Dbacks 5, Rays 0: Grienke Really is the Ace We Signed!

Both Grienke and Matt Moore were strong through the first three innings. They both only gave up a hit each over those three frames, and only one walk given up, by Grienke. The strikeouts weren't therpiling up for either pitcher, with Grienke only having two, but they were both getting the job done well.

In the bottom of the fourth, that changed for Moore and the Diamondbacks offense. Paul Goldschmidt continued his resurgance and hit a one out double. He was then sent to third thanks to a single from Beef.

Then things got interesting. Brandon Drury swung at a pitch. It looked like he may have fouled it off to stay alive. The home plate umpire, Mark Ripperger, called for a conference between the umpires to decide if it was a foul or a swinging strike. I'm radio only, but Schulte and Candiotti both seemed pretty confident that Drury had gotten a piece of it. The Meeting of the Minds decided that he had just swung and missed, striking out. Chip Hale didn't like that. He came out and argued with Ripperger, but to no avail. He was tossed from the game, and Drury was out number two.

Jake Lamb came to the plate. Now, Matt Moore is a left handed pitcher. I have it on good authority that Jake Lamb should never ever never face left handed pitchers. I'm pretty sure the last time it happened, we had to call The Doctor to fix a tear in the fabric of the universe. Some scientists also believe it's the reason the honeybees are dying. However, Chip Hale decided to risk it again when he wrote the line up. Torchwood was on standby, the Avengers assembled, and Yoda sensed a disturbance in the Force. The count was 0-1. Moore wound up, and threw a knuckle curve. It was as if time briefly stopped, just before the pitch reached the plate. Then, it was as if it sped up to double time as Lamb clobbered it into the stands. 3-0 Diamondbacks

They didn't stop there either. In the sixth, they kept up the pressure against Moore and the Rays. He walked Michael Bourn, ahead of Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt then happened. Two run homer to build the lead further and continue to distance himself from his poor start to the season. 5-0 Diamondbacks

That was all they got, and that was all they needed. Zack Grienke just racked up easy inning after easy inning. He didn't get a ton of strikeouts like his last outing, but he got a lot of easy ground ball outs. No Rays reached second base. He did give up two walks, but only three hits at the same time. With less than 100 pitches at the end of the eighth, Glen Sherlock, who had taken over as acting manager following Hale's ejection, let Grienke go out of the ninth, and that was it. He put the Rays away with one last 1-2-3 inning, and Arizona wins it.

Source: FanGraphs

Doctor Who, Series 4: Zach Grienke, 34.7%

Torchwood, Series 2: Jake Lamb, 27%

Doctor Who, Series 7: Brandon Drury, -10.4%

Very quiet Gameday thread, which sadly I think will become more and more normal, the further we go into this increasingly lost season. Only 246 comments, split between 24 of us. In a serious throwback, I lead the way with 41 comments, songbird in second with 31, and hotclaws filling out our podium with 20. All present were:

AzRattler, Diamondhacks, GuruB, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Makakilo, MrMrrbi,Oldenschoole, Re Tired, SongBird, Xerostomia, aldma, asteroid, baseball2015, catbat, coldblueAZ, datr22,hotclaws, imstillhungry95, nolanriley13, onedotfive, since_98, thunderpumpkin87

I'm going to give CotN to Oldenschoole. He might be on to something with this Goldschmidt guy...

This Goldy kid

has Lamb-like power numbers.

Disclaimer: my views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the membership or management of the Snakepit nor that of Vox Media.

Chairman of the Goose Gossage for MLB Commissioner national committee.

by Oldenschoole on Jun 7, 2016 | 8:13 PM reply rec (3) flag actions

Day game tomorrow, with first pitch being at 12:40 Arizona time. Archie Bradley tries to secure the series win for us against Jake Odorzzi. Join us then!