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Diamondbacks 1, Rockies 6: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

By Dan Strittmatter
A.J. Pollock: MLB center fielder, or guy who looks like he's trying to escape from taser-armed security staff after running onto the field?
A.J. Pollock: MLB center fielder, or guy who looks like he's trying to escape from taser-armed security staff after running onto the field?

Record: 16-22. Pace: 68-94. Change on last season: 0

Jamie Moyer became the oldest starting pitcher to win a game in baseball history, for the second time this season, as his wily left-handed off-speed stuff succeeded in keeping the D-backs monumentally off balance. All we mustered off Moyer was a Cody Ransom RBI double, and with the aid of some spectacularly inept defense - how does the pitcher managed to drive in two runs with an infield squibber? - Patrick Corbin succumbed to defeat. Dan will be along with the recap in a bit, but just stare at the box-score in the meantime. Try to avoid sobbing gently.

Thanks, Jim. I'm (Dan) here. Hey, Jim said to avoid the sobbing.

Final - 5.16.2012 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Arizona Diamondbacks 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0
Colorado Rockies 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 X 6 9 1
WP: Jamie Moyer (2 - 3)
LP: Patrick Corbin (2 - 2)

Complete Coverage >

Back in 2009, Jamie Moyer faced the Arizona Diamondbacks twice in the span of a month, taking the hill against the D-backs on July 27, 2009 at Chase Field and on August 18, 2009 at Citizens Bank Park. In the first of those two outings, Moyer started the contest and threw 6.2 scoreless innings, striking out five with four walks and six hits allowed. In the second of those two outings, Moyer came on in relief of Pedro Martinez and worked six dominant innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five with zero walks. Many things have changed since Moyer squared off against Arizona in those two contests. Here are a few notable differences:

- Arizona was managed by A.J. Hinch for those contests, and under the watch of GM Josh Byrnes. Now, they have Kirk Gibson on the top step of the dugout and Kevin Towers watching from the GM's booth.

- Moyer still had his original Ulnar Collateral Ligament.

- While Justin Upton, Ryan Roberts, Gerardo Parra, Chris Young, Miguel Montero, and Stephen Drew remain with the D-backs from those 2009 clubs, here is a list of position players who no longer remain with Arizona, yet faced off against Moyer in Sedona Red: Mark Reynolds, Josh Whitesell, Augie Ojeda, Chad Tracy, Chris Snyder, Rusty Ryal, and Alex Romero. Not exactly a crowd of players we'd like to see make a comeback anytime soon (perhaps except for Ojeda, as I imagine that April would be delighted by a comeback from the infielder).

- Arizona was fortunate enough to have the much-adored Jon Garland start both of those contests, with Garland combining to allow 11 runs (8 earned) in 11.1 innings of "work" in those starts. Relievers to appear for Arizona in those games: Daniel Schlereth, Leo Rosales, Jon Rauch, Esmerling Vasquez, and Clay Zavada. None remain with the organization, but again, not exactly a list of superstars.

- Moyer wasn't in the record books for the oldest player to ever start an MLB game, although "Jamie Moyer is old" jokes were very much in circulation.

Unfortunately for us, though, Moyer's ability to shut down the D-backs offense, regardless of which players happened to comprise it, remains untarnished with time (and the new UCL). This recap can basically be summarized by Moyer's final pitching line: 6.1 innings, 6 hits, 1 run (1 earned run), 5 strikeouts, and 2 walks. The only damage done by Arizona off of Moyer was in the top of the seventh with Ransom's double, at which point Arizona had already dug itself a six-run deficit, which it was unable to overcome.

Speaking of which, it was a rough start for left-hander Patrick Corbin. Yes, Corbin received a couple of poor twists of luck, particularly on the fourth-inning two-run infield single from Moyer on which - according to the radio crew - Paul Goldschmidt managed to tag out Moyer on the play but was not given credit for it from the first base umpire. (Somewhere, Brett Lawrie was watching that play and commiserating with Corbin, probably before going off on a tantrum about the latest sparkly vampire movie or whatever it is that people who act like 12-year-olds do. Sorry, couldn't resist this joke.)

That said, Corbin did plenty of self-destruction, giving up nine hits and two walks on the night, including a double and a pair of triples. He first got into trouble in the second, with a lead-off walk to Troy Tulowitzki and a one-out walk to Wilin Rosario putting runners on first and second for Jordan Pacheco. Pacheco delivered with a single to left, scoring Tulowitzki. The next hitter, Dexter Fowler - one of my personal top choices for most underrated player in the game - delivered the first major blow to Corbin on the night, crushing a triple over center fielder A.J. Pollock to plate both Rosario and Pacheco.

Corbin at first seemed to settle down at that point, with a scoreless third inning and two quick outs in the fourth. However, the Rockies started a two-out rally, beginning with a Pacheco single and quickly followed by a double from Fowler to put runners on second and third, but bringing Moyer to the dish. Moyer dribbled a soft grounder towards first base, which Paul Goldschmidt fielded and could have easily flipped to Corbin, who was covering first, to end the inning. It would have been a close play with Moyer running hard, but... well, Moyer is 49, and "running hard" is a relative term.

Instead, Goldy opted to try to make the play himself, attempting to make a diving tag on Moyer and giving the first base umpire an extremely close call to make. While the slow-mo replay apparently seemed to indicate that Goldschmidt got the tag down on Moyer, it's hard to blast the first-base umpire for missing the call, especially when Goldschmidt had an option readily available that would have made the umpire's job a lot easier. Pacheco scored easily, and Fowler was hustling around from second on the play, so the infield dribbler from Moyer became a two-RBI single.

The Colorado scoring would finish in the fifth, with Tyler Colvin leading off the inning with a triple and scoring on Carlos Gonzalez's single. The outing raised Corbin's ERA to an unsightly 5.73 across four starts, with one great outing (7 IP, 1 ER vs. SF), one acceptable outing (5.2 IP, 3 ER vs. MIA), and two poor outings (3.1 IP, 4 ER vs. NYM, & vs. COL). Does Arizona consider making a personnel move and replacing Corbin in the rotation prior to the return of Daniel Hudson, or do they give Pat until Huddy's return to make a name for himself? It's certainly yet another interesting wrinkle in the metaphorical prune of this year's D-backs season.

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Did Good: Aaron Hill (+6.6%)
Didn't Do Good: Patrick Corbin (-22.3%)
Also Didn't Do Good: Jason Kubel (-13.0%), Henry Blanco (-9.0%)

Arizona looks to even up the series at one game apiece tomorrow, turning to right-hander Trevor Cahill, who is as good a bet as any to manage Coors Field's confines effectively. Early game, with a 12:10 p.m. start, so set your alarms good and early.

imstillhungry95 ruled in the GDT, with Rockkstarr12 and Clefo providing support. Also present: dbacks79, snakecharmer, rfffr, Jim McLennan, asteroid, BattleMoses, Augdogs, Ridster09, AzDbackfanInDc, hotclaws, Bryn21, JoeCB1991, blank_38, shoewizard, GuruB, blue bulldog, luckycc, duckthenchuck, piratedan7, Joel Preston, Backin'the'Backs, Dallas D'Back Fan and Marc Fournier. Only one green comment, and it's kinda fitting:

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