The Diamondbacks Week in Review

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Five games in, and the Arizona Diamondbacks have posted a 3-2 record, losing two out of three in Coors, but taking the first two of the four-game set in Washington. All told, I think we’d probably settle for that, though we should be looking at 4-1 right now. But we’ll get to that.

AZ 8, Rockies 6 Arizona secured their first Opening Day victory in five years, in a see-saw affair that saw each side blow two leads before the Diamondbacks finally hung on. Our ace, Brandon Webb, was far from ace-like, giving up eight hits and three walks in only five innings. He left with the game tied, turning things over to the bullpen, where Brandon Medders allowed a homer to the first batter he saw. But after that, the relievers were lights-out, allowing two hits and a walk in four innings, fanning nine Rockies.

The offense, meanwhile was keeping Arizona in the game. Byrnes and Hudson each had three hits, with the former having the key hit in a three-run eighth inning: his single drove home two runs, and turned a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 lead. Hudson followed with a sacrifice fly to provide the final margin of victory, and both men, along with Scott Hairston, had two RBIs each.

AZ 3, Rockies 4 This was the one that got away. It went to extra innings tied at two, and the Diamondbacks scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eleventh, off former Arizona closer, Byung-Hyun Kim - Stephen Drew singled home Chris Snyder from second. However, Jose Valverde couldn’t hang on, and the Rockies scored twice in the bottom half to snatch victory, the winning run coming home on an error by replacement third-baseman, Alberto Callaspo.

That wasted a solid effort from Livan Hernandez, who belied his horrible spring form with seven innings of two-run ball. He walked two and allowed five hits, but only one of those was for extra-bases. The top of the order proved productive for Arizona, with four of the top five (Drew, Jackson, Byrnes and Hairston) all getting two hits apiece. Byrnes also notched his first stolen-base of the year,

AZ 4, Rockies 11 This was, in the main, much closer than the score looks - the Rockies posted a seven-run eighth inning, off Diamodbacks reliever J.D.Durbin, who was designated for assignment (basically, “fired”) immediately after the game. Doug Davis performed a magnificent balancing act, becoming the only pitcher in over 40 years to allow 13 base-runners in five innings and not give up any earned runs. The Rockies scored three times in the first, but that was largely thanks to two errors by Conor Jackson.

Arizona was playing catch-up from there on. They narrowed the gap on the season’s first homer, by Eric Byrnes, and got to within one after a Jackson sacrifice fly. However, the Rockies were not to be caught, and blew things open off Durbin, who allowed seven hits and a walk to the ten hitters he faced. RBIs from Montero and Young restored a little respectability to the score in the ninth, but this was definitely a disappointing note on which to end the first series of the season.

AZ 4, Nationals 3 The Nats are a consenus pick to be the cellar-dwellers in the NL East, yet they played a lot tougher in Arizona’s first game. We’d not beaten then in Washington since before they moved there from Montreal, blowing eighth-inning leads during all three contests last year, so it was a relief to secure the win here. At first, this looked easy, as we plated three runs in the first, with Young getting two RBIs on a bases-loaded single. Then a Hudson homer made it 4-0 and an easy game seemed likely.

However, the Nationals’ bullpen cut us off: we had just a walk and a single in 5.1 innings after their starter left. And they chipped away with runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh to set the stage for a nail-biting finish. Brandon Lyon allowed just one hit in the ninth, and Valverde mowed the site down in order - albeit with significant help from Hudson on a swirling pop-up into a 20 mph wind, the kind that gives infielders nightmares. That made a winner of Edgar Gonzalez, who fanned seven Washington hitters in five innings of work.

AZ 7, Nationals 1 The pitching staff had a combined one-hitter, two outs into the ninth inning: Juan Cruz then allowed three straight hits, but this was still a solid victory. Getting the win was major-league debutant Micah Owings, who allowed just one hit and no runs in five innings of work: he struck out Nats slugger Ryan Zimmerman, on three pitches and with the bases loaded, to end his day’s work. He was rewarded with a beer shower and shaving-cream pie in the clubhouse afterwards.

We had some difficulty solving the Nationals’ starter, who matched zeroes with Owings into the fourth, before Tracy tripled home Callaspo with two out, and an error brought him home. More two-out scoring followed in the sixth: Jackson singled, Hairston walked, and Young brought them all around to score with a monstrous, 414-ft homer (left). The Diamondbacks cruised in from there, though pinch-hitter Tony Clark grounded into a double-play to end the eighth, when we could probably still have been batting.

News and Reviews

Stars in the past week. Hitting: Eric Byrnes (8-for-21), Alberto Callaspo (6-for-16), Chris Young (7 RBI). Pitching: Livan Hernandez (7 IP, 2 ER), Micah Owings (5 IP, 0 ER), Tony Peña (4 IP, 2 H).

Injury report. Randy Johnson makes his first rehab start tomorrow at Class-A Visalia. He’ll then appear for the Tucson Sidewinders next Friday, and is expected to start in San Diego on April 19. Carlos Quentin (RF) took batting practice and a rehab stint for him will be scheduled shortly: it’s probably 10-14 days until his return. Jeff DaVanon (OF) has no timetable at the moment.

The answer is: 42. Orlando Hudson will wear #42, to honor Jackie Robinson, during the celebration on April 15th, to mark the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s first appearance in the majors. Said Hudson, “It’s beyond making an All-Star game. It’s beyond winning a Gold Glove. It is beyond 500 homers.”

Innings eaters?. The first sweep through the rotation didn’t quite prove the rest-cure for the bullpen which we anticipated, as our relievers had to mop up an average of 3.2 innings per game. Only Livan Hernandez pitched past the fifth inning, so we’ll be hoping for better than that from everyone else in coming starts.

The D-backs have your number. Arizona Diamondbacks number-plates are now available from the MVD. They’re in the new Sedona red, and proceeds will benefit their charity foundation. More information.

The upcoming week. The Diamondbacks finish off their four-game set today and tomorrow in Washington, before coming back to Arizona. The home opener is Monday against Cincinnati, and they play two further games against them, before welcoming Colorado next weekend for three match-ups.