Arizona Diamondbacks 2, New York Mets 4: Wasted Opportunities

Arizona sent Zack Godley to the mound to continue the Diamondbacks’ winning ways against the New York Mets. J.D. Martinez did his part, giving Godley a one-run lead on a two-out RBI single to plate David Peralta. Unfortunately, Godley was unable to toss a blank and the Mets responded with a hard-hit grounder to right off the bat of Michael Conforto which scored Brandon Nimmo.

The second inning went by quietly for both teams, with Zack Godley asserting himself by striking out the side. This brought up the Diamondbacks in the third inning. David Peralta started things off by drawing a walk. A.J. Pollock came up next and made solid contact, but flew out to Juan Lagares in center. Jake Lamb followed with a double to the wall in right center, but Peralta was forced to hold up at third. With one out and runners at second and third, Paul Goldschmidt grounded sharply to Mets’ third baseman, Wilmer Flores. Flores elected to throw home, which hung David Peralta out to dry. That put Jake Lamb at third, with Goldschmidt taking second on the rundown. J.D. Martinez then came to the plate and promptly grounded out to short, ending the Arizona threat in the third. The Mets decided to continue hitting ground balls and went down quietly in the bottom of the frame.

The fourth inning was rather uneventful for the Diamondbacks, though Ketel Marte did manage to draw a walk, allowing them to clear Godley’s spot in the lineup. Zack Godley had some difficulties with his control in the fourth inning, issuing back-to-back walks to Dominic Smith and Travis d’Arnaud. Amed Rosario was next, and he shot a liner to right center just over the leaping Descalso, scoring Dominic Smith. Lagares followed by grounding into a double play, getting Godley off the hook and bringing up the top of the Arizona order.

David Peralta led off the fifth with a single, but was then thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of A.J. Pollock. Jake Lamb followed up by walking, putting runners on first and second for Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt hit a grounder up the middle, fielded by Amed Rosario, but wound up safe on an infield single, loading the bases for J.D. Martinez. Martinez golfed a pitch low and away to center field, causing Lagares to come charging in to make the catch. A.J. Pollock attempted to tag up from third on the play, but Lagares was able to throw a strike to d’Arnaud at home without breaking stride. Though there was some question about whether or not Pollock had a clear lane to score, he was thrown out on a great play – another lost scoring opportunity for Arizona.

Control would once again come back to haunt Godley in the fifth. After walking Nimmo to start the inning, Conforto brought him home with another RBI single, giving the Mets a two-run lead.

The sixth inning saw Daniel Descalso fly out to right, which brought up Chris Iannetta. Iannetta crushed a home run to near straight-away center, bringing the Diamondbacks back within a run. This had Torey Lovullo choose to bring in Brandon Drury to pinch-hit for Godley in the inning. Unfortunately for Arizona, nothing came of that.

With Drury batting for Godley in the top of the inning, Jake Barrett came on to face the Mets in the bottom of the inning. The first batter he faced was Dominic Smith. The first pitch was a ball. The second was a strike, but the first strike he threw was deposited in the right field bleachers, extending the Mets’ lead back to two runs. That would be the end of the damage in the inning.

The seventh inning started off nicely for Arizona. David Peralta was leading off the inning for the fourth time in the game. This time he singled to right. A.J. Pollock was then hit by a pitch. Jake Lamb then hit into a fielder’s choice, with Pollock being thrown out at second base. With Peralta and Lamb on the corners, Paul Goldschmidt came to the plate looking for some redemption. Three straight sliders later, he was still looking for redemption on his way back to the dugout. J.D. Martinez then ground out sharply to Rosario. And there goes another terrific scoring opportunity.

The eighth inning was rather quiet in the boxscore thanks to a terrific catch by Pollock in center field to rob Travis d’Arnaud of extra bases, possibly even a home run.

The ninth inning saw Rey Fuentes enter the game as a pinch-hitter to face A.J. Ramos. Fuentes struck out on three pitches. David Peralta decided to make Fuentes feel better, showing that even a guy having a great night can strike out on three pitches too. After striking out the first two batters on six pitches, Ramos then walked Pollock on four pitches. A terrible call by home plate umpire Ryan Additon gifted Ramos with a strike against Jake Lamb. Lamb battled to a 3-2 count before launching one to the warning track in right field. Unfortunately for Arizona, he got underneath it too much and Conforto was able to make the easy catch to end the game.

Tommy: David Peralta (19.4%)

Quadrophenia: A.J. Pollock (6.3%)

Endless Wire: Paul Goldschmidt (-17.2%), J.D. Martinez (-23.5%)

It was a pretty quiet gameday thread tonight, with 21 contributors amassing only 280 comments. Leading the way was smartplays with 62, followed by Jackwriter with 39 and Michael McDermott with 38.

The roll call was:

AzDbackfanInDc, BigSmarty, Canadia, DeadManG, Diamondhacks, FishOnEmm, GuruB, Jackwriter, Keegan Thompson, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MrMrrbi, Oldenschoole, Sprankton, Turambar, Xerostomia, coldblueAZ, hotclaws, onedotfive, piratedan7, smartplays

With some few comments and essentially no conversation, there were no candidates for COTN. Tomorrow is the final game of the season between these two teams. Robbie Ray returns to the mound for Arizona and will face off against Rafael Montero. First pitch is at 9:10 MST, so make sure to set those alarms for morning weekday baseball.