Diamondbacks Week in Review 4/14/07

by user Bobman024

Original post from: http://azsportshub.com/diamondbacks-week-in-review/

Arizona finished off a four-game sweep of the Washington Nationals last weekend, and then returned back to Phoenix for the home opener against the Cincinnati Reds. They won that, coming from behind, and did the same the next night, but lost the final game of the set and, after an off-day Thursday, dropped the opener of their series against the Colorado Rockies. Overall, they were 4-2 for the week, and currently sit second in the NL West, one-half game behind the Dodgers.

AZ 7, Nationals 1 Brandon Webb’s second start of the year was a major improvement over his debut, as he pitched seven strong innings, the only black-mark being Kearns homer. Arizona already had a 6-0 lead at that point, leaping out early with three runs in the first, on a two-run double by Chad Tracy, and a Tony Clark sacrifice fly. We repeated that scoring in the sixth, Chris Young, Clark and Eric Byrnes driving in the runs there, and Byrnes added a solo homer in the ninth.

Tony Clark had three hits, with Byrnes adding two, a pair of RBI and a stolen base, while Orlando Hudson continued his hot streak with two knocks of his own. After Webb departed, Brandon Medders and Doug Slaten polished off the final two innings, allowing a hit each. Webb walked three and gave up seven hits in his outing, but also struck out eight. The loss went to former Diamondbacks John Patterson - we traded him to the Montreal Expos for Randy Choate, back in March 2004.

AZ 3, Nationals 1 The Diamondbacks completed the road sweep of Washington with another solid pitching performance: in the four games, we allowed the Nats to score only a total of six runs. Livan Hernandez was brilliant, letting them get only three hits in seven innings of shutout ball, walking three. The resulting game score of 69, was his highest since July 2005, and his season ERA dropped to 1.29 as a result. Brandon Lyon lost the shutout in the eight, and Jose Valverde brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, before closing out the win.

Again, Arizona jumped on top of Washington early, getting all the runs they’d need with just one out in the first inning: Orlando Hudson doubled home Conor Jackson, and Byrnes then drove in O-Dawg. That was the last time we’d have anyone pass second base until the eighth, when Scott Hairston tripled, and came home on a single by Young. He and Hudson both had two hits, and congratulations to infielder Brian Barden who got his first major-league knock in the fifth inning.

AZ 3, Reds 2 The largest Opening Day crowd in franchise history - 41,803 paid, but Chase Field was basically entirely full - saw a stirring, come-from-behind win, as the Diamondbacks clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit, with single runs in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. A bloop double by Hammock let AZ manufacture a run in the sixth, and after the first two reached in the seventh, small ball [a bunt and sacrifice fly] tied the game. Hudson bypassed all that fiddly nonsense, smacking a one-out solo homer in the eighth, to give Arizona the lead.

That made a winner of Lyon for his scoreless eighth, but Valverde certainly kept the game interesting, walking the leadoff Reds hitter, before getting a convenient double-play, and inducing Phillips to fly out to the left-field warning track for the final out. Hudson and Tracy had two hits apiece for the Diamondbacks, while Doug Davis produced a quality start, going six innings - he allowed five hits and two runs, walking three while striking out four.

AZ 5, Reds 4 The Diamondbacks extended their winning streak to six, but it took eleven innings and another come-from-behind performance to do it. Hairston, whose bunt proved crucial in the previous day’s victory, did it again, this time thumping a double off the center-field wall, to drive in Jackson with two outs in the eleventh. The game had been tied at four in the fourth innings, on Chris Snyder’s solo home-run, and from there on, both teams shut out the opposing hitters.

You’d have got long odds against that early on, since Snyder’s blast was already the fifth of the game: Arizona had taken back the lead on a three-run shot in the bottom of first from Tracy, his first of the year, after Adam Dunn’s homer had sent the Reds to a 1-0 advantage in the top half. Edgar Gonzalez allowed four runs, including three homers, in seven innings, while Hudson, Jackson and Snyder had two hits each for the home offense.

AZ 2, Reds 3 The winning streak ended at six, though rookie Micah Owings produced another sterling performance on the mound for Arizona. He pitched six innings of shutout ball, and had a 1-0 lead before Valentin’s pinch-hit two-run double gave the Reds an advantage they’d hang on to. Owings allowed seven hits and one walk in 6.1 innings, striking out five. The Reds’ Matt Belisle wobbled early on, putting the first two Diamondbacks on base, but then retired 17 of the next 19 hitters he faced.

Arizona scratched out six hits in total, with Alberto Callaspo getting two of those. Going in to the ninth inning, the Diamondbacks were 3-1 down, but made things interesting after an RBI double from Tracy left the tying run at second base. However, Jackson grounded out to end the game, and leave the Reds very grateful they had scored an insurance run off Medders in the eighth. There was a rare Dustin Nippert sighting in the ninth, our long reliever finishing off his game with a 97-mph fastball to strike our former D-backs catcher, Chad Moeller.

AZ 3, Rockies 6 A day off didn’t work in the home team’s favor, as the Rockies improved their record to 3-1 against Arizona this season. Brandon Webb was again their whipping boy, giving up five earned runs, as on Opening Day, and this time took the loss. He walked four and allowed eight hits in seven innings: a crucial moment came in that seventh, when the umpires blew a double-play call, and that came back to bite us, as a visibly-tiring Webb surrendered a two-run double to Hawpe, which broke a 3-3 tie.

That was heart-breaking, since the momentum was with the Diamondbacks at that point, since they’d levelled things on Byrnes’ two-run homer just the previous inning. He and Stephen Drew were the only players to have any success against Josh Fogg, with two hits each: Drew scored twice, and Byrnes had all three of our RBIs. Things got worse for AZ after the Fogg was lifted: the Rockies bullpen retired all twelve hitters they faced.

News and Notes

Soaring in the past week. Hitting: Orlando Hudson (9-for-23), Stephen Drew (six walks), Chad Tracy and Eric Byrnes (6 RBI each). Pitching: Livan Hernandez (7 IP, 0 ER), Micah Owings (6.1 IP, 2 ER), Doug Slaten (nine batters faced, eight retired).

Falling to earth. Hitting: Chris Young (2-for-12), Conor Jackson (3-for-18), Scott Hairston (4-for-20). Pitching: Brandon Webb (14 IP, 7 BB), Brandon Lyon (2 IP, 4 H, 3 BB)

Injury report. Randy Johnson made two starts, the first for Class-A Visalia, and then again last night, before a packed house down in Tucson. However, he seems to want one more outing before returning to the rotation, which would put him on track for somewhere around April 25. Carlos Quentin (RF) is recovering well, and could be activated from the DL as soon as Monday. CF Chris Young missed the Reds series with a groin problem, but started on Friday and is reporting no ill-effects.

Webb the Cy. His first three outings may have been a mixed bag, but Brandon Webb is still the reigning Cy Young winner. And he’ll be presented with his prize before tonight’s game, as well as a custom Fender guitar. It’s also Brandon Webb bobblehead night, with the first 35,000 fans getting a figure of our ace - clutching his Cy Young, naturally!

The upcoming week. The Diamondbacks play the Rockies tonight and tomorrow afternoon, then welcome Luis Gonzalez and the Dodgers for a quick two-game set Monday and Tuesday. They then travel to San Diego for their first meeting with the Padres, in another two-match series, and end the week facing San Francisco for the first time, over next weekend in the Bay area.