Diamondbacks Week in Review 4/23/07
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by user Bobman024
Original article found at: http://azsportshub.com/diamondbacks-week-in-review-2/
The Diamondbacks were 3-4 in the week: things started well, with two victories over the weekend in Colorado, but the Dodgers then swept a two-game series to end the homestand. And though the road-trip began with an extra-innings victory in San Diego, the next two games were both lost, leaving Arizona at 10-8, occupying third-place in the NL West.
AZ 5, Rockies 4 Much like Opening Day, this was a back-and-forth affair, with Colorado blowing two leads, and Arizona coughing up one of their own, before clinging on, after taking the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. We had originally taken the lead in the third, a two-run double by Tony Clark making the score 3-1, but the Rockies’ first baseman, Todd Helton, tie it up with a two-run hit of his own in the fifth, and Brandon Medders allowed a homer to the first batter he saw, leading off the seventh, to give Colorado the edge.
However, Miguel Montero tied the game with a one-out homer in the eighth, and three walks later, Orlando Hudson drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. That made a winner of Brandon Lyon, and though Valverde got the tying run to third, he closed it out. Livan Hernandez delivered another quality start, allowing only two earned runs, but did walk six batters in his six innings of work. Hudson went 3-for-4, while Tracy and Hernandez both added two hits.
AZ 6, Rockies 4 Arizona took the series, with another come-from-behind victory over Colorado. This time, they fell behind early, Doug Davis allowing two runs in the first inning, but struck back immediately, posting a four-spot on the board in the bottom half against former Diamondbacks’ closer, Byung-Hyun Kim. The big blow there was a two-run homer to Clark, following two sacrifice flies which each brough in a run. The Rockies pegged it back to level with single runs in the second and third, but another homer by Clark gave us the lead for good in the fifth.
Davis took the win, but only just: he labored through five innings, giving up nine hits and four walks, hardly a performance worthy of victory. But only four runs resulted, while Clark and our bullpen bailed him out. Nippert and Peña pitched perfect innings in relief, though once more Valverde put the tying run on base before closing things out. Orlando Hudson had another two-hit game for Arizona.
AZ 1, Dodgers 5 The top story here was Luis Gonzalez returning to Chase Field, this time in a Dodger uniform. Though he went 0-for-4 with two striekouts, Los Angeles got the last laugh, using seven strong innings from Brad Penny to handcuff Arizona. Edgar Gonzalez never completely collapsed, but did allow runs in five of the 6.1 innings he pitched, allowing the Dodgers to pull away. Doug Slaten bailed him out with back-to-back K’s in the seventh, and Cruz gave up one walk and no hits in the remaining two innings.
It was an anaemic performance from the Diamondbacks’ bats, managing just six hits. Two of those, both doubles, went to Carlos Quentin in what was his first game of the season, thanks to his slightly-torn labrum. Eric Byrnes also managed a pair of doubles, and stole third for his fifth stolen-base of the season. That led to Arizona’s only run of the game, when Chad Tracy grounded out. Otherwise, our best chance was snuffed out on an ill-advised attempt by Tracy to score from first on Quentin’s double. Who got the outfield assist? Luis Gonzalez, of course…
AZ 4, Dodgers 6 Arizona actually out-hit Los Angeles, 11-9, but couldn’t hold on, despite taking a one-run lead into the fifth inning. Although the Dodgers scored first, and had a 3-1 edge in the middle of the fourth, things looked brighter for the home team after the Diamondbacks scored three times in the bottom half. First, an errant throw by the pitcher allowed Young to motor all the way from first, and then RBIs for pitcher Micah Owings and Hudson completed the scoring, to give Arizona a 4-3 lead.
However, Owings had to be removed from the game after tweaking his hamstring while going from first to third - that RBI was actually his second of the game, coming on a solid single. [Owings is a noted batter, hitting .356 last year in the minors!] This forced manager Bob Melvin once again to turn to the bullpen. They couldn’t produce, Dustin Nippert first blowing the lead, then Peña taking the loss: he plunked one batter, then allowed an RBI triple to Pierre and failed to back up the throw, allowing Pierre to score.
AZ 5, Padres 2 Our first game against the reigning division champions proved the longest of the season to date, lasting twelve innings before the Diamondbacks scored three times. Though, to be honest, it should have ended earlier: Brandon Webb had pitched a gem, and was clinging to a 2-1 lead, but Chris Young clanged one off his glove in center-field and the Padres tied it up. Poor Webb got stuck with a no-decision, despite striking out 13 Padres, a career-high and the best figure ever by a Diamondback, outside of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson.
It looked like we’d blown our chance in the twelfth as a poor bunt led to a double-play, emptying the bases with two outs. But Scott Hairston doubled, and Stephen Drew was walked to get to Byrnes, who made the Padres pay for their insolence, by driving in the go-ahead run. Hudson added some breathing-room with a two-run double, his second hit of the day. Byrnes also had two hits, but overall, this was another struggle at the plate, the Diamondbacks going just 7-for-43 in the game. Peña got the win for a perfect eleventh inning.
AZ 6, Padres 11 Facing Padres’ ace Jake Peavy, the last thing you want to do is find yourself in a 7-0 hole after three frames. But an early implosion from Hernandez put Arizona in exactly that spot: to their credit, they did fight back, getting the tying run to second-base in the sixth inning, after driving Peavy from the game. However, they were unable quite to close the gap, and the bullpen allowed the Padres to pull away again with Medders allowing two home-runs and Nippert walking three in his inning of work.
Hernandez again had problems with control, walking five in five innings - he’s now walked 16 in his four games this season, most of any Diamondbacks pitcher. The Padres also added eight hits, and while Livan has wriggled out of similar trouble before, this time there was no escape and they piled on him for seven runs, all earned. Young broke out of his dreadful start to the season, going 3-for-4, with Byrnes and Tracy also having multihit games.
AZ 2, Giants 4 This game was one every Diamondbacks fan wanted to win, as we were facing Russ Ortiz, who was so fat and ineffective last year, we cut him loose - though still have to pony up the more than $20 million we owed him. Worse yet, he lost weight and regained velocity in the off-season and signed for our divisional foes in San Francisco. So, basically, we’re paying him a lot of money to play for our rivals.
Sadly, it was not to be revenge for Arizona. Things started brightly, Hudson driving in a run in the first, but Davis walked in a run with the bases loaded, and Hudson and Drew collided going for a pop-up, allowing two more runs to score. That was all the offense Ortiz would need, pitching seven innings of two-run ball, though Davis settled down after the first, to give Arizona a quality start. Hudson went 3-for-4, and his .389 average leads the National League; Byrnes had a pair of hits too, small comfort on the most miserable night of the season thus far for Arizona supporters.
News and Notes Soaring : Orlando Hudson (12-for-28, 9 RBI), Eric Byrnes (9-for-28), Brandon Webb (8 IP, 1 ER), Juan Cruz (3 IP, 1 H, 3 K). Falling : Stephen Drew (4-for-27), our catchers (4-for-22 combined, Chris Snyder and Miguel Montero), Livan Hernandez (11 IP, 11 BB, 9 ER).
The upcoming week Arizona has a tough task this weekend, facing Barry Zito and Matt Cain in San Francisco. After an off-day Monday, they return to Chase Field for a three-game set against the Padres, and the Giants are back in Phoenix on Friday for another series.
Injury report Randy Johnson made another rehab start down in Tucson, and pronounced himself ready to go. Tuesday, against the Padres, is the most likely date, though nothing has been confirmed. Micah Owings was placed on the disabled list as a result of the hamstring injury suffered on Tuesday. No announcement has been made who’ll replace him on Sunday, but Yusmeiro Petit or Dana Eveland are the most likely choices.
Roster shuffles Dustin Nippert was optioned down to Tucson, with Eveland coming on to the roster: he’ll be used in long-relief, and as a leftie, will occasionally help out Doug Slaten with situational appearances. Though Nippert has a poor performance Thurday, his dispatch was more the need for a fresh arm in the bullpen, and Mike Schultz was called up too, as a temporary replacement for the roster spot occupied by Micah Owings.
