Phoenix.BloggersPub

Record:
6-2. Pace: 121-41. Change on last season: 0

Quote: “It was definitely emotional coming off the field, for sure. The fans
got into it…I tried to stay strong – didn’t want to come out of there crying or
anything. I’m just thinking positive; everybody’s been real positive.” –
Doug Davis.

We must be stuck in some sort of bizarro
universe. Timely hitting, runs aplenty, large margins of victory, shaky bullpen…it’s
like a strange dichotomy from last season. But when things are going this well,
how can anybody argue with the results?

Once again, the Diamondbacks got off
to a fast start (that’s 13 first inning runs in eight games), and once again,
Mark Reynolds was right in the middle of it. Apparently Special K has decided
that if you’re going to get a home run, you might as well smack the damn thing
450 feet or so, as he lifted another towering shot to center to bring in Hudson
(ground rule double) and Jackson (HBP). It helped that Chad Billingsley was
battling his familiar control problems, as he threw more balls than strikes (38-32)
and had a WHIP of almost 4 in his two-and-a-third innings.

The boys in red tacked on two more
in the third, with a sac fly by Upton and an RBI single by a certain light-hitting pitcher. In the seventh, the
D-backs tacked on some more insurance runs, all of them coming with two outs. Hudson drew a bases-loaded walk, and Jackson used his newfound speed to leg out a
bases-clearing triple on a ball that took a strange hop in the left field
corner. Romero remained at 1.000 for his career with a two-out infield hit in
the eighth that drove in Drew, who led off the inning with a triple.

Still, the biggest story of the day
by far was Doug Davis. Two days before heading off to see the doctors and take
care of his personal health, Double D used a surgeon’s precision to pick apart
the Dodgers. Sporting his usual assortment of slow, nibbling pitches, Davis cruised through the
first five innings before giving up a Jeff Kent double for two runs in the sixth.
He still got through the inning for a quality start, tossing 103 pitches and
striking out seven. He also added two hits and a
sacrifice bunt, raising his average to an absurd .667. Davis already has half the number of hits he
had all last season.

The magical bullpen carpet ride
continued. Unfortunately, there still hasn’t been anyone paying attention to
the signs warning of turbulence or falling to one’s death. Juan Cruz took over
the overworked Qualls’ spot in the seventh and got two quick outs, but then
walked Furcal and gave up a single to Kemp, bringing in Slaten to face the
lefty Ethier. Apparently Slaten graduated from the Jose Valverde school of heart
attacks, as he got out of the inning with about a 370-foot flyout to deep right
that Upton caught up against the wall. Medders came in to pitch the eighth, since a
seven-run lead was seemingly safe, but gave up two runs and couldn’t even get
through the inning, being replaced by Peña. Finally, Petit coughed up a meaningless
run in the ninth. The pen continues to be nothing if not…interesting. And
generic adjectives are the PC flavor of the day.

As Jim
pointed out in the Gameday thread, the four HBP tied a franchise record last
seen in 2001 against Baltimore.
Jackson and Snyder each got pelted twice, although they fared better than Chase Utley, who got pegged three times. Add on six walks and 12 hits, and
there were baserunners aplenty, which also led to 25 men left on base. Chris
Young was particularly off — contract jitters, perhaps? — going 0 for 6 with three
strikeouts and 10 LOB by himself. Still, Reynolds, Davis, Jackson and Drew each
had two hits, and Byrnes and Upton added a pair of walks apiece.

[click to enlarge, in new window]
Master of His Domain: Mark Reynolds, +24.1%

(A Well Deserved) Honorary Mention: Doug Davis, 18.4%

God-emperor of Suck: Chris Young, -11.9%

Ultimately,
the focus (rightfully) is on Davis.
Melvin said in the press conference after the game that Davis seemed more emotional, yet more
focused, than in his first start of the year, and the results would seem to
reflect that. Hopefully he will have a speedy and uneventful return to full
health. He got a standing ovation when he came out of the game, as well as some
acknowledgement from Jeff Kent, according to Todd Walsh, who teared up briefly
when interviewing DD after the game.

Now that the
game is finally in the books, everybody gets to snag a few hours of sleep
before tomorrow’s day game. Attendance was listed at a disappointing 28,973,
somewhat surprising given the team’s success over the past year plus and it
being the first series of the season. Then again, it was a weeknight, and
as it turned out the kids would have been up like six hours past their bedtime
anyway. At 3:36, it was the longest nine-inning game since a 5-1 victory over
the Red Sox on June 10 last season (RJ beat Dice-K). The Gameday thread
suffered no such ill effects, however, spilling over into a second thread for
the first time and totaling almost 800 comments.

With
a series win already wrapped up, Ownings will take the mound against Hiroki
Kuroda at about 12:30 tomorrow looking for a sweep. Both pitched exceedingly
well in their first start of the season, so it’ll be interesting to see if the
offense can keep up their torrid pace. Losing Davis’ hot bat in the lineup to bring in that
Micah fellow, whoever he is, can’t possibly help.