As I mentioned in the comments, last night's game was closer than expected, though Lopez still picked up his 14th loss of the year. Can we avoid the sweep this afternoon? The way Colorado has been playing, I'm not too optimistic, but at least the pitching match-up looks a little less unbalanced. Here are the recaps of last night's event, after the jump injury news, humidor thoughts and a new Tweeter joins the fray...
Recaps
- [AZCentral] Diamondbacks can't hold off surging Rockies - Said Lopez, "I pretty much made just one mistake pitch, and that cost me the game. Against a hot team like the Rockies and a hot pitcher like Ubaldo, that's a tough loss to take. That's hard to take, but those guys are doing the little things, and they scored enough runs to win the game."
- [dbacks.com] Lopez's solid start not enough to tame Rox - "It would have been a good game to win for sure," D-backs interim manager Kirk Gibson said. "It was a tight game. Rodrigo threw a great game for us. We got out-executed in the finer points of the game, and they came away with a win."
- [Yahoo!] Rockies stretch winning streak to nine - "You do make your own breaks," Gibson said. "They botched a sign there and the squeeze was on and Herrera had to hit … and they got away with it... They also had Jimenez throwing," Gibson said. "I don’t care who’s in the lineup. You’ve got to play a baseball game."
Team News
- [AZCentral.com] Webb throws again - "Brandon Webb’s fourth session off a mound in the past two weeks was his "best one so far," he said. "I think I could have definitely got some people out today," he said. Webb, who said he threw at least 70 pitches, still has a little ways to go before he can pitch in a game."
- [dbacks.com] Upton starting to swing the bat - "It's starting to feel better," Upton said. "I'm still a little fatigued, because I haven't used it, but there's no pain... I'm hoping on this road trip. We'll see how it goes. I haven't hit on the field. I've been working out in the cage. We'll see how things go." There's also info on Mark Reynolds' thumb.
- [AZCentral.com] Diamondbacks' Triple-A team may use humidor - Reno pitching coach Mike Parrott said, "If it helps the ball not carry so far, that would be great.. It's hard to get pitchers to buy into pitching to contact, because a lot of times they'll make a good pitch and the ball will carry and they'll get burned."
- [minorleaguebaseball.com] BayBears Facing Elimination after Loss to Suns - "With the South Division Championship Series shifting to Hank Aaron Stadium for just one contest, the BayBears were hoping to grab a 2-1 series lead before returning to the Baseball Grounds, but the Jacksonville Suns pulled off a 3-1 win on Saturday night. "
- [latimes.com] Angels' Tony Reagins doesn't brush aside criticism - Interesting take on the Haren trade, described as "especially lopsided" in our favor, saying Arizona "had to fight the urge to burst out laughing when the Angels agreed to throw in reliever Rafael Rodriguez and minor league left-handers Tyler Skaggs and Patrick Corbin, two of the team's top 12 prospects."
- Barry Enright (BarryEnright54) on Twitter - Yep, it's the real deal.
Around Baseball
- [MLB.com] Padres win on strike-em-out, throw-em-out - After Friday's 1-0 Giants win, the Padres returned the favor with a 1-0 victory at Petco on Saturday. "According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Padres ended a game with a strike-em-out, throw-em-out play was on Sept. 10, 1970."
- [McCovey Chronicles] Padres out-Padre the Giants - In that game, Grant was not happy with the strike-zone, and it seems, with good reason, since it appears to have been a random, shape-shifting amorphous blob. But enough of umpire Jerry Crawford...
- [MLB.com] Padres exhibit patience as fans come around - But, until this series, the Padres have largely been ignored. "Moorad inherited a team with a base of full-season ticket equivalents that deteriorated from 15,000 to a low of 8,700. It's about 9,200 now, he said." I'm sure some people will find a way their attendance woes are actually the fault of Ken Kendrick and Derrick Hall...
- [SI.com] Cincinnati Reds salute Pete Rose on anniversary of No. 4,192 - "The banished hits king made a rare on-field appearance Saturday while the Reds commemorated the 25th anniversary of his record-setting hit No. 4,192 at Cinergy Field." Bud Selig was not in attendance...
-
[ESPN] Royals torch Edwin Jackson, White Sox - Jackson allowed 13 hits, only the sixth pitcher in the majors since the end of 2008 to allow as many in five innings or less. Max Scherzer also lost for the Tigers on Saturday.
- [ESPN] Mariano Rivera hits Jeff Francoeur to let in winner as Rangers down Yankees - "New York had been a majors-best 76-0 when leading after eight innings. Rivera had never lost on a game-ending hit batter, according to STATS LLC." I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Hahahaha!"