run homer by Giles and a two-run double by Kouzmanoff were the cannonizing blows, and suddenly Webb found himself in a 5-0 hole.

Arizona struck back quickly, doing all of its damage (in the inning, and as it turned out, the game) with two outs in the top of the fourth. Adam Dunn flipped a base hit into right, and Mark Reynolds followed it up by smacking a pitch into left center for his 25th homer of the season. The lead was down to three, and the hope was that perhaps Webb could settle in long enough for the offense to put a few more runs together.

Unfortunately, neither of those materialized. Webb got into trouble again in the fifth and was chased after giving up a sixth run. The bullpen didn’t fare much better, with Rosales giving up a pair of runs in the eighth and Rauch once again giving up a run in the ninth (although this was at least in an inconsequential situation). Meanwhile, the offense wasted a couple of base runners in the fifth while the game was still in reach, and left the bases loaded in the eighth when a grand slam would have at least reduced the lead to two. With only three hits, opportunities were few and far between, and those two going to waste were the final nails in the coffin.

Master of his Domain: Mark Reynolds, +9.4%
God-Emperor of Suck: Brandon Webb, -28.5%

The lineup can be summarized with two-faced effectiveness: Reynolds broke out of his homerless streak and drove in the only runs, Dunn reached base all four times (three walks and a base hit), and Jeff Salazer was 1 for 1. No one else is deserving of mention, particularly not Chris Young (0-4, 2 K) or Tony Clark (0-4, 3 K). Except I just mentioned them. A similar result for the pitchers: only Juan Cruz managed to escape unscathed. It was a month to the day since the last time Brandon was the GEoS, and I’m sure we’re all hoping that much time will pass before it happens again.

There isn’t a ton else to add here. Other than the homer to Reynolds, Reineke shut us down. Really, the Padres were dominating in pretty much every facet, and now have the Diamondbacks facing a sweep tomorrow with Johnson on the mound against Cha Seung Baek.

“But hey, at least the Dodgers lost.” Their staggering ineptitude (pot, kettle?) continued with a loss to the lowly Nationals, scoring three runs or less for the eighth consecutive game. It pains the heart to think of the lead that could be with just a couple more wins this month. Six or seven games certainly would not have seemed out of the question. As it is, we lick our wounds and can at least take solace in the three-game lead we still have.

Record: 61-58. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -6

Tuesday night’s game was another case of business as usual lately. Just enough offense to win, another victory for the Big Unit, and the occasional fundamental mistake. But that’s why we love this team, right? The one big switch was a particularly noticeable one: Adam Dunn’s debut in a slightly different red uniform. If nothing else, the recent additions of Dunn and Jon Rauch should ensure that no team wants to charge the mound and risk getting in a brawl with us anytime soon.

Randy Johnson picked up win number 294 for his career, although it did involve a few hiccups along the way. Meanwhile, Dunn delivered just about what we would have expected: a couple of walks, a couple of strikeouts and a double. But damn if he doesn’t clog up those base paths…

The offense staked Johnson to an early lead in the second, thanks to a homer by Tracy after Reynolds reached to start the inning. Young singled next, but Snyder grounded into a double play and the threat was over. The Rockies quickly recouped their losses though, with a solo shot by Chris Iannetta and consecutive doubles by Barmes and Stewart, as Randy seemed to struggle to find the strike zone with his slider. But he escaped the inning without harm and locked in the next two innings, setting the side down in order in each (and striking out the side in the fourth).

The Diamondbacks probably should have gotten the lead back in the fourth or the fifth, but wasted opportunities in each. In the fourth, Dunn walked (we should be seeing a lot of that), and Tracy singled to put two on with one out. Young grounded into a fielder’s choice, though, and while Snyder walked to load the bases, Johnson wasn’t quite ready for hitting heroics just yet and struck out to end the inning.

The more glaring gaffe was in the fifth, where Stephen Drew started things off nicely with a double. Melvin again played the wrong odds (especially in a game at Coors Field, where one-run games are infrequent unless they’re something like 12-11…but I’m sure Jim will chime in on this one) by sacrificing him over the third, which was a problem when Conor Jackson grounded to short. Drew seemed to get caught in no-man’s land and was out. Dunn, the very next batter, doubled, which couldn’t score Jackson but certainly could have scored Drew. Reynolds struck out — shocker! — and the threat was abruptly ended with the score still tied.

Johnson continued to cruise, however, and in the top of the sixth the offense finally scratched through against Jimenez again. Young and Snyder each doubled with one out to make it 3-2, and then Randy Johnson, he of the .124 career batting average, singled to get another insurance run. Good times. There was a momentary scare when his back seemed to stiffen up as he stood on first, but he came back in for the bottom of the sixth and showed no ill effects. Hopefully the same is true tomorrow as well.

Once Johnson was gone (with another quality start and solid line - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), the bullpen’s effort was enough for just a handful of minor heart attacks. Qualls gave up a walk and a hit with one out to put runners on the corners. But he got Taveras to ground into a double play to escape the jam. Rauch seemed to struggle a little with his control, but worked around a base hit to Holliday. And Lyon slammed the door shut in the ninth nicely, keeping the Diamondbacks in first for at least one more day.

Master of his Domain: Randy Johnson, +15.5%
God-Emperor of Suck: Conor Jackson, -12.2%

Every starter had at least one hit, with Young chipping in two and Tracy leading the way with three. Johnson’s efforts at the plate ended up being largely inconsequential: the RBI single was good, but the K with the bases loaded was not.

A lively Gameday Thread and overflow, with more than 800 comments, only about 20% of which were by Skins. Present and accounted for were utahdbacksfan, kishi, DbacksSkins, NewJackCity, soco, J Up, Zephon, ZonaBacks10, Muu, emilylovesthedbacks, Jim McLennan, TwinnerA, snakecharmer, Scrbl, foulpole, AZWILDCATS, pepperdinedevil, hotchixsnake27, singaporedbacksfan, AJforAZ, dahlian, Shums, srdmad, seanprh, 4 Corners Fan and dbacksbj.

The Phillies failed miserably at beating the Dodgers, coughing up a lead and losing 4-3. That wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the mess the Red Sox tried to create, scoring 10 runs in the first inning only to find themselves behind 16-14 at one point, then managing to squeak out a well-pitched 19-17 victory. David Ortiz hit two three-run homers in that first inning, and one can only imagine Big Papi stomping up and down the dugout as the lead collapsed, wondering what else he could possibly do.

Doug Davis takes the bump tomorrow, which could mean we’re in for a rocky ride. His last two starts have been disastrous after he flirted with perfection in the previous one. Francis has pretty much struggled all season though, and with Coors as a backdrop, we could see a result similar to the Boston/Texas game tonight…

Record: 54-52. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -4.

Well, that was certainly an exciting game. It marked the return of Evil Chris Young after surviving that hellacious line drive from Albert Pujols. Doug Davis, a survivor of his own right, was his counterpart on the bump. And the two of them ended up putting up quite a show. One was seven outs away from a show for the ages. In the end, though, one outfield play may have taken top billing from everything else.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This started with what seemed like little optimism, as ECY struck out the side in both the first two innings, interrupted only by an Orlando Hudson single in the first. Granted, this team is extremely strikeout-prone, but it still seemed like a trip in the wrong direction. Young ultimately struck out seven the first time through the order, and the offense limped into the fifth with just two hits.

That was still two more hits than the Padres had to that point, however, because Doug Davis was pitching the game of his life. Working his changeup in peculiar spots in the count and keeping batters guessing by using his curve only occasionally, Davis squeaked through those five innings with no hits or walks allowed, and five strikeouts. His pitch count was manageable, and more importantly, the San Diego hitters showed no signs of being able to figure out the crafty left-hander.

ECY was chased after those five innings after hitting his 90-pitch limit on his first start back, and the Diamondbacks capitalized on his absence immediately. With one out, CoJack and Tony Clark both singled, putting runners on the corners. Reynolds reached on an error to score Jackson, Snyder walked to load ‘em up, and Alex Romero tossed in two more runs with a base hit to center. Before another out was recorded and Hensley was finally pulled, all three of their runs had come around to score.

Bolstered by his strange, unfamiliar run support (although it would be silly to get too excited over another three-run “outburst”), Davis went back to work and set down the Padres in order in the sixth. Unfortunately, with two down in the seventh on his 93rd pitch, Davis left a 2-2 changeup that was supposed to be low and away over the plate, and Brian Giles smacked it to center for a base hit, ruining the unlikely perfect game and no-hitter in one fell swoop.

So all in all, it had been easy. Davis was spectacular, the offense just mediocre enough, and going into the Padre half of the eighth it was still a 3-0 game. That’s when the heart attack part of the game started. Did Davis get a nice seat on the bench after his fabulous start? Nope, Melvin sent him back out to start the inning, despite being at 100 pitches, in line for the win and without any shot at immortality. Instead, he was left to fend off the wolves. He retired Kouzmanoff on a grounder, but then the wheels fell off as Davis completely hit the wall. He threw 19 more pitches to the next four hitters, but only six for strikes, as the bases were loaded on an infield hit and two walks. Only then did Melvin finally remove his starter, who still could not lose the game, but was in line to be stuck with a no decision. More importantly, the go-ahead run was at the plate in Jody Gerut, a situation that most certainly should not have occured.

Anyway, the situation was quickly dealt with, as Gameday accurately reveals:

-J Gerut flied out to right

And that was that. Okay, so it was more than a routine flyout. Gerut crushed a pitch into right-center, but only Petco and a fantastic basket catch about a foot short of the wall by Romero saved at least a bases-clearing double (and likely a grand slam in a number of parks) from completely changing the complexion of the game. Daron Sutton spent most of the top of the ninth in a quiet stupor, still in disbelief about the play. (Some would argue that it was an improvement, but there’s already a thread devoted to that). Still, it was an exciting play and a fitting call, one that echoed the exuberant posts in the Gameday thread.

There was still another inning to be played, but it was largely inconsequential — Grace accurately pointed out that the game had really been decided on Romero’s play, and the rest was somewhat anticlimatic. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with one out, but couldn’t add any insurance runs, as Drew was out by a perfect throw at home trying to score on a wild pitch, and Tony Clark flailed wildly at the other three pitches to end the inning. Lyon came in and quietly (and blessedly for many people’s heart rates) retired the side in the ninth with two strikeouts, and the series was leveled at one game apiece.

 
Master of his Domain: Doug Davis, +35.3%
God-Emperor of Suck: Chris Young, -4.6%

All starts sans Chris Young had a base hit — Hudson had a trifecta of his own — which explains why Good CY happened to get tagged with the dreaded GES. Not surprisingly, it was Davis’ effort that predominately affected the win. None of the hitters were more than 10 percent.

Another solid GDT, with more than 500 comments, about 15 or so of which were on the level of “OHHHHHHH” after the play to end the bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Present were: Muu, Azreous, Jim McLennan, mrssoco, TwinnerA, AZWILDCATS, soco, kishi, foulpole, unnamedDBacksfan, AF DBacks Fanatic, snakecharmer, luckycc, AJforAZ, Scrbl, Frank Squishy, wrigleyrocker12, LucaMaz3, emilylovesthedbacks, peeklay and dahlian. As kishi pointed out, Romero’s catch was No. 1 on SportsCenter’s top plays. Unfortunately, Doug Davis still ends up taking second billing to John Lackey, who took a no-hitter into the ninth against the Red Sox, only to lose it with one out on a base hit by Dustin Pedroia. Still, despite the theatrics at the end, it was a win, the fourth in five games. We’ll take ‘em how we can get ‘em.

Record: 51-51. Pace: 81-81. Change on last season: -3

Now that was fun. A nice, easy game. A relatively dominant start by Haren (what’s new?). A minor offensive explosion, including a couple of crushed home runs. About the only thing that could have been better was the Dodgers getting beat by the Nationals, but alas.

The bulk of the damage (at least while the outcome was still in doubt) came swiftly. In the second inning, Snyder started things off with an RBI single, and was later followed with two-RBI doubles by Stephen Drew and Chris Young, dropping a five spot on the scoreboard and making things look very good for Dan Haren. Haren contributed to his own cause, hitting a double of his own and drawing a walk.

In the third, Conor Jackson stroked a pitch that was low and away over the left field wall for his 11th homer of the season. Unfortunately, he still isn’t the world’s bestest fielding corner outfielder, so his accomplishments will be forever banished from the record. Or something. Still, that was about it for the onslaught for a few innings while Haren continued to cruise relatively unscathed.

And cruise he did. Haren scattered nine hits in eight innings with an efficient 100 pitches, walking no one and striking out nine. He was pounding the strike zone and getting ahead in the count early. The Giants looked overmatched most of the night, and a number of the hits were on near-errors (a hot shot to Reynolds that bounced off his shoulder or one that ducked underneath Tracy’s glove) or bloop singles. With Volquez being pounded by Colorado earlier in the day, Haren’s 2.56 ERA quietly moved to first place in the National League. Simply put, he has been fantastic all season, but especially in the past two months.

Meanwhile, the offense tossed on a few more runs for good measure in the 8th. With runners on the corners and nobody out, CoJack swung and missed at two changeups after getting ahead 3-1 and struck out. Next up was Mark Reynolds, who strikes out a ton more than CoJack and had six K’s in his last seven at-bats. Another wasted chance with a runner on third and less than two out? Not for Mr. Reynolds. As Gracie called it perfectly on the broadcast, it was about the worst matchup left-hander Geno Espineli could hope for: Reynolds likes lefties, likes fastballs and likes the ball low. The first pitch was a fastball in the bottom half, and the Sheriff absolutely drilled it about 430 feet to left-center. Just for good measure, Tracy smacked a pitch that may or may not have splashed down into McCovey Cove (even after a couple replays on TV, I honestly couldn’t see where the ball hit). Plenty of run support for Haren and a lead that even the tattered bullpen couldn’t screw up.

 
Master of his domain: Dan Haren, +15.2%
God-emperor of suck: Orlando Hudson, -6.2%

Gotta love Fangraphs that look like this. The offense was efficient, scoring their 10 runs on 11 hits. Young, Jackson (whose batting average is up to .316) and Reynolds each had two hits, and every started got on base at some point, although Burke was only on thanks to a fielder’s choice.

A good start to the series, and a phenomenal matchup on the mound tomorrow with Lincecum and Webb. Can the offense give that same run support to Webby tomorrow and guarantee a series victory? I’m certainly not holding my breath, but there have been signs of improvement lately. Either way, it should be a great game to watch.