Snake Bytes, 9/15: Kick Rockies

Recaps

[MLB.com] D-backs Zack Godley shuts out Rockies - Godley's ERA is now down to 3.00 on the year, the lowest it's been since Aug. 13. "He can't get much better than what we saw today," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "He was pitch-efficient. If it was another place and time he probably could have thrown a complete game. So maybe here, there and everywhere he could have made better pitches to keep his pitch count down, but he was outstanding today. We won this game today because of Zack Godley."

[AZ Central] Godley, Martinez key win over Rockies - Godley’s command had become a bit of an issue before his past two starts; in a five-start stretch starting Aug. 13 he had walked 17 batters in 28 innings. The difference, according to Lovullo, is Godley’s ability to throw his cutter and curveball for strikes. “I think he can throw those pitches at any time,” Lovullo said. “And the breaking ball is a big swing-and-miss breaking ball. He does a great job with arm speed so he gets a lot of swings and misses with that.” Godley said he’s trying to pitch to contact rather than strike hitters out. “I’m just trying to let the guys behind me work,” Godley said.

[Arizona Sports] Zack Godley tosses eight strong innings, D-backs blank Rockies - “I was trying to grab my helmet and my stuff, and get to the on-deck circle before [Lovullo] could say anything to me. So, hopefully, he’d just be like, ‘alright, he’s going to go’. But it just didn’t happen — he caught me before I could even get to the steps.” – Zack Godley, on trying to sneak past Lovullo so he could bat in the eighth and subsequently go for the complete game in the ninth.

Team news

[USA Today] Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez: Powerful bromance blooms in desert for Diamondbacks - “I think you can put [Martinez] up there as one of the best midseason trades that’s ever been made,” Bradley said. “Every homer is getting more expensive. Hopefully, he likes us a lot and wants to stay here. And if you were going to mold what you want a major-league player to look like, act like, speak like, I’ve got to go with No. 44. He’s the perfect guy. I mean, I can only think of one flaw he’s really got.’’ We’re listening. “Goldy is a nerd. I mean, he’s a complete nerd,’’ Bradley says, stroking his long flowing beard. “I say that in the most positive way possible, but Goldy is a nerd.’’

[MLB.com] D-backs, Rockies could decide set in Wild Card - "Yeah, I think there's some irony in that," Lovullo said about the possibility of a Wild Card rematch. "We know there's still some time, and if it comes down to that moment, we're going to be very familiar with each other. We spend a lot of time in the same space, and that starts early in Spring Training. "We see each other a lot there. We cross paths a lot. It's about getting the job done at the right time. And if we wind up playing the Rockies, I'm sure it will be a fantastic game."

[Inside the 'Zona] Work In Progress: Jimmie Sherfy’s Path to the Majors - His minor league numbers highlight the issues he’s had making the transformation and serve as a useful reminder that just because a player struggles to do something at first doesn’t mean they aren’t ultimately capable of doing it. Sometimes it just takes a little extra time. It appears that for Jimmie Sherfy, it’s been time well spent. He’s a prime candidate to join the playoff roster and might just be the extra piece the Diamondbacks needed to bridge the gap to the back of the bullpen.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks looking to support J.D. Martinez’s hot-hitting - Lovullo believes Lamb is getting closer to ironing out issues with his swing and has been saying for days he believes Lamb is close to breaking out. The Diamondbacks have missed the left-handed power he provided in the lineup through the first half. Entering Wednesday, he hadn’t homered in 18 consecutive games. Still, Lovullo has left Lamb in the No. 3 spot in the lineup against right-handed pitching, sticking with a batting order that has led to some instances in which Martinez, who hits fifth behind Goldschmidt, has been left on deck at the end of innings. Lovullo said he’s considered a change but “(hasn’t) really gone that far in my mind” to actually pull the trigger.

[Arizona Sports] Derrick Hall: Catchers deserve a lot of credit for starters' turnaround - Hall also said general manager Mike Hazen deserves a lot of credit for changing the organization’s philosophy on the catching position. “Hazen told us that when we interviewed him,” Hall said. “One of the first things he said, ‘you know I haven’t had a whole lot of time with the Red Sox in the playoffs to analyze your entire staff and your entire roster. However, I can tell you we’re going to have to get defensive minded at catching and we’re going to have to make some changes, and that is one of the first things he did.”

[Reddit] I am D-backs President & CEO Derrick Hall, AMA! - Over on Reddit, team president Derrick Hall did a Q+A. It was mostly fairly bland stuff, aimed at a general baseball audience, but I did enjoy this.
Q. Serious question, what are you gonna do if Archie shaves his beard?
A. That's a great question. Split it up into multiple bags to be sold in D-backs Authentics.
So THAT’S how we’re going to fund re-signing Martinez...

[MLB.com] Resurgent Pollock lengthens dangerous lineup - To take some pressure off Pollock, Lovullo moved the outfielder to the seventh spot in the lineup for the first time Wednesday and the manager swears he knew Pollock was close to breaking out. Why did he feel that way? "Conversations with the hitting coaches, just different things that I've been paying attention to when it comes to his balance, swing plane, his pitch selection," Lovullo said. "It's a hard game; this is a tough game, he's been grinding." Now Pollock might be on the verge of taking off, which is not what future D-backs opponents want to hear.

[Arizona Sports] 'One Clap': Patrick Corbin talks about D-backs' new postgame tradition - The Diamondbacks southpaw was voted player of the game by his teammates and got to wear a Randy Moss jersey, which is apparently a team tradition based on the song “One Clap” by DJ Steve Porter. “I don’t know who got it, but it’s been something we’ve been doing,” Corbin told Doug and Wolf on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station. “We win a game, player of the game is going to have it on.”

And, elsewhere...

The Cleveland Indians streak lives! The Tribe won their AL record 22nd straight game - but this was perhaps their closest call yet. They were down to the last strike in the bottom of the ninth, before Francisco Lindor tied the game up, and Jay Bruce walked them off with an RBI double in the 10th. And Chad Bettis was not the only starter ripped early. Former D-back Wade Miley was tagged for six earned runs while recording one out, pitching for the Orioles against the Yankees. Aaron Judge had two homers, giving him 43 for the season, and drove in six runs. The Cardinals won, so they are tied with the Brewers, 2¹⁄₂ games back of both the Rockies and the Cubs.