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Cactus league record: 6-5-1.
Remember when we swept the Giants last Sunday, and had the best record in the Cactus League? Ah, happy days. This week hasn't been as kind to the Diamondbacks: since then, we've had just one win in six attempts, and that came courtesy of eighth-inning unearned runs against the Angels. This afternoon at Salt River Fields, the game was mostly a great deal closer than the score would indicate. We went into the ninth behind by one, before Willy Paredes retired two of eight batters faced, with the other six coming around to score. On the other hand, a 5-4 result would probably have flattered Arizona.
Rubby de la Rosa extended his scoreless streak this spring to six innings, with a perfect first. If only he had stopped there. Unfortunately, the second inning included four walks and a hit batter, though thanks to a runner being thrown out trying to steal (before the Mariners realized they could just wait. to advance 90 feet), these five free passes only led to one run for Seattle. de la Rosa gave up three hits and two more runs in the third, to end the day with three innings of work, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Not quite the securing of his place for which I hoped in the preview.
Thereafter, Matt Reynolds made his second appearance of spring, and faced the minimum with the help of a double play. Justin Marks fanned four over three innings, but also gave up three hits and two walks, leading to a pair of earned runs. Jake Barrett worked a perfect eighth, with a strikeout, before Parades' blew the doors off this one, with Gabriel Arias then taking three attempts to record the final out. All told, definitely not a great days work from the pitching staff, with more walks than strikeouts, 8:7.
The Arizona offense musted eight hits and three walks, Jake Lamb reaching base safely three times, on a single and a pair of walks. Ender Inciarte and Danny Worth each had doubles, the Diamondbacks doing all their scoring in the fifth and eighth innings, bringing a pair home in each. Inciarte, Worth, Peter O'Brien and Nick Buss had the RBI for us. Here's to better in the nightcap game, which see the Giants take on Chase Anderson and the D-backs, with the first pitch at 7:10pm.