Sedona Red Fireworks: Because winning is fun.

There are hits! And runs! Lots and lots of hits and runs!

Yes, the Dbacks had 16 hits. And, yes, they scored 9 runs. (Check out the Box Score: HERE)

But, the story of the night was  - without a doubt – Wade Miley.

1. Going into the game, the line-up looked highly similar to last night. But, when it is the line-up that stops a depressing losing streak, it isn’t a surprise that Kirk Gibson didn’t want to mess with it.

2. The offense showed up – big time. Jason Kubel and John McDonald (yes, that John McDonald) both went 3-for-4 on the day. Both Justin Upton and Jason Kubel hit solo-HRs. And, every one of the starters reached base by hit or walk tonight.

3. Speaking of Jason Kubel – Yes, he occasionally takes slightly less-than-efficient routes to balls hit to left field, but he’s shown a surprisingly a strong arm in the outfield. He recorded his 4th assist of the season, firing a one-hopper to home plate, to save a run. He’s tied for the NL lead in assists. Jason Kubel: More than just a bat standing in left field.

4. Not insignificantly, that play at the plate also illustrated that Miguel Montero is, in fact, an immoveable force. Wow.

5. Jonathan Albaladejo (called up from Reno in place of Daniel Hudson) made his Dbacks debut and was solid. 1 innings, 2 hits, no runs. As was Brad Ziegler: 1 inning, 1 hit, no runs. And, coming in for the final three outs of the ninth, so was Craig Breslow (who has pitched 8.1 innings in relief so far this season, tied with David Hernandez for the most number of innings pitched by a reliever who is not Wade Miley).

6. Joe Paterson. He’s had a very shaky 2012. He was solid as solid can be in 2011, but 2012 has been very, very rough (screencap from: here). He came in to start the 9th. He faced 5 batters: single, double, single, home run, home run. The numbers speak for themselves. This was a good game, and there has been so much negative lately, that we’re going to stick with focusing on the positives.

7. And, speaking of positives: Wade Miley. What else can you say about Wade Miley? He’s made a career acting as the stunt double for Josh Collmenter (c/o @dbacksbooth for the appropriate description) this season. He has saved the Dbacks on more than one occasion and tonight, when called upon to spot start because of Daniel Hudson going down…. The Dbacks are treated to this: 6.0 IP, 2H, 1BB, 7K. He was – again – sensational. This win is completely on him.

Score: 9-5, Diamondbacks win! Record 9-8. It’s (almost) all good in the hood.

Conclusion: This was a very fun 8 innings of baseball. For the second day in a row, it was a good day at Chase Field. 

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.

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. 

Your Dbacks’ game recap. Brought to you by the starting nine. And friends. Game 3/162.

1. Willie Bloomquist (SS) – Keyed the offense in the first inning with a single and a stolen base and was left stranded on third when none of his teammates could put the ball in play. He also doubled in the 3rd and was stranded again. And, in the 8th, he got Overbay caught in a rundown on a safety squeeze after mixing up his signs. Error count = 1.

2. Aaron Hill (2B) Clearly, no one expected him to have a repeat of yesterday. He did alright on the day, though. 0-for-the day with a very important walk and a run scored. Also, a slick double play in the 8th. Wasn’t able to come through with 2 out in the 8th. Error count = 1.

3. Justin Upton (RF) – 0-for-3 with a walk and 2K.

4. Miguel Montero (C) – 0-for-2 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Error count = 1.

5. Chris Young (CF) – 1-for-4 on the day with a run scored.

6. Ryan Roberts (3B) – He made a stunning heads- up play in the top of the 6th inning and then in the bottom of the 6th, he cranked a 2-run homerun to make the score a little closer (6-4). Error count = 1.

7. Lyle Overbay (1B) – As part of the offensive explosion in the 6th, he went back to back with Ryan Roberts, bringing the score to 6-5. He also drove in 2 runs with a double earlier in the game.

8. Gerrardo Parra (LF) Had a pretty uneventful day until he dropped down a decent bunt in the 8th. Error count =1.

9. Josh Collmenter (SP) – In his first start of the season, following a spring training full of questions, he never really settled in and was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the third. 6R(5ER),5H,1BB,4K,1HR. Following his exit, the Dbacks were down 6-0 after 3 innings.

9b. Geoff Blum (PH) – Pinch hitter.

9c. Wade Miley (RP) Coming in for mop-up duty in the 4th inning, down 6-0, threw 4 innings of shutout (no hit) ball with 4 errors behind him. If baseball gave out stars for the game, he would get the first one. Not a bad day for a kid expecting to be proving himself in the minors this season.

9d. Jason Kubel (PH) – He collected his first hit as a Dback as a pinch hitter, but was unfortunately erased when Willie Bloomquist hit into a force out.

9e. Paul Goldschmidt (PH) – K in the 8th against Sergio Romo.

9f. Craig Breslow (RP) – With David Hernandez having pitched 2 days in a row, the 8th inning was his – his first in a Dbacks jersey. His first pitch sailed over Montero’s head and his second buried into the dirt, but he then calmed down and pitched a solid 8th.

9g. Bryan Shaw (CL – today) – Recorded his first save of his major league career. It wasn’t pretty, there was a groundout, a flyout, a broken bat single, a hit by pitch to Sandoval, but he got Buster Posey to go down swinging in a very dramatic fashion.

Not to harp on it, but the HBP is probably going to stir up even more drama, considering that Sandoval and Bloomquist had exchanged words while Bloomquist was standing on 2nd, allegedly about watching signs. I’m personally feeling like a young, nervous first-time closer isn’t wanting to put the go-ahead run on base with Buster Posey coming to bat, but this is definitely fuel to the fire.

It wasn’t Buster’s best day, joining in on the error parade when he didn’t get his foot onto home plate for a force out at home.

In the end, the Dbacks were able to come back from a 6-0 deficit and win a sloppy contest with more errors than highlights. But, a.win is a win and today Wade Miley earned his win.

Conclusion: Miley’s 4 no-hit innings provided the opportunity for the Dbacks to take center stage in this comedy of errors. And, fittingly, he got the win.

Score: 7-6; Diamondbacks win; Record 3-0. HBP counter is at 3 (2-Dbacks, 1-Giants)

So, Diamondbacks’ closer JJ Putz is a bit of a prankster. So far, at least two of his pranks have been captured for all to see and enjoy during this pre-season.

Posted by the official twitter account of the ballclub on February 26th:

And, in the latest development:

It really is a pity that JJ Putz hates his job so much.

» Continue reading “Dbacks Spring Training=Pranks. And Bees. Or: What? There Was a Game Today??”