SnakeBytes, 8/11: Stuck in the middle by Wheeler's steel

Post-game thoughts

• "I felt pretty good. The few pitches that I would like to have back, but overall I felt that I did a good job of commanding the ball and kind of moving them around."
  -- Brandon McCarthy
• "Wil and I got on sync early, and I thought he did a good job calling the game based on their swings, what they were doing and the adjustments they were making. That makes it easier for me, because I can follow what he's doing. And I think we did a good job of that."
  -- McCarthy
• "He threw the ball good. He has a good arm, we hit a lot of ground balls because he has a lot of life on that fastball. You've heard about him for years, and he pitched a good game against us."
  -- Kirk Gibson on Mets starter Zack Wheeler
• "He's struggled. We're going to get him down in a different environment. He's been doing a lot of work since we haven't pitched him as much. He's been doing a lot of work in the bullpen just working on some things. He went out there today, and the game's just kind of been cruel to him."
  -- Gibson on David Hernandez

Diamondbacks News

• There was a nice moment despite the loss, as Dusty Pepito gave his mother a huge surprise. Dusty had been serving in Afghanistan, but the D-backs arranged to bring him from the airport to Chase Field, where his mother was at the game. Mom Erin found herself on the Jumbotron, with a banner reading, "Hi Mom, I’m home! Where’s Pepito? Love, Dusty." When she turned around, Dusty was right there. All together now: awwwww...
• Three games off for Gerardo Parra, with the team winning all three. Connected? Hard to say. He started on Saturday, Gibson saying he just wanted to give the outfielder a break. "I think everyone gets worn down. Parra played a ton early in the year and he's always on the ground or in the wall or wherever. He plays real hard, he's a max-effort guy and I think he got worn down a little bit. He'll tell you he wasn't tired, but beyond that, he was struggling. His approach wasn't as good at the plate."
• When the going got tough, D-backs catcher Gosewisch got going - A nice look at our backup catcher, including how he got word from manager Billy Butler that he'd made it to the show. "[He] told me that I was going to be playing less, because the Diamondbacks wanted to see the other catcher player four or five days a week. I was hoping he was joking when he told me that, but I didn't really know until he told me that it was because I was getting called up. After that, it was pure joy, I don't how to explain it. I was hugging anyone I could find in the dugout. It was one of the best moments of my life and definitely the best moment of my baseball life."
  
• And he's not just an MVP caliber first-baseman... [via BizJournals.com]
  
  

Around baseball

• Hahaha! Let's all laugh at the Dodgers! With the bases loaded and no outs in yesterday's game, Juan Uribe advanced on a sacrifice fly to third, but failed to keep track of the ball, which had been passed by the Rays from first to short to third baseman Evan Longoria. When Uribe momentarily took his foot off the bag, Longoria tagged his thigh for the old hidden ball, 8-3-6-5 double play. However, Los Angeles still beat Tampa, and is now 6 1/2 games up on Arizona...
• No One At Baseball Game Has Any Idea What Inning It Is, What Score Is, What Teams Playing - Yes, it's The Onion, but if you've been to Chase Field, some of this might be uncomfortably close to the truth, going by the amount of texting I've seen...
• Local league honors AAGPBL by living their history - I know there are a number of vintage baseball players here, so this should be of interest to them: a group re-enacting the All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League. Or, if you prefer, A Vintage League of Their Own...