Diamondbacks Week in Review 5/7/07
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by user Bobman024
Original post: http://azsportshub.com/diamondbacks-week-in-review-4/
The Diamondbacks continued their streakiness in the past week. While they were 3-4 in the week once again, they started by running their win streak to six with a trifecta of victories, but then slumped to drop the final four, losing two games each on the road in Los Angeles, and then coming back to Phoenix to drop the first two of a four-game set against the New York Mets. That’s now 12 in a row Arizona has lost to the Mets here in Phoenix. The week leaves the Diamondbacks in fourth-place in the NL West, two games back of the Dodgers.
AZ 5, Giants 4 It was Orlando Hudson Bobblehead Day at Chase, but it was Scott Hairston who stole the show, his three-run homer in the seventh wiping out a 4-2 deficit, and allowing Arizona to take their fourth game in a row. That victory looked very unlikely early on, as the Giants took an early lead on a two-run homer by Bonds in the first inning, and had extended it to 4-0 by the fourth, Pedro Feliz clubbing another long-ball.
Arizona, meanwhile, was being totally handcuffed by Matt Cain, and managed only one hit through the first six innings. When Cain was taken out, however, things got better for the offense: Montero drove in our second run with an RBI in the seventh, and Hairston greeted new pitcher Jack Taschner by blasting the first pitch he saw into the left-field bleachers. Naturally, our bullpen put the tying run on base in both the eighth and ninth, with Jose Valverde dodging a couple of bullets from Ray Durham (one foul, the other a very deep out), but the Diamondbacks held on.
AZ 5, Giants 4 Different day, same score, as the Diamondbacks stretched their win streak to five. Randy Johnson had his best outing of the season, allowing only two earned runs in six innings of work, with Ray Durham’s homer the only major mistake. He still didn’t get the win: he left with the score tied at three, Arizona having taken a 3-1 lead on back to back RBI singles by Hudson and Chad Tracy, only for the Giants to claw their way back into the game.
Hudson had the key blow in the seventh, after Matt Morris had loaded the bases with one out. He doubled into the gap in left, bringing home Miguel Montero and Chris Young, to give the Diamondbacks a 5-3 lead with six outs to get. Again, our relief corps made it interesting: Tony Peña made it a one-run game in the eighth, and Brandon Lyon was brought in for the ninth, Valverde having pitched three days in a row. He loaded the bases with one out, but coaxed pop-ups from Vizquel and Aurilia, notching his first save since September 29, 2005.
AZ 9, Dodgers 1 The Diamondbacks took over top spot in the National League West with this victory, which featured a season-high 17 hits, and seven innings of four-hit ball from Brandon Webb. Young and Hudson each went 3-for-5, while Carlos Quentin reached base safely five times, on two hits and three walks. Eric Byrnes, Tony Clark and Chris Snyder all also had two knocks apiece, as Arizona blew apart a 1-0 game with three in the fifth and two more in the sixth, then cruised home from there on out.
Webb, meanwhile, was in Cy Young form, with the Dodgers managing only four hits against him. That brought his season ERA down to 3.21, and judging by the past couple of starts, he’s now pitching like the ace we hoped. He even added an RBI, with a bloop single that bounced out of the glove of Pierre in center-field. Dana Eveland made a rare start out of the bullpen, and pitched a scoreless eighth, but it wasn’t enough to save his job and he was sent down to Tucson soon afterwards.
AZ 1, Dodgers 2 Arizona’s stay in first-place was short-lived, the offense unable to back up another gem from Livan Hernandez. Though, being honest, the “gem” was more of the escapology genre than baseball-related: he walked six and also allowed six hits in six innings, but the only run he allowed came on a bases-loaded walk to Furcal in the second. Meanwhile, former Diamondback Brad Penny [he was traded in the deal for Matt Mantei] was better yet, the Arizona bats managing only three singles until the eighth inning.
There, Byrnes tripled with one out, and came home on Hudson’s single, which tied the game. Peña posted a zero in the bottom half of the inning, but we were retired 1-2-3 in the ninth, and the Dodgers pushed across the winning run on a two-out single by Saenz off Brandon Lyon. Byrnes had two hits and a walk for Arizona, including the only hit for extra bases. Chad Tracy was pulled from the game in the third inning, after an injury flared up and left him unable to continue.
AZ 1, Dodgers 2 Different day, same score, at the risk of repeating myself. This time, the unlucky recipient of another dormant offensive perormance was Doug Davis, who gave up only an unearned run in seven innings. He matched zeroes with Hendrickson until the bottom of the sixth, when Young got a dreadful jump on a ball hit by Furcal and it bounced off the heel of his glove - the hitter came round to score, giving LA the lead. Davis gave up five hits and three walks in seven innings, striking out seven.
The Dodgers tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, when Slaten allowed a runner inherited from Medders to score, before he could get the third out. That proved crucial, as the Diamondbacks finally got in the board on the ninth, Byrnes driving in Jackson. However, both Quentin and Drew struck out to end the game as, for the second straight day, Arizona was limited to just five hits. Perhaps worse still, the team managed only two walks, while fanning a total of twelve times.
AZ 4, Mets 9 It looked like Arizona would finally stop the Mets win streak against the Diamondbacks, dating back to May 2004, when we took a lead into the ninth. But in an abysmal meltdown, six consecutive New York hitters didn’t just reach base with one out, but they scored as well, on three-run homers off Valverde and Dustin Nippert. An error by defensive replacement Clark and some questionable calls at home seemed to throw Valverde, who saw his ERA balloon from 1.64 to 4.76 in about 25 minutes.
That was the Diamondbacks’ third blown lead of the game. An RBI single from Drew made it 1-0 in the second, and a Snyder two-run HR retook the lead in the fifth. Hudson also went deep, in the bottom of the sixth, to give us the 4-3 lead, after Alou had tied the game up in the top half of the inning. The game marked the return to the rotation of Micah Owings after his hamstring injury, with Edgar Gonzalez moving to the bullpen. Owings produced a quality start, three earned runs in six innings of work, and deserved better than a no-decision. Drew had three hits for Arizona.
AZ 3, Mets 5 Randy Johnson pitched again for AZ, but remained winless since coming back to the desert, as the Mets scored five runs in his seven innings of work. The big hit was probably a two-run splashdown homer into the pool, to the 48-year old Julio Franco - he also stole a base in the ninth, making him the oldest man to do either feat in the history of the game. That gave New York a three-run lead in the second, and Arizona never got closer than two during the remainder of the game.
Hudson and Conor Jackson had two hit games, with the former hitting his fourth homer of the year - curiously all of them have been to the opposite-field for our switch-hitter. The latest was a little lucky, aided by an umpire’s call when the ball actually hit the left-fielder’s glove, rather than leaving the park. Arizona did bring the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth, after Drew walked, but Quentin struck out and pinch-hitter Scott Hairston grounded into a double-play to extend the Mets domination here in Phoenix.
News and Notes Soaring : Hudson (11-for-28, 8 RBI); Drew (7-for-22); Davis (7 IP, 0 ER); Webb (7 IP, 1 ER). Falling : Alberto Callaspo (1-for-14); Clark (3-for-16); Young (6-for-29); Valverde (1.1 IP, 4 ER).
The upcoming week The D-backs will try to break the Mets streak again tonight and tomorrow afternoon. They then welcome the Phillies on Monday for three games. After an off-day Thursday, Arizona will travel to Houston to face the Astros next weekend.
Injury Report Conor Jackson missed a couple of games, needing stitches in a finger after sliding head-first into home-plate. Chad Tracy is still sidelined with a sore shoulder muscle; they’re hoping to avoid a DL stint, but he likely won’t see any action this weekend. Micah Owings returned, as noted, on Thursday, but Juan Cruz is still out. He should leave for a minor league rehab stint early next week. Jeff DaVanon may also go on one soon, though will likely DH for a bit until his throwing arm is 100%.
The Quiet Confines Don’t be surprised if there’s an unwelcome record set on Tuesday. That’s because the Suns play Game 2 of their series against San Antonio next door at US Airways Center the same night. The last time a weekday home game clashed with a Suns playoff contest was April 26th, and the result was a crowd of only 16,792. That set a franchise-low mark for attendance, but Tuesday against the Phillies could challenge it again.
