Diamondbacks 9, Reds 3: The Early Show

Record: 16-4-1. Change on 2015: +4.

• Runs scored during the first five outs at Goodyear Ballpark = 9
• Runs scored during the next 49 outs at Goodyear Ballpark = 3

Yeah, the vast majority of the action as the Diamondbacks took on the Reds occurred in the first inning. Arizona roared out of the gates, delivering notional spring tacos before they had made their second out. Indeed, the D-backs were four up without having a man retired, beginning as Jean Segura continued his mastery of BABIP with a single, and Phil Gosselin followed with a two-run homer. [Okay, who predicted that, 21 games into spring, Gosselin would have more home-runs (2) than Paul Goldschmidt?] Two walks. a Yasmany Tomas double and a wild-pitch made it 4-0, then Shelby Miller and Jason Bourgeois drove in #5 and #6.

However, the Reds were not out of it yet, and Miller had issues on the mound in the bottom of the first. His own error helped load the bases with no outs, and all the runners then scored. Though none of the runs were charged as earned to Shelby, that slashed Arizona's lead in half. Both pitching staff settled down thereafter, facing the minimum in the second and third. Gosselin made it a 7-3 game with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Miller got through five innings without further damage. He seemed to have some control issues, with three walks, but also struck out six. Shelby gave up three hits and, as noted, all three runs were unearned, dropping his spring ERA to 2.70.

Domingo Leybe and Kyle Jensen completed the scoring for Arizona with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and RBI single in the ninth respectively, The Diamondbacks' bullpen was solid, tossing four innings of one-hit, shutout ball, including scoreless innings from Tyler Clippard, Wesley Wright and Nick Sarianides; Clippard's 1-2-3 sixth was particularly good to see. Arizona out-hit Cincinnati 14-4, Segura getting three hits, while there were two apiece for Tomas and Bourgeois - the last named also stole two bases. Drury drew a pair of walks, and Gosselin had a walk in addition to his home-run and three RBI, in another well-rounded performance by the D-backs.

There were over eight thousand in attendance - while not much by SRF standards, it was the most ever for a Reds game there. The win, coupled with the Nationals' loss earlier, also now gives Arizona the best spring record in all of baseball. While, yes, this is meaningless, it is perhaps worth noting that three of the top four teams from last spring ended up in their respective leagues' Championship Series: the Royals (.667), Mets (.613) and Blue Jays (.594). Let's hope the Diamondbacks follow in their foot-steps, rather than those of the Athletics (also .667). Tomorrow night, Arizona will be back at Salt River Fields, for a 6:40pm game against the Brewers.