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Record: 13-4-1. Change on 2015: +2.
If you saw the film of Dredd that came out a couple of years ago, it had a drug, "Slo-mo", that stretched the user's perception of time out a hundredfold. That's what the early going here felt like. It took about two hours for the first four innings, largely because four different Dodgers' pitchers needed 114 pitches to 26 batters in getting through those four frames, allowing nine hits, five walks and eight runs. For comparison, the Diamondbacks had seven contests last year where our staff completed the entire game in fewer pitches. Still, when the speed of a game is largely the result of your offense scoring runs and working deep counts, hard to complain too much.
Good job too, because Zack Godley appeared intent on doing his best Archie Bradley imitation, melting down in the first, albeit to the tune of one fewer run than the five Bradley gave up yesterday. It remained an ugly outing, and rather than seize the chance of performing on a stage while Robbie Ray was working on a back field [and pitching well, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings, albeit against AAA opposition], Godley may well have handed Ray the keys to the fifth starter's locker. Zack did get into the fourth, yet the seven earned runs allowed over 3.1 innings, on seven hits and two walks, with a pair of strikeouts, won't have raised his stock any.
The offense bailed him out, led by a very successful return to the line-up from Yasmany Tomas, who went 3-for-3 in his first game back after his knee issue. Evan Marzilli also had three hits, including a double, and Zack Borenstein reached base three times as well, on a hit and a pair of walks. Chris Owings had two hits, Welington Castillo a double and a walk, driving in three runs, and Jake Lamb drew two bases on balls, which is very good to see. Also pleased to see the first Paul Goldschmidt home-run of spring, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, as shown below.
For the first time this #DbacksSpring, #GoldschmidtHappens! pic.twitter.com/x8wTTUlvOu
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 18, 2016
Decent work by the Diamondbacks bullpen this afternoon, allowing one run over 5.2 innings of work on three hits and a walk. There were scoreless innings from Andrew Chafin, Silvino Bracho and R.J. Hively, with Chafin's likely the pick of the bunch, striking out two of the three Dodgers he faced - been a while since he has been in game action. The other Los Angeles run came in the seventh inning, a solo home-run off Randall Delgado in his second inning of work. Wasn't a particularly crisp game though, the sides combining for five errors; three of those were by the D-backs, from Owings, Castillo and Hively.
Split-squad game tomorrow, with an afternoon contest at Salt River Fields against the Rangers, and then an evening contest over at Peoria, where we take on the Mariners.