DBacks 1, Rockies 2: Ending It Even

Final Record: 81-81 Change on 2011: -13

The Diamondbacks took the field for the last outing of the season, with really nothing to play for, save for a series win and a shot at ending the season above the .500 mark. Such a complete lack of urgency seemed to infect both team's offenses, and we were treated to a somewhat less than enthralling outing.

Ian Kennedy may have had his struggles during the season, not living up the expectations we had for him, but he looked good on the mound tonight, albeit against the Rockies. He mowed through the Rockies 1-2-3 in the first and second innings, and it was a start more reminiscent of what we saw from him last season.

The Diamondbacks offense didn't start off with much either, though they managed singles in each innings. But we got our first flash of scoring in the fourth, when A.J. Pollock stepped to the plate with one out. He waited out Jeff Francis before getting a 3-1 sinker, which he turned and took over the left field wall. 1-0 Diamondbacks.

The Rockies struck back quickly, though, helped out by some Diamondbacks errors. The inning started with Kennedy hitting Charlie Blackmon with a pitch, and a Jordan Pacheco single gave the Rockies two on. Wilin Rosario hit a ground ball down to third base that looked to be up for an out, but a throwing error from Chris Johnson let Rosario reach, advanced Pacheco to third as Blackmon scored from second to tie the game. IPK struck out the next two batters, but a single by DJ LaMehieu brought Pacheco in score, giving the Rockies a 2-1 lead, with both runs being unearned.

The pitching remained pretty solid. Kennedy gave up two singles in the fifth, but avoided any trouble. Jonathan Herrera reached to start the seventh, but Miguel Montero nailed him trying to steal second base. After Kennedy was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, Hernandez and Putz gave us a bit of worry, letting the Rockies get runners into scoring position, but they kept Colorado from scoring and kept the game close, at least.

Aaaand... The offense couldn't do anything. The DBacks threatened- Parra reached third in the bottom of the fourth, but couldn't score. They had two on with one out in the seventh, but Aaron Hill hit into a double play. They even got Parra to third as the tying run in the bottom of the ninth after he was hit (or brushed?) by a pitch, but he was still standing there as Chris Johnson grounded out for the last play of the Diamondbacks season.

Not the busiest of threads to bid this season adieu, but that's too be expected, given how this season has gone. Around 350 comments, with imstillhungry95 taking first in comments, unsurprisingly, with soco and Jim McLennan in second and third- are those guys new around here? We also heard from blank_38, onedotfive, snakecharmer, Turambar, John Baragona, Clefo, GuruB, Diamondhacks, hotclaws, 4 Corners Fan, kishi, coldblueAZ, txzona, xmet, dbacks79, and SongBird.

So we end the season with an 81-81 record. It seems about appropriate. This team had some awful play, some incredible games, but all in all? About average.

Only 179 days until Opening Day!