For three straight games, the Milwaukee Brewers took an early lead. For three straight games, the Diamondbacks have come back for a win. It's not the most clean pattern, but it works. The leads in this series have changed so much, you'd think they were the frontpage layout on the Snakepit! /rimshot.
This game featured Randall Delgado on the mound for the Diamondbacks, looking to continue a string of quality starts.
The initial rending of garments started in the 2nd inning, when Milwaukee pitcher Kyle Lohse hit a seeing-eye single up the middle to score Logan Schafer to make it 1-0 Brewers. There was some consternation from the booth as to whether Didi Gregorius should have attempted to dive for that ball. Didi would be heard from later on such matters. (Such subtle foreshadowing.)
Lohse, to our dismay, was dealing to begin the game. He was perfect through 4.2 innings, getting a lot of weak contact and a few strikeouts and generally making the Diamondbacks look silly. Miguel Montero was not having it, however. After trolling Dodger fans and beat writers a few days ago, he decided to end the perfect game emphatically by crushing a solo shot to right field to tie the game at 1 apiece. The inning ended with that score, but you felt good about the chances of the Diamondbacks if Delgado could get a clean inning in after that.
...Yeah, about that. Delgado gave up a leadoff single to Jean Segura to start off the 6th. Jonathan Lucroy, quite rudely, hit a home run following that to make it 3-1 Brewers. A Carlos Gomez walk and a Juan Francisco single made the inning look quite perilous. However, as luck would have it, Rickie Weeks (BOO WE WANT UPTON), grounded into a double play. It got Gomez to third, but there were two outs and as long as nobody made any big mistakes, the D'Backs would leave the inning down by only two.
...Welp, Miguel Montero also had other ideas, clanking a pitch from Delgado off of his glove and allowing Gomez to score to make it 4-1. You would be forgiven for not feeling too hot about the home team's chances at this moment in time. However, Didi Gregorius got the second hit for the Diamondbacks to lead-off the bottom of the 6th. Like the first hit, it was a solo home run. That cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Diamondbacks got their third hit in the bottom of the 7th. It was also like the first two hits. This time, it was the recently struggling Jason Kubel with the shot. Cody Ross followed with a single, breaking up this nice, orderly pattern we had going. I thought friendship meant something, Cody.
Montero drew a walk after that, and that ended Lohse's night. In came Hot Trade CandidateTMJohn Axford. He really made a case for staying in Milwaukee. (Which I don't blame him, I visited once, it's a nice city.) He walked Martin Prado on four pitches. He then got to a three-ball count against Didi Gregorius, and with his family in attendance, Didi got his shot and got one through the right side of the infield to score Ross and tie the game.
Eric Chavez came up to pinch-hit and drew a walk from Axford and the Diamondbacks took a 5-4 lead. Axford was, mercifully, lifted from the game. His replacement, Donovan Hand, did not allow Arizona to score another run that inning, but the damage was done.
Also mercifully, the bullpen decided to exude competence tonight, and I include Heath Bell in that statement. Him, Will Harris, Tony Sipp, and Brad Ziegler, who got his second save of the series, put up zeroes in relief of Delgado and shut the door on Milwaukee. (Since it was Native American Recognition Day at the ballpark, let us remember Alice Cooper telling us that Milwaukee is Algonquin for "The Good Land")
Didi's victory hat pic.twitter.com/xLQdbvW3pU
— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) July 14, 2013
Cochise: Montero, +22.7%
Dan Snyder: Delgado, -17.6%