Still playing about with the clippings thing, while waiting for the Grand National to start, after unlocking some of the secrets of the Masons this morning - my parents' anniversary party is taking place at the local Masonic Hall, so we were there setting up, and wondering about that grave-shaped trapdoor in the floor... So if I don't come back from Scotland, start looking there. I've read Dan Brown's novels, I know what goes on...
Meanwhile, Arizona looked pretty damn good last night in all aspects of the game, blowing past the Pirates easily, by a score of 9-1. Here's to more of the same tonight, which would guarantee them hitting my minimum mark of 4-2 for the homestand, and also... Well, find out after the jump!
Game Recaps
- Young's grand slam sinks Pirates "I just tried to act like nobody was on and try to drive the ball in the gap or something like that," said Young. "I tried to keep it simple and it turned into a home run."
- Young's slam, 5 RBIs lead D-backs past Pirates 9-1 - "Just locating my fastball," said Lopez, who lives in the Phoenix area with his family. "That was the key. It’s special being a Diamondback and being at home."
- Arizona Diamondbacks rout Pittsburgh Pirates in series opener - "Lopez received some help from his defense. Three plays stand out: 1) Left fielder Conor Jackson made a diving catch of a drive in the gap by Andy LaRoche in the fourth; 2) center fielder Chris Young lunged forward to take a hit away from Aki Iwamura in the fifth; and 3) shortstop Stephen Drew backhanded a ball in the hole and executed a jumping, spinning throw to second to get a forceout in the sixth."
Other News and Notes
- Reynolds OK after being hit by pitch - "The ball skimmed his hand," D-backs manager A.J. Hinch said. "It scared him more than it hurt him."
- Arizona Diamondbacks' Adam LaRoche unfazed by another slow start - "I'm not going to panic," LaRoche said. "I've been around just long enough to know this is a long season." The same piece also suggests the Diamondbacks have little interest in Jarrod Washburn.
- Unabridged scouts’ takes on the D-Backs - "In the final week of spring training, I spoke to six scouts (three with NL teams, three with AL teams) who were assigned coverage of the Diamondbacks and saw them regularly during the Cactus League. I asked each of them to give me their impressions/thoughts/predictions on four or five players. This is the unabridged version of what they had to say."
- LaRoches have a family weekend - "We’re kinda secretly rooting for each other to get hits, as long as nobody is on base and the other one doesn’t score," Adam said.
- Padres' Young will skip start over shoulder tightness - Now, why couldn't he have done that before blanking us earlier in the week?
- And the uncharted territory thing? If we are victorious tonight, the Diamondbacks would be 4-1 for the first ever time in club history... Nope. Not the 100-win outfit or the World Series team. With Dan Haren on the mound, fingers crossed for a new mark tomorrow.