We’ve been keeping track of the times the Dbacks and their opponents have been hit-by-pitches this season. The 2012 HBP-0-Meter can be found [here].

It is has long been apparent that Justin Upton gets hit by more than your average number of pitches.

It has also been increasingly apparent that things have started getting personal between the Diamondbacks and the Giants.

So, when the game started off with Justin Upton getting plunked by Matt Cain, it seemed like more of the same. Unfortunately, he ended up stranded. And, in what would become a recurring theme, the team was unable to drive a run across the plate.

So, why all this talk about batters getting plunked?

Well, in the 6th inning, with the Giants ahead 2-1 and with  2-out and nobody on, Dbacks’ starter Trevor Cahill plunked both Emmanuel Burriss and Brandon Crawford – who then both came around to score when Matt Cain (yes, the opposing pitcher) ripped a double to right field.

This was a bit of sloppy game and a bit of an offensive mess.

Three (or less) negative things:

1. The team went 0-for-the-day with runners in scoring position. This was not a pretty game.
2. The Dbacks collected 11 strikeouts on the day, with Parra, Upton and Montero collecting 2, 2, and 3.
3. The Dbacks appear to have lost their ability to come back from behind to win ballgames this year. Let’s hope this is a trend that gets reversed in the near future.

Five positive things:

1. Craig Breslow did his job and stranded his inherited runners and pitching around an error.
2. John McDonald: Pinch hitter. No matter the outcome of that plate appearance (5-3 groundout), that will always make me smile.
3. Jason Kubel is still seeing the ball well, with a walk and a couple of hits and a run scored.
4. The Dbacks can still win the series tomorrow!
5. Cody Ransom is still hitting above .300! (Yeah, so he contributed from the bench today, but I had to stretch.)

And, a random youtube video. Because cats are funnier with accents.

Score: 5-2; Diamondbacks lose. The 9 game winning streak against the Giants came to an end. Like all good things.

Conclusion: Blech.

image by CEBImagery.com (flickr.com/photos/cedwardbrice/5563388108/)

Game 26/156 – I really don’t like pitcher’s duels. Especially when the team I’m pulling for comes out on the losing end. Pitching duels and 14+ inning games. It seems like, most of the time, the winner and loser of each game comes down to luck – and which team had the bad luck last.

But, because I had decided that – even in losses – we’re going to focus on the positives more than the negatives, here we go:

1. 3 or less negative things. And, I won’t even harp on them, because this loss was disappointing, but it was one of those losses that just comes with facing a good pitcher in the course of a long 162 game season.

• 4 of the 8 position players who started this game did not reach base once.
• Only one player (Aaron Hill) reached base twice today.
• And, the team went 0-for-4 with RISP today.

2. 5 positive thing to say:

• There were only 3 hits in the game, but –  with hits so hard to come by – it was nice to see some patience at the plate. The team drew 3 walks, to increase their on base presence.
• There was some wackiness when rookie-phenom Bryce Harper sorta-kinda forgot to touch first when he was rounding second. He’d raced to first on a comebacker to Ian Kennedy and, when he throw sailed wide, he’d run to second. He was then out on appeal. So, that was fun.
• In a pitchers’ duel, both pitchers have to be having a good day. This was very true of Mr. Ian Kennedy. 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 K and a walk. A quality quality start from the ace of the staff. It was just unfortunate that he had to come out on the losing end.
• Jason Kubel‘s outs were loud outs tonight. If you’re going to make an out, a long fly ball isn’t a bad way to go about it. Those’ll start going out of the park on another day with more wind or cooler air or with just a little bit of luck.
• The bullpen has taken a bit of a beating over the last few games. But, a solid frame from Bryan Shaw can’t be overlooked. A solid outing is always worth a pat on the back.

Score: 2-1, Diamondbacks lose; Record back to .500! You win some, you use some.

Conclusion: Sometimes, you just get beat. A balk in the second inning that put the Nationals’ first run of the game on third so it could score via a groundout (instead leaving him on second, where he would not have scored) might have been the difference in a very close game. 

I’ve decided on losing nights – especially in the middle of a 5 game losing streak – I’m going to do 3 things. Because, baseball is supposed to be fun, and dwelling on the negative doesn’t make baseball very much fun at all. So, here we go. On losing nights, I’m going to:

1. Limit the number of negative things I say to 3 or less.
• The team was 0-for4 with runners in scoring position.
• Team batting line: 2 runs on 5 hits; 1 walk and 13 strikeouts (including 6 consecutive to end the game)
• Essentially, the offense is still lacking an identity at the moment.
2. Come up with at least 5 positive things to say.
• Miguel Montero caught Michael Bourne stealing – raising his caught stealing percentage to 44% on the young season.
• Even though he got saddled with the loss today, Joe Saunders pitched a very solid game once he settled down. It was a quality start: 7.0 innings, 6H, 3R(2ER), 1BB and 5K. Four of his 6 hits and his only walk came in the first 2 innings. Unfortunately, the three runs that crossed the plate in the first three innings turned out to be an insurmountable challenge. He’s now 1-1 on the season with a 1.29 ERA on the season and  Diamondbacks fans should be very happy that he took a hometown discount to play for the Diamondbacks in 2012.
• David Hernandez: 3 batters face, 3 strikeouts. He was dazzling.
• Justin Upton was back in the lineup and he looked good. He went 1-for-4 and we hope that he still feels okay tomorrow morning.
• Jason Kubel has definitely started looking more comfortable at the plate. In the last 7 days, he’s hitting .313, with 3BB, 6H (a 2B and a HR), and 3RBI. Welcome to Arizona, Mr. Kubel.
3. Post a link to a randomly chosen youtube video. Tonight, we are going to listen to Jerry Seinfeld discuss SCUBA diving.

Score: 3-2, Diamondbacks lose (more one run games!); Record 7-8.

Conclusion: The rough patch continues. Hopefully the boys get off the skid soon. The season’s still very young and there’s a lot of time left, but baseball is more fun when there’s winning.

I am accepting any and all suggestions for future youtube videos to post during future loss posts. Hit me up here in the comments or via twitter (@mlbfangirl).

And, in case you missed it earlier, there’s a poll in the sidebar. Click HERE to read the post and cast your vote!

This was not a pretty game. I feel like this picture of the sad dog with the broken leg sums it up perfectly.

So, yes, the pitching staff has allowed 19 runs (16 earned) in the last 18 innings of baseball. Cahill’s line tonight was as follows: 5.2IP, 7R(4ER), 2BB, 2K, 1HR. However, as fellow Dback fan on twitter @Derek_L_FOSTER said tonight, “It doesn’t matter if the Dbacks can pitch or not. You can’t win a 0-0 game.”

Which brings us to the offense. The offense is very unassuming these days without Justin Upton and Chris Young. It seems a bit directionless and is overall just a lot less dynamic. Tonight, the line for the team read: 6-for-31; 1 run scored (RBI groundout by Paul Goldschmidt; 2BB, 6K. It was through a combination of a leadoff single, a walk and  some aggressive baserunning by Aaron Hill that they managed to manufacture a run in the bottom of the 9th.

With the last 4 games ending in losses, it can now be officially considered that the Diamondbacks are in a slump.

So, in an effort to soothe the wounds of being outscored 19-3 in the last 2 games, we’re going to focus on the positives:

1. Paul Goldschmidt had the best offensive performance of the night, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
2. Though he finished 1-for-3 with a walk, Jason Kubel also provided some offensive value, grinding out his at-bats and seeing a total of 31 pitches. This was 21.8% of all of the pitches seen by Diamondbacks hitters during this game. 
3. Craig Breslow continues to be solid out of the pen. He did allow his inherited runner to score, bringing the score to 7-0, and was hardly consequential. He then pitched a scoreless 2.1 innings.
4. Brad Ziegler came out in a tough spot in relief of Joe Paterson who loaded the bases (4 singles) and walked in a run without collecting an out. Ziegler struck out his first batter and ended the inning by inducing a double play.

If you want further details, here is the box score: [clickety!], otherwise, let’s just try to forget this one and move on tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day and another chance to right the ship.

Score: 9-1, Diamondbacks lose; Record 7-7.

Conclusion: It’s a rough patch for the Diamondbacks. Let’s hope they’re just getting it all out of their system now.

So, there was a game last night.

Josh Collmenter pitched slightly better than he had in his first 2 starts (and probably earned himself at least one more).

The third time was not the charm for Mr. Wade Miley – who let in his first run this season in his role as “backup to Josh Collmenter”. And, then he let in a few more. It was broken bats and bloop singles and it was just generally a bit of a mess.

Here’s the box score: [clickety!]

It was a blow out.

That is all. Let’s do it again tomorrow!

ps: Get well soon, Justin Upton, Chris Young, and Geoff Blum.

Mid-week day games are hard to recap when I miss the beginning. Game 12/162.

1. The line-up is noticeably different without the presence of Chris Young (on the 15-day DL) and Justin Upton (possibly headed there soon). The “Chris Young and the Sunshine Band” offense doesn’t work without Chris Young.

2. Without pinch-hit man-off-the-bench Geoff Blum (also on the 15 day DL), the Diamondbacks managed to make it through this game without pinch-hitting for their pitcher.

3.  Daniel Hudson pitched a fantastic game and deserved a win today. Unfortunately, it was not in the cards.

4. There were two lead-off triples today. Willie Bloomquist tripled in the first and ultimately scored on a Jason Kubel single, but Aaron Hill‘s lead-off triple went to waste in the 6th. It should be a crime to waste a leadoff triple.

5.  AJ Pollock made his MLB debut today. He walked in the 7th inning, but was promptly thrown out attempting to steal second when he over-slid the bag. He has the speed to steal, that much is clear, and he’ll probably be dangerous when he harnesses his nerves. And, of course, in his first ever game, he came to the plate with 2 outs and Justin Upton standing on first base and represented the winning run. Welcome to the show.

6. Justin Upton did appear in the bottom of the 9th, pinch running for Miguel Montero – who runs like a catcher.

Score: 2-1, Diamondbacks lose (YET ANOTHER ONE RUN GAME); Record 7-5. The Pirates win their first series at Arizona since 2005. Losing winnable games hurts even more.

Conclusion: More than half of the Dbacks’ games this season have been decided by one run. It is starting to be that the fate of the 2012 Diamondbacks will rest on their ability to win the 1-run game. Losing winnable games is not going to help them where they want to be.

Tonight was game 11/162. And, it was equally as disappointing as the last time the Dbacks fell in extra innings.

And, in the spirit of disappointment, today’s recap will also be disappointing. Here are the highlights:

1. Justin Upton sat out the game and will reportedly have an MRI on his thumb tomorrow.

2. Chris Young slammed into the CF fence making a leaping catch and had to leave the game – likely with a shoulder contusion. He will also be having an MRI tomorrow.

3. And, in the post game, Nick Piecoro reported that Kirk Gibson announced that Geoff Blum pulled a muscle in batting practice and he will  be headed to the DL and AJ Pollock is coming up from Reno.

4. In terms of baseball stuff: Ian Kennedy was immensely hittable (though, everyone is allowed a bad day now and again, so I don’t begrudge him that).

5. When Chris Young left the game, Jason Kubel moved to RF, Willie Bloomquist moved to LF and Gerardo Parra moved to CF. That put John McDonald in at SS (and, third in the batting order). He showed off his usual quick hands and – in another uncharacteristic show of offense – he blasted a game-tying home run. Which, like his two-double game in Colorado, wasn’t quite enough of a cushion for the bullpen.

6. Bryan Shaw collected the loss, giving up a 2-out infield single by the slimmest of margins to the speedy Alex Pressley. That was followed by hits from McGhee and McCutcheon and the one run that scored was the difference in the game.

7. And, the remainder of the Blue Jays reunion tour infield had a pretty good night defensively (Aaron Hill had a great pick, Ryan Roberts had a diving catch and Lyle Overbay dug a whole pile of throws out of the dirt at first). But, overall, this game was a giant bummer.

The after-effects of tonight’s mess will probably be spilling over into tomorrow. When they get to do it all over again.

Hopefully wrapped in bubble wrap.

Score: 5-6, Diamondbacks lose (ANOTHER ONE RUN GAME); Record 7-4. This one hurt. Literally and figuratively.

Conclusion: Ow.

Josh Collmenter (image c/o: Mark Winograd)

There was a brief delay to start this game, and then the rains continued to fall. The umpiring crew was clearly trying to force this game into “official game” territory, but had to give it up after 4 innings. When sure-handed Johnny Mac and gold glover Gerardo Parra are completely butchering plays they’d make every other day of the week and twice on Sunday, you know it was getting  a bit ridiculous.

However, there are 4 innings of baseball before a 1 hour and 11 minute delay and post-delay baseball (in the same pouring rain) to talk about, so here we go! Game 8/162.

1. Ryan Roberts (3B) – Back at his usual spot at 3B, he singled to start the game and drew a walk in his second at-bat. He reached on a force-out following the rain delay, but he continued to make solid contact.

2. Gerardo Parra (LF) – Getting the start in LF, he promptly singled immediately following Ryan Roberts’ leadoff single. He then got picked off of second base to end the inning. Following the rain delay, he hit yet another single to left field (his third in as many at-bats). In the 8th, he put down a beautiful bunt up the first base line, executing a safety squeeze and increasing the lead to 7-5.

3. Justin Upton (RF) – Struck out in both of his first two at-bats before the rain delay, leaving 4 men on base.

4. Miguel Montero (C) – Struck out on a pitch he didn’t like and walked. But, following the rain delay, he worked the count and blasted a 2-out, 3-run HR over the right/CF wall. The 2 potential double-plays that were broken up immediately prior to his at-bat loomed huge, as the deficit was cut from 5-1 to 5-4 with one swing of the bat.

5. Chris Young (CF) – Again, he continues to be on fire, driving home the game’s first run in the top of the first. Unfortunately, he popped out with the bases loaded and two outs in the 3rd inning, but he was only hitting around .400 and not 1.000 at the time, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected. He ended up going 2-for-4 with an RBI on the night. When you’re hot, you’re hot. And, Chris Young is still on fire.

6. Lyle Overbay (1B) – 0-for-2 with a strikeout going into the rain delay, he at least avoided leaving any runners on base.

6b. Paul Goldschmidt (PH-1B) – In the 7th inning, he pinch-hit for Lyle Overbay and lifted a sac fly into shallow RF. It was played really well by Michael Cuddyer, but Justin Upton charged hard and beat the throw, giving the Diamondbacks the lead for the first time in the ballgame. 6-5 Dbacks.

7. Aaron Hill (2B) – Unfortunately, he was part of the baserunning blunders prior to the rain delay and was thrown out (by a mile) attempting to steal second base in the second inning (as part of a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out) after he walked in the second. He had some fleet-footed base-running following the rain delay to avoid a tag in the top of the 6th.

8. John McDonald (SS) – As per usual, not much was happening with the bat, but he made a couple of good plays (and, one that skidded off his wet and cold glove) before the rain delay. However, after the delay, Johnny Mac ripped his first hit of the year into left field and drove in Aaron Hill in the 6th to tie the game at 5-5. And, got his second hit of the season – another double, this one leading off the 8th inning, allowing him to be standing on third for Gerardo Parra to execute a safety squeeze.

9. Josh Collmenter (SP) – As in his last start, he never really settled in – leaving a lot of stuff up and over the plate and the Rockies took advantage – and making at least one fielding miscue. Going into the rain delay: 4.0 IP, 5H, 5R, 3BB, 3K, 2HR. It was a start where many people in the Diamondbacks baseball fandom were considering that Josh Collmenter was pitching for his spot in the rotation. But, after a solid year last year – including a post-season win – its unclear how long of a leash he really has at this point. It is highly possible that Josh Collmenter isn’t going anywhere for a good long while. But, if the pulse of the fandom is correct and he really was pitching to save his spot in the starting 5, he certainly didn’t do himself any favors tonight.

9b. Geoff Blum (PH) – Pinch hit for the pitcher (as he does) and took a lead off walk following the rain delay and broke up a double-play with a “I have been playing baseball longer than you have” hard slide into second base when Ryan Roberts grounded to the shortstop. (And, in the following at-bat, Gerardo Parra did exactly the same thing to break up another potential double play).

9c. Wade Miley (RP) – Carving a bit of a niche coming out in long relief of Josh Collmenter, he got 2 quick outs before giving up a triple to Michael Cuddyer. He made a couple of great plays in his first inning of relief, backing up a wayward throw to third on Cuddyer’s triple (he would have scored) and then covering first on a Tyler Colvin grounder. And, just like the last time he came in in long relief of Collmenter, he kept the opposing team at bay, pitching 3.0 innings of 2H, 1BB baseball. And, in the bottom of the 7th, he executed a swinging bunt for an infield single, in his quest to make himself indispensable to this team. Something that is going to create a bit of a situation when Saito is activated off of the DL.

9d. David Hernandez (RP) – Came in for his traditional 8th inning appearance. Unfortunately, he gave up a run, cutting a 7-5 deficit down to 7-6 going into the 9th inning.

9e. JJ Putz (CL) – Came in with the pouring rain. Let loose and hit Marco Scutaro. In conditions where no one can see and it was 38 degrees, this is not surprising. Unfortunately, that put the tying run on base. So, when Todd Helton laced a HR barely inside the RF foul pole, the Rockies walked off with the win.

Score: 8-7, Diamondbacks lose (and lose their first series to Colorado since 2010); Record 5-3. They got our hopes up, but man. That was a major letdown. But, with baseball, there’s always tomorrow. Hopefully, the sun will come out tomorrow.

Conclusion: It was wet and cold and miserable in Colorado. And, the weather was pretty terrible, too.

And, in case you missed it earlier, we have a shiny new feature here on the blog: THE 2012 HBP-o-METER. 

image from flickr user: paul hadsall (flickr.com/photos/paulhadsall/4854585169/)

Your game recap, brought to you in the form of the starting line-up. Game 7/162. Unfortunately, this game turned into the bullpen olympics, which is not something you want for the first game of the series. There was a lot of hitting in this game, but in what has becoming a recurring theme, the timely hitting wasn’t there.

In the 4th inning, the boys ended up with runners on second and third and nobody out and they couldn’t get any of the runs across.

The team went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 9 men on base as a team. Individually, the hitters left 17 men on base and, unfortunately, they fell just shy of being able to keep step with the Rockies.

It was a cold night, the team is tired from their late getaway day and hopefully things look better in the morning.

1. Willie Bloomquist (SS) – Snapped his hitting streak by going 0-for-5 on the night.

2. Jason Kubel (LF) – 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.

3. Justin Upton (RF) – 2-for-4 with a walk. Notably, he bunted for a base hit. With his hand still hurting, this was a stroke of brilliance. When you run like him and no one is expecting it, it works. Also, there was a misplay of a flyball in the 3rd inning which led

4. Miguel Montero (C) – 2-for-4 with a walk. Hit a long homerun and hopefully this will be able to get him into the groove for the season.

5. Chris Young (CF) – 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

6. Paul Goldschmidt (1B) – 2-for-5 with one strikeout. Unfortunately, he made a catching error on an attempted pickoff move which allowed Tulowitzski to move from 1st to 3rd and score the unearned run that was the difference in this game.

7. Geoff Blum (3B) – 0-for-3 with one strikeout.

8. Ryan Roberts (2B) – 1-for-3 with a walk.

9. Daniel Hudson (P) – In probably the story of the night, this is not a performance that Daniel Hudson is going to be replaying again. 3.2 IP, 10H, 6R, 3BB, 3K, 2HR. His command was all over the place and he just never seemed to settle in.

9b. Brad Ziegler (RP) – Came in and pitched an inning and a third and, taking one for the team actually had to bat for himself and didn’t do too badly for a relief pitcher from the american league in – to the best that I can discover – his first plate appearance in his MLB career.

9c. Craig Breslow (RP) – Came in and pitched 2 innings of 1-hit, 2-walk ball and kept the Rockies at bay.

9d. Aaron Hill (PH) – Pinch hitter for Craig Breslow and went 1-for-1 on the day.

9e. Bryan Shaw (RP) – Took the loss in this battle for pitching the 8th inning. His record falls to 0-1 on the year, with an ERA of 0.00. Unfortunately, following a one-out single by Carlos Gonzalez, an attempted pick-off ended up with CarGo ending up on third and he scored on a ground-rule double. A hard luck loss on an unearned run.

Score: 7-6, Diamondbacks lose; Record 5-2

Conclusion: After struggling to produce runs in San Diego, the runs were plentiful – but for both teams. So far this season, each game has been decided by 2 runs or less. When the margin for error is so tiny, you’re really living on the edge.