Snake Bytes, 4/13: Dangerous when wet

Recaps

[AZ Central] Giants claim series, beat Shelby Miller, Diamondbacks - For the fourth consecutive game, they scored four runs or fewer. It was also the fourth in a row in which they did not reach double digits in hits. After taking three of four from the Giants at Chase Field last week, they departed San Francisco with their first series loss of the year. “I think they’ll be fine,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I think part of moving forward as a team each and every day is how you recognize winning and move through losing. I know these guys will be OK.”

[dbacks.com] Miller delivers strong effort vs. Giants - Wednesday's fifth inning may have gotten away from Shelby Miller a little bit and therefore the game and the series against the Giants as well, but the D-backs are still plenty pleased with what they've seen from their right-hander through two starts this year. "I think it's been very consistent," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of Miller's stuff. "He was really in command of this game today. I know that the one inning slipped away from him a little bit, but after a mound visit and a couple of the things that took place to slow the game down for him, he really recognized how to get back on the attack, and that was really crucial for us."

[AP] Shelby Miller takes loss as D-backs bats can't capitalize against Giants - Jake Lamb went 3 for 4 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to nine games for Arizona. The Diamondbacks were attempting to match their 8-2 start from 2008 but lost to San Francisco for the third time in seven games. Miller allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and two walks.

Team news

[AZ Central] Are the D-Backs a $1.15 billion ... loser? - The players on the field have been great. It’s a fun team to watch, and if the pitching holds up they may very well find themselves in the playoffs. Because the lineup is loaded with legitimate hitters. As for the front office, that's a different story. There is no such thing as a billion-dollar beggar. So management is starting off this season where it left off last fall. No runs. No hits. One big error.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs GM: Good start is pleasing, but ‘7-2 is just 7-2’ - Hazen is especially pleased with the team’s willingness to fight back from deficits, sometimes doing damage against effective starting pitchers and other times against good bullpens. "I think on the whole of the baseball season you’re going to go through your ups and downs," he acknowledged. "But I think the team that battles through nine innings most consistently gives themselves a chance to win on a nightly basis, and so far we’ve been able to do that."

[dbacks.com] D-backs pleased with 'tremendous at-bats' - Hazen has gotten good reports on right-hander Rubby De La Rosa, who missed most of last season due to an elbow issue. De La Rosa has gone through two stem-cell treatments as a way of trying to avoid having a second Tommy John surgery and faced hitters in an extended spring training game this week. "Velocity has been good, stuff's been good. Good to see," Hazen said. "He's felt great all throughout Spring Training, throughout his entire throwing progression."

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks' bullpen effective but roles still in flux - Through eight games, the Diamondbacks already had seven appearances in which their relievers have recorded four or more outs. Right-hander Randall Delgado has three of them. They had 97 such outings last year. Lovullo says some of those have been a result of certain relievers not being available and the club needing to fill innings somehow. "But what I’m discovering quickly is that you’re going to need, in this league, pitchers to go more than one inning when possible to get to that spot in the order when they hit so you don’t burn pitchers and burn hitters real quickly," he said.

[Arizona Sports] Prove it, proven or problem -  Leading Major League Baseball in wins, the Diamondbacks are one of the best teams in baseball. After one week, four different 75-win or less teams from 2016 are in first place in 2017. It’s hard to separate what’s real from what is hope with this year’s Diamondbacks. I got six things that are very important to the D-backs’ success. I can see two things in the first eight games that I believe are not a fluke; two items that I don’t trust; and, two things that are already an issue. Here’s what’s proven, left to prove and a problem.

[AZ Central] Replay changes no sweat for Diamondbacks' video coordinator - "I like the fact that New York only gets two minutes now," he said. "It’s nerve-wracking, there’s no doubt." Campbell likes another change that’s gone into effect this year, one that allows a team’s video person to tag a specific camera angle that was used when deciding to challenge. "You can take the clip that you saw and sort of highlight it and send it over," Campbell said. "And they’re supposed to see that. It’s supposed to go to the operations center."

And, elsewhere...

[ESPN] Will New York Yankees' Jean Afterman be baseball's first female GM? The sport should be so lucky - For a decade and a half now, Afterman has been the glue of the franchise, so valued by the organization that she recently signed a three-year contract even though her boss, Cashman, is in the final season of his deal. She's currently the only female executive with the title, making her the highest-ranking woman in any club's front office. Cashman says she could become baseball's first female GM. Afterman doesn't want the job.

[Yahoo!] Opening 25-year-old baseball cards with Bronson Arroyo - If you’re new to this series (and if you are, hi, welcome) we open baseball cards from 25 years ago with various baseball folks, then reminisce about old players, share stories and sometimes make fun of what players wore back in the day. It all started because my grandma saved boxes of unopened cards for me, thinking they’d be worth a ton of money in the future. They aren’t, of course. So we do this instead and it’s a lot of fun.

[Snopes] Was Baseball Player Moe Berg a World War II Spy? - American baseball player Morris “Moe” Berg, whose major league career spanned 15 unillustrious seasons on four different teams between 1923 and 1939, never advanced beyond the positions of backup catcher and substitute shortstop. He spent more time on the bench than he did on the diamond, it was said. “He can speak seven languages but he can’t hit in any of them,” a teammate complained of Berg, who, despite being a Princeton graduate and holding a law degree from Columbia University, led an outwardly unremarkable, even mysterious, life.