Diamondbacks 3, White Sox 3: A tie snatched from the jaws of victory

Cactus League record: 5-1-1.

Chase Anderson was the starter this afternoon, and was able to take his expected pitch count of around 50, and convert that into 2.2 shutout innings of work, giving up two hits and a walk, with three strikeouts. After Will Locante tidied up the end of the third inning, Rubby de la Rosa also had a solid outing, working three shutout frames, on a hit and two walks, with a pair of strikeouts, to keep Chicago off the board through the end of the sixth inning.

The Diamondbacks had a 2-0 lead to that point, going ahead in the second when Tuffy Gosewisch singled to left, scoring Brandon Drury. They then doubled that advantage in the fifth. Back-to-back singles by A.J. Pollock and Ender inciarte put men on the corners with one out for Paul Goldschmidt, who brought Pollock home with a sacrifice fly. Pollock ended the day having gone 3-for-3, while Brandon Drury had two of Arizona's nine hits, including the only one for extra-bases, a double.

However, Aaron Blair had a rough seventh. He gave up a double, then seems to have been caught napping on a bunt single, then allowed a sacrifice fly and a home-run: the results would have been worse, but for Mark Thomas nailing a runner trying to steal second. While Blair settled down and put up a zero in his second-frame, the final line of three hits, a walk and two earned runs with one strikeout in two innings was forgettable. Ironically, he was still actually in line to pick up the W, as Arizona retook the lead with a run in the eighth, Nick Evans scoring on an infield single by Danny Worth, off former D-back Zach Duke [We also got to see Brad Penny and Matt Alberts]

Although Enrique Burgos came on for the save opportunity in the ninth, a one-out homer blew that chance. A single followed, and a wild pick-off by Burgos moved the potential winning run to third base, still with only one out. Fortunately, a groundout to Evans at first held the runner, and a fly-out to right ended the inning with no further damage. By mutual consent, it appears, extra innings were waived, and the game was called as a tie after the regulation nine innings.

The Diamondbacks visit the Athletics tomorrow at Phoenix Mu... No, wait: it's Hohokam now, isn't it? Trevor Cahill get the start for Arizona, with the first pitch at 1:05 pm.