Diamondbacks 0, Giants 2: A Quiet Night Out

Record: 1-4. Pace: 32-130. Change on 2013: -3

Well, if you want the good things to take away from this game, let me sum it up. No, there's not nearly enough to sum up, let me explain: Paul Goldschmidt continued his hitting streak. Gerardo Parra had two hits. The pitching was pretty effective.

So. that's the good part, we can just move on from here and get ready for-

Oh, what's that? A telegram? For me? Pardon me a moment folks.

Insert Intermission Music Here

Okay, apparently I've got to give you a real rundown of what happened. It's not my first choice, because I could give you a description of the brownies I'm going to make after writing this, and it'd be more entertaining, but apparently Jim continues to resist my plans to turn this entire thing into a food blog. I mean, if you watched the game and all the DBacks Dog coverage tonight, you know it wouldn't be out of line. But anyway, on to the game.

From a pitching standpoint, it wasn't a bad game for the Diamondbacks. Cahill had some of his customary walks, but he didn't run into too much trouble early on. A walk and a two out single in the first were the biggest threat the Giants mounted in the first few innings, Cahill seemed to settle in as things went along, going through the Giants lineup 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings.

The problem was that the Diamondbacks bats weren't do anything of use in that time. Through the first three innings, Tim Hudson hardly seemed to be straining as he ran through the lineup in order. But as we entered the bottom of the fourth, a bit of hope! A lead off single from Gerardo Parra was followed by a wild pitch, giving the DIamondbacks a runner in scoring position with nobody out. A chance for a run! No, wait, no. Aaron Hill grounded out to third, keeping Parra from advancing. Then Paul Goldschmidt swung at an ugly pitch to strike out, and Martin Prado hit a line drive to center that nearly dropped, but was caught by Angel Pagan in a play I don't think I've seen since I last watched Angels in the Outfield. Disappointing.

And then things started going poorly for us.

The problem in the fifth inning was simple- walking the #8 batter. With one out, Cahill walked Ehire Adrianzana to bring up Hudson. Hudson put down a sac bunt, and a single from Pagan (that guy again?) brought in the run to give San Francisco a lead. After another 1-2-3 inning from Hudson, the Giants continued the trickle of offense. Buster Posey put up a one out single, and after Cahill got Hunter Pence to ground into a fielder's choice, Michael Morse hit a sharp line drive to center. Tony Campana took a bad read on it, and the ball skipped off his glove to give Morse an RBI double and the Giants a 2-0 lead.

After that, it all seemed done but the shouting. Cahill was finished after the sixth, pinch hit for by A.J. Pollock. Pollock didn't do anything useful, though Parra did get his second hit of the game with a two out double. He didn't go any further than second, which is the same thing that happened in the bottom of the seventh, when Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak with a single to lead off. All three of our base runners made it to second this game, two of them with nobody out, but none of them moved further than that.

The bullpen did their best- Joe Thatcher pitched 1.1 innings, allowing a single and a stolen base, J.J. Putz took out the two batters he faced, and Ryan Rowling-Smith... Well, he gave up a single, a wild pitch, and a walk, but he struck out Angel Pagan to end the ninth. But it didn't matter in the slightest, because Goldschmidt in the fifth was the last base running Arizona would get. Hudson pitched into the eighth before getting pulled for Javier Lopez with two outs, and Sergio Romo went 1-2-3 in the ninth for the save.

That was just dispiriting.

An active thread, with TolkienBard leading the charge, asteroid taking second from inside the park, and Clefo and DbacksSkins tying for third from Tucson. Also stopping by were GODSCHMIDT, George Adams, GuruB, Jim McLennan, Majabe, SenSurround, Tbarks6, Zavada's Moustache, azcougs, azshadowwalker, benhat, hotclaws, kishi, luckycc, oldspartan, onedotfive, piratedan7, rd33, soco, and xmet.

So we fall to 1-4, and to last place in the division, by virtue of the Rockies taking a win over the Marlins. An afternoon game tomorrow has Bronson Arroyo taking the mound for Arizona and Tim Lincecum pitching for San Francisco. Let's hope for Goldschmidt happening and a split series.