Phoenix.BloggersPub

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.

Record: 46-47. Pace: 80-82. Change on last season: -3

More extra innings, more forfeited leads, more bullpen pitchers failing to get the job done. This time, however, there was no final surge to come up with a victory. If anything, we’re left with tired psyches, tired arms in the pen, and a losing record once again.

Doug Davis’ outing was decent, certainly decent enough to win, and once again registered as a quality start (and a no decision). Through four innings he had given up just a walk and two hits - one a solo shot to Ryan Howard that extended his hitting streak to 14 games -and his pitch count was reasonably low. Still, he created trouble for himself in both the fifth and sixth innings by being unable to retire the final hitter.

In the fifth, Davis got two relatively quick outs, but required another 15 pitches to eventually escape with a Chase Utley popup. But in the sixth, after the Diamondbacks had tied the game at 1, Bullwinkle pulled a landmine out of the hat instead. After a couple more baserunners reached with two down, Philadelphia tallied two runs without the ball being put in play, one on a wild pitch, the other on a caught stealing where Ruiz kept himself in a rundown just long enough for Victorino to score from third. Suddenly the visitors found themselves in a bigger deficit than they had the inning before.

Like the previous game, though, Arizona came storming back. A Montero single, Romero double and Bonifacio pinch-hit double was enough to tie the game and eventually chase Kendrick. Drew followed with a single to drive in Emilio and take the lead. But the heart attacks continued in the bottom half of the inning. Qualls, who of late has been impeccable at getting out of jams, allowed consecutive one-out singles to put runners on the corners, then got Utley to ground into a double play to preserve the one-run margin. For good measure, Romero added an RBI double in the eighth, although he was gunned down when he was caught between second and third.

Then the first shades of trouble started. Slaten started the eighth against the left-handed, strikeout-prone Ryan Howard…and walked him. Enter Tony Peña, whose struggles in the previous game were well-documented by his colossal -78.6% in the fangraph. A single and a triple later, the lead was gone, gone, gone. Both teams threatened in the ninth but couldn’t score, and extra frames were needed for a second consecutive game.

Unfortunately, this time didn’t pan out so great. As they did in the ninth, the Diamondbacks had a runner in scoring position with less than two out in the 10th, but were unable to bring him home. In the bottom of the 12th, the Phillies capitalized on the opportunity with a Taguchi single, a sacrifice, an intentional walk, and a final killing blow by Werth. Even St. Penelope couldn’t prevent the winning run from scoring. Ballgame.

[click to enlarge in a new window]
Master of his domain: Leo Rosales, +28.6%
Honorable mentions: Bonifacio, +19.3%; Romero, +15.1%; Tracy, +13.3%; Qualls, +11.0%
God-emperor of suck: Tony Peña, -25.0%
Dishonorable mention: Robertson, -21.4%; Ojeda, -20.9%, Jackson, Young, Hudson, Drew…

Despite the back-and-forth nature of the game, the fangraph was still much more subdued than yesterday’s roller coaster. In many ways, the game was the polar opposite of yesterday’s affair: the bats piled up the hits early, but disappeared in the late and extra innings. Even so, the poor fangraph seemed confused. Leo Rosales had the biggest influence in our chances of winning? Mark Reynolds’ pinch-hit strikeout was worth almost +10%? Drew at -14% despite having one of our few RBIs? It’s possible that the graph was still on life support after the previous day’s EKG-like readout.

Drew, Hudson, Tracy and Romero each had two hits, and Montero tacked on three of his own. On the flip side, Young was again 0-for-5, striking out twice, although at least he wasn’t leading off today. (Then again, the usually dependable Augie Ojeda didn’t fare much better: 0-for-5, but with just one strikeout. These are the small victories we cherish.) At the very least, there was enough offense to win, just not enough at the right times. Then again, the starting pitching was good enough too. It’s almost as though the team is allergic to success sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time.

Some random notes:
-We stand at 407 runs scored, 406 runs allowed on the season right now. Not surprisingly, our Pythagorean W/L is exactly where it’s supposed to be.
-We’re now an even 13-13 in one-run games, and 4-3 in extra-inning games.
-Chris Young is batting .211 since May 16, which just four home runs and two stolen bases, 41 K/14 BB, and an OPS of .607.

Present in the GameDay Thread (and overflow), which reached more than 700 comments, were as follows: TwinnerA, DbacksSkins, kishi, hotclaws, luckycc, Muu, 4 Corners Fan, Jim McLennan, srdmad, AF DBacks Fanatic, seton hall snake pit, Azreous, soco, mrssoco, Mr. Philosophical, Scrbl, Wimb, Counsellmember, Zephon, the mystical one, emilylovesthedbacks, DiamondbacksWIn, Turambar and Diamondhacks. Things went from quiet to optimistic to grouchy to quiet resignation, seems like.

It’s Randy Johnson on the hill tomorrow, which means one thing: staggering inconsistency. Will we see the Johnson from his last start and the first part of the season? Or the one who lost six straight decisions and led his team to eight straight losses? Working in our favor (if you prefer the glass half full) is the recent trend of alternating wins and losses, both in the past week and in the season series against the Phillies. All signs thus point to a win tomorrow, but many of them are faded and hidden behind Caution: Bridge is Out signs. You are advised to exercise caution when watching this team down the road.