Lots to write about so lets start off with the actual baseball. It wasn't pretty. Shelby Miller let the Pirates get out to what turned out to be an insurmountable lead before they recorded an out in the game when he gave up a three run home run to Gregory Polanco. Despite giving up another single in the inning, that was all the damage allowed there.
He got out of the second unscathed, but picked right back up in the third inning. He gave up a two out single to Starling Marte and walked Josh Harrison.They were both brought home by a Jordy Mercer double. He, in turn, was brought home by Pirates starter Francisco Liriano hit an RBI single. 6-0 Pirates.
That was all the damage Miller allowed. He went through the fifth inning, and kept the Pirates quiet in the forth and fifth. Chacin came in to replace him. If his walk up song was "Anything You Can Do" it would have been appropriate. He gave up an RBI double. He was replaced by Evan Marshall who allowed the first batter he faced, Jung Ho Kang, to bring Polanco home on a single. 9-1 Pirates
Oh, yes, that one run. The only real bright spot for the team tonight. The offense was just as bad, if not worse, than the pitching tonight. The didn't manage anything until the sixth inning, and even then, it might have been more embarrassing than the shutout before that. They loaded the bases of Liriano, and then the only run they managed was an RBI walk from Yasmany Tomas. That was in fact the only run they managed all game, even though they did have more chances later. Nothing came of them.
Pittsburgh added another three runs, but I really don't think anyone cared. However, there was a lot more going on in this game than just baseball. In the top of the seventh, Jean Segura was nailed in the head by a pitch from Arquemedes Caminero. He went down like a log and stayed there for a bit. He got up very quickly, but was obviously taken out of the game.
In the GDT, a lot of people were already calling for retaliation, and I honestly can't blame them, even if I didn't agree. To me, it was obviously an accident, and we have a lot more to lose, but there is history, and I get that. The Diamondbacks then plunked Freese, both sides were warned, and I think we all hoped that would be the end of it. It wasn't. The very next inning, with the very same pitcher as before pitching, Nick Ahmed got hit in the head. He also was taken out of the game, and Caminero was ejected from the game.
And early reports say things aren't looking to good, at least for Segura. Steve Gilbert is reporting on Twitter that Segura is at the hospital getting checked out, and that he was showing concussion symptoms. No official word from the team on either player, but it isn't looking good so far.
***
I'm going to take a break from my fairly balanced recap and editorialize a bit. I still stand by not wanting to retaliate after the first HBP. Accidents happen. If we lose Goldschmidt, Lamb, Drury, or Owings, our season is in an even deeper hole than it already is. Those are the kind of consequences that you have to look at when you retaliate in a situation like this. Given that fighting back in that way hasn't worked out so well for us in the past with this team. To me, the rewards just didn't outweigh the cons.
HOWEVER, I have to admit my view of the situation changed after the Ahmed HBP. In my opinion, Clint Hurdle should never let a pitcher who was having control issues to the point of potentially killing someone out for a second inning. If you do, and if the inevitable happens, I'm going to have a hell of a lot harder time believing it wasn't intentional. And even if it was unintentional, I'm going to have a hard time caring either way. From where I'm sitting, it goes one of two ways. Either it was intentional, or it was negligent. Whichever it was, its unacceptable. The whole reason for this is the fact that the Pirates have a standing gameplan of pound the inside third of the plate with fastballs all game long. Honestly, I have no problem with that as a general rule... if you have the control to do it. I'm not saying that the Dbacks should try to set the record for HBP's in a game, but if RDLR wants to come out and pump nothing but 97 MPH fastballs on the inside third of the plate tomorrow, I'm not against it either.
Ultimately what it boils down to is that I hope Segura and Ahmed are okay. That's what's truly important here. Hopefully we will get good news about both of them before the evening is up, and we'll get out of Pittsburgh without anymore injuries or dangerous baseball.
Source: FanGraphs
Good, clean baseball: Paul Goldschmidt, 3.2%
Stupid beanballs: Shelby Miller, -33.3%
Good sized GDT tonight, with 663 comments split 32 ways. AzDbacksFanInDC, preston.salisbury, and Jackwriter are your top three. All present were:
AzDbackfanInDc, Chelsea75, Clefo, GuruB, I suppose I'm a Pessimist, JT9422, Jackwriter, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, JoeyLewis, Makakilo, MichaelMcD831993, MrMrrbi, Oldenschoole, RobertMerrill, bluecheer, catbat, coldblueAZ, david.munter, dbacks_in_vegas, ford.williams.10, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, noblevillain, onedotfive, piratedan7, preston.salisbury, repre, shoewizard, since_98, thunderpumpkin87
Same time tomorrow, and you'll want to tune in. I'm sure tensions are going to be running high. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired of yelling into the void. I'm going to go back to my simple recaps and writing joke articles for Pit Your Wits. This editorial stuff is hard :-)