Snake Bytes

Snake Bytes, 8/4: Things That Could Have Been

Patrick Corbin and Jake Peavy engaged in a pitching duel on Saturday night. After spectacular performances by both starting pitchers, the game fell to pieces for Arizona in the eighth. An error in judgement by Matt Williams, and another poor outing by David Hernandez, turned what should have been at least a tie game in the ninth into a 5-2 loss.

By James Attwood@JamesDAttwood Aug 4, 2013, 9:58am EDT

Quick Quotes

"He threw the ball well and used all his pitches well. He has a good assortment of pitches and used them in any count. He made the pitches when he had to. We had some pressure on him occasionally, but he's a very good pitcher. That's why they got him. You've got to tip your hat."

Kirk Gibson

"You know, we're aggressive," Gibson said of third-base coach Matt Williams' decision. "He made a read. He's the guy on the baseline. He's well prepared for it. It was his read. I make mistakes. Matty makes mistakes. Players make mistakes. We stand behind each other. It's part of the game. Everything doesn't work out the way you want it to sometimes."

Kirk Gibson

"I saw Jonny going to his left, and I thought we had a chance there," Williams said. "Clearly overaggressive on my part. If had it to do over again, I'd probably hold him there and let Goldy hit. Clearly a mistake on my part."

Matt Williams

Daily Diamondback Digest

Corbin Edged by Peavy in Pitchers' Duel / Peavy Makes Memorable Debut in Boston

After a 7-6 slugfest on Friday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox sent locked up for a duel of stellar pitching performances. Arizona sent LHP Patrick Corbin to the mound while Boston countered with newly acquired Jake Peavy. The Diamondbacks struck first with a solo-shot from Paul Goldschmidt, who one night after beating the Green Monster, showed off his opposite field power by hitting one to the triangle out in right-center field. Shane Victorino tied things up for Boston on a home run that just barely cleared the wall in left. In the seventh, the Red Sox chased Corbin and took a 3-1 lead. The Diamondbacks responded in the eighth by loading the bases with nobody out with slugging second baseman Aaron Hill coming up. Hill singled to left to score one, when Matt Williams decided to wave Pennington home from second. A good cut-off of Hill's hit by Jonny Gomes and a routine throw home cut down the tying run by a wide margin. Down 3-2 the Diamondbacks turned to David Hernandez in the bottom of the eighth. Hernandez's season woes continued as he only managed to record one out before issuing a walk to Napoli and surrendering a home run to Jarrod Slatalamaccia. The 5-2 loss, coupled with the Dogers' win in Chicago has dropped the Diamondbacks 4.5 games out of first. Brandon McCarthy will make his return from the DL today to try and salvage the series in the rubber game. He will be opposed by Felix Doubront.

McCarthy Returns

It's been a long time since Brandon McCarthy toed the rubber for the Arizona Diamondbacks and he's being thrown right into the fire. McCarthy will be pitching the rubber game in Boston against one of the better teams in baseball this season.

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