What started off as a pitcher’s duel between Tim Lincecum and Daniel Hudson ended with the D-backs shaking hands after a 6-1 win and tied for first place in the NL West.

For the first three innings the pitcher’s duel between Hudson and Lincecum was awesome to watch. Knowing how good these two have been all year, the winner of this game was probably going to be whichever pitcher made a mistake first.

Hudson did that in the bottom of the 4th when Pablo Sandoval doubled in Jeff Keppinger and the Giants struck first. I thought for sure that this was it and the game was over. The Giants have been fantastic this season in one run games.

Lincecum was, the best I can describe it, controllably wild. While he walked three in the first three innings the D-backs were unable to push a run across. He made the pitches he needed to despite getting behind in the count on a lot of the D-backs hitters. With pitchers like Lincecum you only have one shot, if you’re lucky, to score on him.

Then came the 5th inning.

The first hit for Arizona finally came in that 5th when Ryan Roberts singled into left. Then, rookie first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had his one chance to beat Lincecum and didn’t miss it. What resulted was a two-run homer deep into the seats in left. I haven’t seen a ball hit that hard off of Lincecum, in quite sometime.

That homer was all the D-backs needed but it was good to see that the offense did extend the lead since you never know with the Giants lineup.

Justin Upton extended his hitting streak to 14 games when he hit his own two-run shot in the top of the 8th inning.

The D-backs were able to tack on two more runs in the 9th inning to extend the lead to 6-1.

Bryan Shaw would then come in to the 9th, and despite giving up back-to-back singles, got Orlando Cabrera to strikeout to end the game.

Hudson was fantastic tonight throwing eight solid innings only giving up the one run. It is his first win against the Giants this year after losing to them twice previously.

With taking the first two games of the series the D-backs are now tied for first place in the NL West. Tomorrow Arizona has a chance to sweep the series and move one game ahead in the standings.

Newly acquired Jason Marquis (8-5) takes the mound for the D-backs against Ryan Vogelsong (8-1). First pitch is 12:45 and will be seen on FS Arizona.

Despite an early 1-0 deficit, the never say die D-backs lineup scored five runs in the 6th to beat the Giants and move within one game of the NL West in a 5-2 win.

I admit it, the second I heard that Cody Ross launched a solo homerun in the bottom of the first to put the Giants on the board first my thought was, “oh boy, here we go again.” San Francisco hasn’t been the easiest opponent for Arizona, ever. Plus the Giants have been the best team in baseball when it comes to one run victories.

In the 5th with the bases loaded, Kelly Johnson struck out swinging to end the inning. Super frustrating since I felt that you only have one shot to get to a starter like Matt Cain. And in 9-out of-10 games that is probably the case. But lucky for the D-backs, tonight they had two chances, and they didn’t let Cain get away again.

A five run 6th was enough to chase Cain from the ballgame. It all started with a Justin Upton single to lead off the inning. Of course it would be Upton, who has been some kind of hot streak since the All-Star Break.

With runners on first and second, Miguel Montero tied the game with a single. But the biggest hit probably came off the bat of Willie Bloomquist whose two-run single drove Cain from the game. Bloomquist this season has been so important for this club and even more so now that Stephen Drew is out for the season.

D-backs starter Ian Kennedy did what he has done all season, dominate the Giants. He continued that tonight going eight innings giving up two earned runs. Sure both runs were homers but they were solo shots. When Kennedy needed to make a pitch he did so.

Despite being down early Kennedy believed that this lineup would pick him up.

“I had belief in our offense that we would win today,” Kennedy told reporters after the game.

Manager Kirk Gibson knew this was an important series. So for him the outing from Kennedy was even more important because of the importance of a win or loss. “For him (Kennedy) to go eight innings was huge for us,” Gibson said.

So, the D-backs, are now in a position to at either leave San Francisco with a one game lead, or three games back. Not bad for a team that last year at this time was counting down the days until the end of the season.

Tomorrow Daniel Hudson (10-7) takes the mound against Giants ace Tim Lincecum (9-7). Hudson has faced the Giants twice this year, and has lost twice. I’m sure he wants to get his first win against them now more than ever. The last time Lincecum faced the D-backs pitched eight scoreless innings. The Giants would walk-off in the bottom of the 9th inning with RBI single from Cody Ross.

Tomorrow’s game is at 7:15 and is on FS Arizona and Sports 620 KTAR.

The D-backs front office has been saying for the past month that they recognized their needs but weren’t willing to sacrifice the future. Well, they stuck to that but were still able to make some moves before the trade deadline earlier today.

Despite the injury to Stephen Drew, creating even more holes in the D-backs infield situation the pitching staff is what needed the most work. That’s exactly what the D-backs got to help in the final two months in a push for a playoff spot.

Yesterday, Arizona acquired Nationals RHP Jason Marquis. He will most likely fill the 4th starter spot which will push Josh Collmenter back to the 5th spot. This also gives the bullpen a boost with Micah Owings going back to the bullpen.

Marquis is a veteran guy that is much needed with the mostly young pitching staff, starters and relievers included. Sure J.J. Putz is there but there is nothing wrong with adding more veterans to help out.

I like this move for two reasons. Marquis has had a good year for Washington coming off an injury. So far this year he has gone 8-5 with an ERA just under four. Are these fabulous numbers? No. But one must consider where he has played this year. In a division where not only the Phillies are but also the Braves.

Marquis also has extensive knowledge of the NL West after spending the 2009 season with the Colorado Rockies. He also has some post-season experience which will surely help this team that’s trying to make the playoffs.

Then earlier today the D-backs strengthened their bullpen further after acquiring Brad Ziegler from the Oakland A’s in exchange for first baseman Brandon Allen and reliever Jordan Norberto. This addition will allow Sam Demel and Joe Patterson more flexibility coming out of the pen. With David Hernandez and Putz solidifying the 8th and 9th innings, the addition of Ziegler makes manager Kirk Gibson’s choices for that 7th inning guy a little easier.

Through 43 games with the A’s, Ziegler is 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA this season.

With Allen gone now that leaves a hole at first. It is expected, although not announced officially that Paul Goldschmidt will get the call up from AA Mobile. This season Goldschmidt has torn up AA hitting .306 with 34 HR and 94 RBI. He is expected to join the club in San Francisco.

Sure the D-backs didn’t make some “major” moves with the big names in the trade deadline but they are certainly a better team for the moves they did make. These last two months will definitely be fun to watch as Arizona goes for the NL West title and/or the Wild Card.

It hasn’t happened very often this year but Daniel Hudson struggled during tonight’s 8-4 loss to the Rockies at Chase Field.

Hudson threw 103 pitches in just 6 1/3 innings giving up five earned runs on 10 hits. Despite struggling Hudson also managed to strike out seven during his outing.

When Hudson was taken out of the game he was visually upset throwing his glove as soon as he reached the dugout. It is the second time this month that Hudson has given up five runs. The last time came against the Brewers on the 4th of July.

With the loss Hudson moves to 10-6.

After the game Hudson posted this on his twitter page:

The D-backs got on the board first in the second inning scoring three runs, which included a two-run homerun from Geoff Blum. It was the first homer for Blum since September (2010) against the Washington Nationals.

The Rockies tied the game at four during the 7th inning. From there Colorado would score four more unanswered runs.

Dexter Fowler went 3-for-5 for the Rockies including a double, a triple, and an RBI.

Tomorrow the D-backs look to take game two, sending Josh Collmenter (5-5) to the mound against Jason Hammel (5-9).

First pitch is at 5:10 Arizona time. The game can be seen on FS Arizona and heard on Sports 620 KTAR.

Well after losing Stephen Drew to an injury, then battling back to tie the game, the D-backs were unable to get the job done in the 9th and went on to lose to the Brewers tonight 5-3.

The bottom of the 9th started off with Justin Upton’s screaming line drive double to start off the inning. He would advance to third after a wild pitch. What seemed like a sure win at that point ended in disappointment because the D-backs were unable to get the job and plate Upton to win the game in the 9th.

Manager Kirk Gibson hasn’t made many mistakes this year but he did tonight. Bringing in rookie pitcher Ryan Cook (mind you from DOUBLE A) in the 10th inning against the Brewers lineup was definitely not smart. And it backfired on Gibson. Cook was visually nervous, didn’t retire a batter, gave up three earned runs, and committed a balk. I feel bad for Cook and Gibson should have never had him pitch in that situation.

The game went from bad to worse after the Drew injury. In that same inning Ryan Roberts flied out to center fielder Carlos Gomez and he made a great diving catch to get the out. Only problem, was he landed wrong and would leave the game. He has a broken left clavicle. Best wishes to Gomez and Drew to a speedy recovery.

The D-backs are back at it tomorrow in the finale of the four game set against the Brewers. They will either split the series or lose 3-of-4. D-backs ace Ian Kennedy (10-3) will take the mound against Zack Greinke (7-3).

From the moment Drew slid into home during tonight’s game between the D-backs and Brewers everyone knew that it wasn’t going to be good. We now know that Drew is likely out for the season with a fracture to his right ankle and surgery is likely.

Warning: the picture below isn’t pretty. So if you get squeamish I would suggest moving past it to the rest of this post.

Stephen Drew fractures ankle after sliding into home during D-backs Brewers game tonight

Watching the injury take place was awful. After the slide it was clear that his ankle was turned the opposite way, Drew turned it back and immediately grimaced in pain. He couldn’t even stand up. When he was helped off the field Drew was also unable to put any weight onto it.

Drew is arguably the most integral part of the D-backs on the field and in the clubhouse. To lose him for the rest of the season is definitely a punch in the gut to the D-backs.

What’s most unfortunate about the injury is if you watch the replay, third base coach Matt Williams clearly tells Drew to stop at 3rd. Of course this is easy to critique after the fact. This was just a horrible accident and extremely unfortunate for Drew.

It is unsure who will take his spot but it should be noted that AAA Reno SS Cody Ransom was replaced during tonight’s game and the speculation is that he is on his way to Phoenix. We will definitely know more after the game and tomorrow.

With the D-backs already needing bullpen and starting pitching help it will be unlikely that Arizona will venture outside the organization for a replacement for Drew.

Well it happens to all teams and now it happened to he D-backs.

The bullpen, who has had to work double time it seems during this roadtrip avoided losing games when having the lead. Tonight however, four unanswered runs by the Cardinals in the final two frames did the D-backs in with a 7-6 loss.

Starter Daniel Hudson labored throughout much of the game and left during the 6th inning when the bases were loaded. He has “struggled” during his last two outings but I wouldn’t be too worried. Now that it is the All-Star break for him I wouldn’t be surprised if he dominates during the second half.

Hudson helped out his own cause with the bat as well driving in a pair of runs. Kelly Johnson, Chris Young and Ryan Roberts also drove in runs for the D-backs.

The relievers have done a heck of a job this entire series and it was only a matter of time before Albert Pujols got hit. D-backs pitchers have taken advantage of his wrist by pounding him inside and it worked until tonight when he hit the game tying homerun.

The D-backs can still win the series tomorrow. Zach Duke (2-8) takes the hill for Arizona against Jaime Garcia (8-3), who has a fantastic year so far for St. Louis. It will be a tough one to get but it would be the D-backs 50th win on the year if they are able to do so. Tomorrow is also the last game before the All-Star Break.

Despite two rain delays the D-backs were able to nail down a 4-1 win against the Cardinals tonight in St. Louis.

The game didn’t start until almost 7 o’clock local time here in Arizona and went into a second delay during the 6th inning. When play resumed about 45 minutes later, with Ryan Roberts on first Justin Upton launched a homerun into the seats extending the lead to 3-0.

The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Matt Holliday doubled in a run. The inning got a little more interesting with runners on 2nd and 3rd but D-backs reliever Micah Owings got Lance Berkman to strikeout and Yadier Molina to fly out to end the inning. That was the only threat the Cards would pose throughout the rest of the game.

In the 9th David Hernandez continued to thrive in his new role as closer and shut down the Cardinals securing the win for Arizona.

The D-backs remained 2.5 games behind the Giants after they won 2-1 over the Padres.

Ian Kennedy (8-3) takes the mound for the D-backs tomorrow against Kyle Lohse (8-5). First pitch is 5:15 AZ time.

And I send out my condolences to the family and friends of the Rangers fan who died earlier this evening after he fell trying to catch a ball. This is a tragedy that should never, ever happen.

D-backs pitcher Zach Duke

The D-backs jumped on the Brewers from the start and held on to win tonight in Miller Park 7-3. Miguel Montero got the D-backs on the board first with a two-run single in the first inning.

Zach Duke, who had never won in Milwaukee, pitched seven innings giving up two runs on five hits. It is the first win for Duke since he won against the Astros on May 28th.

With the win the D-backs became the first two take two in a row from the Brewers in their ballpark this season.

Justin Upton, who lets face it was snubbed by the Brewer’s Prince Fielder for a spot in the Home Run Derby, crushed a ball in third into the second deck in left center field. Fielder told reporters before the game that, he really wanted a Diamondback to be in the Derby but he made his choices and choices. Give me a break Fielder, it isn’t a hard decision to put the hometown guy in instead of having an NL Central love fest.

Gerardo Parra also had a jack for the D-backs in the same inning as Upton.

Things got a little interesting in the 9th with runners on first and second but David Hernandez was able to shut down Corey Hart for the second consecutive night when he grounded out to third which forced out the runner at second securing the win for Arizona.

Tomorrow the D-backs will try and get the sweep when they send Josh Collmenter to the mound against Yovani Gallardo.

First pitch is at 11:10 AZ time.

It’s been said a few times already this season, but last night’s 8-6 comeback win over the Brewers was the best game so far this season for the D-backs.

After starting pitcher Daniel Hudson gave up a grand slam to the Brewers starter Shaun Marcum in the 4th inning of yesterday’s game the D-backs were able to score eight unanswered runs stealing the victory from Milwaukee.

Reliever David Hernandez shut down the Brewers in the 9th striking out the side for his fourth save of the season. He has pitched well in save situations since moving to the closers roll with J.J. Putz on the 15-day disabled list.

Tonight the Zach Duke takes the mound for Arizona against Randy Wolf. Duke has mostly struggled since coming off of the DL himself. Winless in his last six games one has to wonder whether or not Duke’s time in Arizona will last much longer.

Duke’s last start against the Brewers was July of last year and gave up two runs on six hits.

First pitch at Miller Park is at 5:10 AZ time. The game can be seen on FS Arizona and heard on Sports 620 KTAR.