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Are you the sort of person who watches the first pitch of a baseball game and then say to themselves "Well, that's all I need to see in this game. Time to watch the Sonic the Hedgehog Cartoon on Netflix. Not the serious one, the weird educational one!"? If you are, then this particular game validated your life choices up to this point in your life. Gerardo Parra smashed the first pitch he saw from Marlins starter Tom Koehler into the Right Field bullpen to make it 1-0 Diamondbacks.
Brandon McCarthy was the starter for the Diamondbacks. He had previously pitched eight shutout innings against the Phillies last Sunday, but was pulled in the ninth for Heath Bell and... Well you remember how that went down. He continued where he left off in this start. He got two quick outs to start off the game, but then gave up a "walk" to Derek Dietrich. I put "walk" in quotation marks all clever-like because from my eye and according to gameday, McCarthy threw two pitches that seemed obvious strikes that were not called as such. Marcell Ozuna singled and that brought up Chris Coghlan. He lined a ball that was just out of the reach of Martin Prado at second, but Gerardo Parra exists and was able to gun Dietrich down at the plate.
Replays show that, at the very least, it was a close play and there might have been an argument for Dietrich being called safe, depending on when Miguel Montero's glove got to him. In this recapper's opinion, it wouldn't have been too egregious if called either way, and wasn't the worst umpiring decision of the game.
From that point forward, McCarthy retired the next fourteen batters he faced, and did not give up another baserunner until Adeiny Hechavarria singled in the sixth. He walked Marcell Ozuna to lead off the seventh, but after Coghlan struck out swinging, it looked like Montero had him picked off at first for leaning off the base too much, and he did! However, the umpire, who was part of the crew in the Bo Porter thing from last week, seemed to think that the base is really just an artificial construct in our minds, man, and that we are all really safe if you really think about it. He then asked Paul Goldschmidt if he had any Funyuns. Goldy did not.
That was the last baserunner McCarthy allowed. He went 1-2-3 in the eighth, and in a move makes you think that Gibby is learning, was left out in the ninth and also went 1-2-3 to secure the complete game shutout. Sure, it's the Marlins, but the last three starts for Brandon have been of the "Quality Start" variety, and is a really good sign going forward, especially after his struggles in April, and while pitcher wins are also a meaningless construct created by The Man to keep us down (Funyuns, anyone?) , it was good to see Brandon finally get one.
And the offense that couldn't push across more than one run? Well... Hey look, a bird! *runs*
Brandon McCarthy: Brandon McCarthy, +80.8%
Jenny McCarthy: Martin Prado, -14.0%
COTN goes to MyGirlsDad for this comment after the Ozuna pickoff play:
I'll be glad when the lockout is over
and the replacement umps are gone.
Touchdown, Seahawks!
At the time of writing, the Rockies are up 6-1 on the Giants in the seventh. If that holds, the D'Backs will be alone in first place. That is nice.
Tomorrow morning (10 AM Arizona time!) The D'Backs will go for a sweep with Wade Miley facing off against Rickey Nolasco. Watch it, because I will be!