Snake Bytes 10/1: Know Your Enemy

Royals 4, Diamondbacks 3

[D’backs.com] Pollock's homer isn't enough to slow Royals - Taijuan Walker was the recipient of a shortened outing, like most members of the starting rotation, throwing 76 pitches over 5 innings of work. Walker allowed 3 hits, 1 walk, and had 6 strikeouts. Archie Bradley began his night in the 6th inning and was not as effective as he has been for most of the season. He allowed 3 of the first 4 hitters he faced to reach base before giving up a 3 run home run to Jorge Bonifacio surrendering the lead to the Kansas City Royals. Zack Godley finished the game and retired all 5 batters he faced.

"Just not my best stuff," Bradley said. "I felt good. Velocity was there, just wasn't really executing pitches. I got lucky and picked a guy off, and had the chance to get out of the inning, just made a bad pitch and the guy hit it. Frustrating, you know, I'm used to coming into games and kind of getting into stuff like that or shutting them down. Just kind of use as a learning experience going into what we have coming ahead."

[Arizona Sports] Bonifacio’s HR helps Royals rally to beat Diamondbacks - The Diamondbacks out hit the Royals in this game and had more men on base overall, so it comes as no surprise that they left more men on base than the Royals in the loss. Paul Goldschmidt was held without a hit going 0-3 with a walk, and David Peralta was the only Diamondbacks player with multiple hits. A.J. Pollock continued his successful September hitting his 5th home run of the month. Jeff Mathis made his return from the disabled list and should be behind the plate for Zack Greinke on Wednesday.

Diamondbacks News

[D’backs.com] Peralta dealing with tightness in neck, back - David Peralta left Saturday’s game in the 7th inning with tightness in his neck and back but is expected to be in the lineup during Sunday’s regular season finale. The Freight Train went 2 for 3 in the game with a leadoff double in the 1st inning. He will face off against Charlie Blackmon, who just set the single season record record for most RBI batting 1st, in the leadoff spot on Wednesday.

"I just felt some tightness today around my back and my neck," Peralta said. "We did some stuff before the game and everything was feeling better, but just during the game it was getting stiff so I didn't want to do anything crazy or swing and make it like really bad because the important day is Wednesday."

[Arizona Sports] Behind the matchups: D-backs face Rockies in NL Wild Card - Having never experienced a one game play in before, I can understand why Major League Baseball continues to support the concept. I can hardly contain my emotions as the day draws near, as most fans, and we will not even be on the field! All that matters is walking away from Chase Field with a win through any means necessary. The Colorado Rockies will be a challenging opponent, and the losing team will have quick access to Arizona golf courses and beautiful October weather. Trevor Story has handled Zack Greinke well since his debut last season. Arizona has limited the damage from Colorado’s two best players, Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, at Chase Field this season. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks own bash brothers, Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez, have both destroyed the Rockies. None of that prior history matters come Wednesday.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt finishing year on down note - September has been brutal to Paul Goldschmidt, his worst month of the 2017 season by far. He has a 42 wRC+ for the month. In other words, he has hit 58% worse than the league average hitter when adjusted for park effects and run environment. This coming after he absolutely destroyed the baseball in August and appeared to be on his way to the National League MVP Award. In the month of September, he has a .216 BABIP paired with a 35.2% hard contact %, both the lowest of his 2017 campaign.

“I know it’s so hard to be as consistent as he has been all year long, and he’s had a tremendous year,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “The season ebbs and flows. I just think he might be pulling off (pitches). There might be a little hustle to his swing where he’s not letting it get as deep as he possibly can.”

Around the League

[CBS Sports] Rockies clinch second NL wild-card spot after Brewers fall apart vs. Cardinals - The Milwaukee Brewers appeared to be putting pressure on the Colorado Rockies in the waning days of the regular season, leading the St. Louis Cardinals by as much as 6 runs on Saturday. That was until they allowed the Cardinals to score 7 unanswered runs eliminating themselves from playoff contention. This ensured that it would be the Colorado Rockies who would face the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field next Wednesday, their first postseason appearance since 2009. This is only the 4th postseason appearance for the Rockies in their history, and will be the 2nd time they have faced the Diamondbacks in October.

[Bleacher Report] MLB Names World Series MVP Award After Willie Mays - One of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball will be honored annually beginning this October. The World Series Most Valuable Player Award will be renamed in Willie Mays’ honor. The United States Army veteran won the World Series in his first season back with the New York Giants after serving his country. Mays is responsible for one of the most memorable World Series moments with his over the back catch in Polo Grounds off the bat of Vic Wertz. My mother is lucky enough to have a baseball autographed by The Say Hey Kid.

[The Washington Post] Tigers’ Andrew Romine becomes fifth in big league history to play all nine positions in a game - When your team is fighting towards a last place finish and has an athletic player, you get records such as a player appearing at all nine positions in one game. Former Sun Devil Andrew Romine is the 5th player in history to play all positions in a single game, the first since fellow Detroit Tiger Shane Halter in 2000. This was apparently something that Romine and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus had talked about in the past made possible by a dismal season from the Tigers. He did not play a full inning at catcher and only pitched to one batter, Miguel Sano (surprisingly), getting him to ground out to third.

[Fangraphs] What Statcast Says About the National League Cy Young - Fangraphs takes an in depth look at the National League Cy Young race, and it is hard to build a case against former Diamondback Max Scherzer (I am never going to let that trade down). Zack Greinke has had a terrific bounce back season aiding to the Diamondbacks success this season, but when he gets hit it is usually harder than the other pitchers he is battling against in the arms race. That is not meant to take away from Greinke’s success this season.