While the pitching was very good tonight, Tyler Skaggs and Ian Kennedy each throwing three shutout innings, the first run allowed by Brad Ziegler this year proved crucial. The D-backs managed only four hits, and were blanked by Mexico at Salt River.
Arizona fell behind early, after Brandon McCarthy allowed a home-run to the second batter of the game. However, things got a lot better for our starter from there, and for the Diamondbacks in general.
Wade Miley's spring debut wasn't exactly the one for which he hope, as he allowed three runs in his two innings of work this afternoon at Salt River Fields, against the Texas Rangers.
Trevor Cahill's first outing wasn't so great, but the rest of the Diamondbacks pitching was. Meanwhile their pitchers were the very definition of "ineffectively wild", with a K:BB ratio of 3:8, and Arizona took full advantage.
Who the heck is Conrad Flynn? He was the man brought in by the Diamondbacks to pitch the ninth inning and protect a flimsy one-run lead against the Reds in Goodyear this afternoon. Can he save it? Yes, he can!
Arizona avoided defeat in both contests this afternoon, beating the A's at Salt River Fields, and playing to a tie against the Angels in Tempe. They evened their spring record at 2-2, with one game tied.
They say, if you want to win, you have to avoid letting your opponents put up a crooked number. This afternoon in Surprise, the Diamondbacks did that, mostly be letting the Royals plow through crooked numbers and on back to the straight ones.
Freezing winds ripped across Salt River Fields this afternoon - I suspect the sun-block dispensers didn't see much action. But the chilling effect didn't extend to the D-backs, who played much better than Saturday, and picked up their first win.
Sloppy defense. Bad base-running. Seven runs and ten hits allowed in the first four innings: eighteen hits overall. Now, keep telling yourself: "It's only spring training... It's only spring training..."
The last of the "big three" projection systems is now out, with Dan Szymborski's ZIPS, which has moved from Baseball Think Factory over to Fangraphs. Here are edited highlights of the D-backs numbers.
