SnakeBytes, 9/2: Walk of losses

Recaps

[dbacks.com] Cahill's issues resurface in San Diego - "It was one of those games where I'm just battling myself out there," Cahill said. "It's been frustrating, since I feel like I've been making strides towards limiting the walks and pounding the zone. And then on a day like this where it all kind of crumbles down. Now you're back to square one. It's not fun when you're kind of fighting against yourself more than the other team."

[AZ Central] Padres nip D-Backs to start 4-game series in San Diego - The Diamondbacks made Ross work hard, but they missed out on their best chance to do major damage on the Padres' starter. After the sixth inning began with three consecutive singles — Miguel Montero's single cut the Padres' lead to 3-1 — Ross struck out Jake Lamb, Nolan Reimold and Didi Gregorius to end the inning. "We did a good job of working Ross," Gibson said. "He had a high pitch count, as well. He gave us an opportunity, but we didn't get the big hit."

[FOX Sports Arizona] Cahill struggles, D-backs drop opener in San Diego - "I don't think it was that bad," Gibson said. "When he got ahead, he got in trouble after that because he couldn't put them away. He pitched deep in the counts. I wish I had the answer to help him figure it out. He has too good of stuff to go four innings and throw 100 pitchers." But Gibson does know that six walks are "way too many in four innings. He wiggled out of it the best he could."

[ArizonaSports] Cahill, D-backs' offense struggle in loss to Padres - After walking six Padres hitters Monday, Cahill's walks-per-nine rate increased to a career-high 4.6 on the season. Cahill had twice before Monday walked six hitters in a game, while once walking seven. Cahill's effort Monday left him with an ERA over five once again, as it ballooned to 5.06 after he allowed three earned runs in 4.0 innings pitched. It was 4.98 when he entered Petco Park on Monday.

Team news

[AZ Central] Daniel Hudson makes awaited return, hopes for best - "The worst part about it was you get so close the first time and blow out again and all of a sudden it's another year plus," he said. "That's kind of hard to explain how frustrating that was. Hopefully, if I get in one of these games, it'll be all worth it. I'll be able to just put it behind me and not worry about it again."

[dbacks.com] Hudson rejoins D-backs for first time since '12 - Despite reinjuring the elbow the last time around, Hudson said he has not been fearful of that happening again. "Surprisingly, it was easier than I thought it was going to be," Hudson said. "I thought I was going to have a little bit of -- in the back of my mind -- just doubt on whether or not it would hold up again. Surprisingly, once I got up on the mound and a batter stood in there the adrenaline just kind of took over."

[Reno Gazette-Journal] Aces beat River Cats, move into PCL playoffs - The Aces finished the regular season 81-63, tied for the best mark in the PCL with the Las Vegas 51s. The Aces open the PCL playoffs in Las Vegas against the 51s on Wednesday in the best-of-5 series. Reno's first home playoff game is Friday. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, would be played in Reno on Saturday and Sunday. Reno was last in the playoffs in 2012, when the team won the Triple-A championship. The Aces have made the playoffs in three of the last four seasons.

[OregonLive] Hillsboro Hops win 48th game in regular season finale, best in short-season baseball - "I knew going into it that (Director, Player Development) Mike Bell and the Diamondbacks had given us a good nucleus of players and we had a good extended (spring training), so I was looking forward to seeing those guys playing during the season in Hillsboro," manager J.R. House said. "I felt good about our team and they definitely rose above my expectations and I look forward to, hopefully, a positive playoff run."

And, elsewhere...

In former Diamondback news, as hinted at in yesterday's column, Bo Porter was indeed fired as manager of the Houston Astros. But they said the dismissal had less to do with the team's 59-79 record than the need for "new direction" and a "united message throughout the entire organization." Hang on: doesn't that sound an awful lot like... "organizational advocacy"? Expect nattering nabobs to pummel the... Oh, I forgot: it's only the D-backs who aren't allowed to say that. Please carry on. Also in ex-Dbacks, Chaz Roe is now a Yankee, after they traded for him from the Marlins. Sure, the World Series beckons now!

Why baseball is America's most dangerous spectator sport - Since the mid-19th century, about 120 spectators at baseball games of all kinds have been killed by foul balls, including most recently a 39-year-old mother of two at a San Angelo (Texas) Colts game in 2010 and an East Carolina University fan in 2012.

[Newsweek[ Can Baseball Get More Interesting to Watch With Big Data? Baseball would come to exist in an entirely digital form, which could be manipulated by fans to perhaps create new games. You might be able to tap into a previously played baseball game and create a new game by taking charge of calling the pitches: curve, strike, changeup. Then watch as a real-time, realistic version of the game unfolds as you play. Or maybe you could do that through Google Glass while at a live game: Call a different pitch and see what might have happened.

[CBS Sports] Happy 98th birthday to the fastest baseball game ever played - Actually, it was Saturday, but it's too good to pass up. It was a 31-minute nine-inning game between the Winston-Salem Twins and the Asheville Tourists. It was one of the last games of the 1916 Class D regular season, and the Twins had a three o'clock train to catch out of Asheville. The problem? The game was scheduled to start at 2 o'clock. By mutual agreement, everyone swung at the first pitch, and at one point, a base-runner was thrown out by his own team-mate.