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This Day In Diamondbacks History: September 28

The greatest hitting pitcher in team history was born, we clinched a post-season spot and Randy Johnson made his last start for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

By Jim McLennan
Jared Wickerham - Getty Images

Record: 8-3 - Home: 5-2 - Road: 3-1

  • 1982: Micah Owings born. When Micah made his debut in 2007, we did have some idea of what to expect from his bat - Owings had hit .371 in the minors (23 for 62). But still... In his three years with the D-backs, before and after being trade to the Reds, Owings was worth 1.3 bWAR on the mound, and 2.1 bWAR at the plate. He had an .827 OPS in his time with Arizona, which puts him above Mark Reynolds and three points below Justin Upton. All told, Owings has had 3.2 bWAR with the bat to date. That's the most of any NL player with less than 390 PAs. Ever.
  • 2007: The D-backs clinched their fourth postseason berth with two games to spare, beating the Rockies 4-2, to clinch at least the NL wild-card. Stephen Drew had three hits for Arizona, and Mark Reynolds a pair, while Conor Jackson picked up his 15th home-run of the season. On the mound, Brandon Webb picked up his 18th win of the season, allowing two runs over seven innings, on eight hits and two walks, with a pair of strikeouts. Jose Valverde earned his Major-League-leading 47th save after striking out the side in the ninth.
  • 2008: The last game of the season proved also to be Randy Johnson final game as a D-back, and he threw a complete-game, getting the win in a 2-1 victory over the Rockies at Chase Field. It looked like there wouldn't be a happy ending, as Colorado were 1-0 up in the bottom of the eighth, Mark Reynolds' 35th error of the year leading to an unearned run for the visitors in the first. But Chris Young homered to tie things up in the eighth, and followed that up with a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the ninth. Johnson allowed only two hits and a walk, in his 38th complete game for us.
  • 2011. Arizona concluded their regular season campaign, losing 7-5 to Los Angeles at Chase Field. Joe Saunders took the L, working six innings and giving up five runs on nine hits, with no walks and two strikeouts. The Diamondbacks couldn't solve Ted Lilly, who threw seven shutout innings, but after going into the bottom of the ninth seven runs down, they certainly made things interesting. A night after overcoming a five-run deficit when down to their last out, they got another ninth-inning grand-slam, by Cole Gillespie, followed by a Henry Blanco homer. However, this time, the Dodgers escaped.

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