Diamondbacks 1, Angels 2: Mount .500, Killer of Dreams.

It started off with a major wasted opportunity. Danny Dorn started where he left off when he was demoted and got a one out single to get things going in the first for the Diamondbacks. Goldschmidt reached first and moved Dorn to second on a fielding error by Taylor Featherston, and then David Peralta singled to load the bases with only one out. And then no runs scored. Tomas struck out, and Lamb grounded out to end the inning, stranding all three runners on base.

Jeremy Hellickson started off the game well. His curve ball was sharp, and he put it to good use. Other than allowing a two-out hit to Mike Trout, he got three easy outs in the first to put the Angels away.

Things went a bit better for the Dbacks in the top of the second, though perhaps not as well as it could have. Chris Owings hit the first pitch he saw from Garrett Richards for a single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined out to left for the first out. Up next was Nick Ahmed. During his at bat, Owings advanced on a passed ball and then advanced to third again on another passed ball.The second passed ball was the fourth ball for Ahmed, and so he went to third. Runners on the corners, one out. A. J. Pollock hit a sac fly to score Owings from third, but that was all they managed. That and other wasted opportunities would come back to ahunt them later. 1-0 Dbacks.

After that, both pitchers shut the offense down. Hellickson got 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth innings and only allowed a single in the fifth. Richards walked Paul Goldschmidt to lead off the third, but erased him on a force out at second, and then ended the inning with a double play. The Dbacks got another two on, one out opportunity in the fourth, but squandered it as well, then were sat down in order in the sixth.

In the GDT, it was joked that the Angels lineup was Trout, Pujols, and seven hobos. In the sixth inning, they proved just how accurate that statement is. With two outs, Hellickson walked Trout. Albert Pujols then did what he did best and smashed a fastball over the fence to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.

In the eighth inning, the Angels struck again, but were assisted by a... tight strike zone against Randell Delgado. The home plate umpire was giving out strike calls like they were made of solid gold, and he was a miserly dragon. David Freese took advantage and hit the Angels second two-run home run of the night. That ended up being the final score, Diamondbacks 1, Angels 4.

If my notes are correct, this is the ninth time the Diamondbacks have had the opportunity to reach .500 again, and the ninth time they ended up falling short. While it's probably a coincidence, it is disheartening. Hopefully, next time they have the chance, they make the most of it.

Source: FanGraphs

As of writing, FanGraphs is stuck in the top of the eighth inning. I personally believe that the umpire's bad strike zone was so atrocious it caused the algorithm to gain sentience, and it can't bring itself to assign any fault to Randell Delgado. It is probably also plotting to overthrow corrupt human society and replace it with a socio-economic system we haven't even thought of yet. I, for one, welcome our new FanGraphs overlords,

A busy GDT, with 763 comments on the night, though I'm pretty sure over half of those were either discussing generic politics and some other sports game. I dunno, I guess the game had some significance. AzDbacksFanInDc lead the way with 162 comments, 99 more than second place Xipooo. All present were:

AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, BIGredmc, Clefo, DeadmanG, Diamondhacks, GuruB, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, JoelPre, Makakilo, Robert Merrill, Sprankton, Xerostomia, Xipooo, asteroid, bbtng, circa4, ford.williams.10, freeland1787, gamepass, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, noblevillain, onedotfive, piratedan7, preston.salisbury, shoewizard, xmet, yutzamin

Comment of the day goes to GuruB, for his "breaking" news alert

Breaking Sorta News: AJ Pollock requests trade to Kansas City Royals so he can start the All Star Game :blush:

Reformed Lurker...once I started posting I couldn't stop!

by GuruB on Jun 16, 2015 | 8:05 PM reply unrec (4) actions

Same two teams tomorrow, but this time in Arizona instead of L. A./Anahiem/Orange County/California/Wherever they actually play. 6:40 PM start time. See you then!