Snake Bytes 9/26: Cruise Control

Giants 9, Diamondbacks 2

[D’backs.com] Godley hurt by Giants' five-run fourth - Zack Godley, Brandon Drury, Gregor Blanco, and Adam Rosales were the only semi-regulars to start this game for Arizona. Zack Godley had his second rough start in a row, and said in a hoarse voice that yesterday’s celebrations did not hinder his performance. He would fail to make it past the 5th inning giving up 8 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs. Silvino Bracho, Anthony Banda, Jake Barrett, and T.J. McFarland all pitched in relief with Barrett surrendering the final 3 runs.

"I made a bad pitch and Hundley made me pay for it," Godley said. "I threw it right where I wanted it, just a little high, and he just put a good swing on it and it scored some runs. Then, turned around and made a pitch up and away to a guy [Pence] who's a really bad-ball hitter and he hit one the other way. A couple pitches came back to haunt me."

[Arizona Sports] Starters rest as D-backs’ backups can’t overcome Giants - The Diamondbacks appeared to be in control early without most of their heavy lifters out of the lineup. Arizona scored in the bottom of the 1st after a Gregor Blanco walk and Brandon Drury double. Drury now has 36 doubles, the highest total on the team and good enough for 7th in the National League. The Blanco-Drury duo was not finished as Blanco walked again in the 3rd, stole 2nd base, and was then singled home by Drury. That would be the end of scoring for Arizona, and the Diamondbacks would tally only 4 more hits for the remainder of the game.

Diamondbacks News

[D’backs.com] Lovullo intent on D-backs avoiding distractions - It can be devastating to lose sight of the bigger picture, but Torey Lovullo is keen on keeping his player’s attention on the task at hand. Lovullo may have ran out a AAA lineup on Monday night, but it appears that will be an exception rather than the norm over the final games of the season. Lovullo and Mike Hazen have been part of numerous playoff teams in Boston, both teams that have won the World Series and that have made early exits. It is up to Torey and his coaching stuff to put the Diamondbacks in the best position to succeed.

"This is going to be the one unique day out of the next five," Lovullo said. "My thought is to continue to play the type of baseball we've been playing all year, not to take days off or ho-hum our way through the next several games. No team is good enough to just turn that switch on and play such an important game next week. With the winning [Sunday], I thought those guys deserved the day off. But tomorrow, we're going to crank it way back up."

[Arizona Sports] D-backs Wild Card playoff game sells out in less than two hours - Semantics can be fun. Wild Card tickets did not technically sell out in less than 2 hours. They sold out in less than 2 hours after being opened up to the general public that did not visit AZ Snake Pit on pre-sale day to get that super secret code. However, as Jim noted yesterday it is a much better result than the previous 2 times the Diamondbacks have made the playoffs. My friend from Colorado, naturally a Rockies fan, likes to remind me that tickets to the 2007 NLCS in Coors Field sold old rather quickly, but fans were able to walk up on game day at Chase and purchase tickets in Phoenix. Progress.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks’ focus shifts to handling Zack Greinke ahead of wild-card game start - The Diamondbacks will likely push Zack Greinke’s Wednesday start back to Friday in Kansas City to put him in line to pitch the Wild Card game on regular rest October 4th. Jeff Mathis, Greinke’s personal catcher for much of the season, is trying to make it back from the disabled list for that start as well after being cleared for baseball activity.

“I think if he pitches on Friday then he’s staying on rhythm (for the wild-card game) on a five-day routine that he’s had all year long,” General Manager Mike Hazen said. “And then you can back down the pitch count on Friday, too. It’s not like you have to ask him to go out there and throw 120 pitches if he throws on Friday.”

[KSAZ] "Flag Lady" roots for Arizona Diamondbacks for years - Someone mentioned that the staff and fans have not been acknowledged enough for their support, so here you have it. Cindy “Rally Sally” McBride has been a staple in the stands with the team for as long as they have been in the Valley. Her ex-husband made her choose between baseball or their marriage, and she has not missed many games since then. I would say she made the appropriate decision.

"One of my friends and I came to a game, and we were like, we're going to get tickets," said McBride. "He told me I couldn't spend our money on tickets. He divorced me, and I bought season tickets. I just started really small," said McBride. "I would dress up in costumes, and I would be up moving to the music, and I wasn't even aware that I was doing it. And then all of a sudden, people started saying, 'you're the one who dances up there'. Then I got called the crazy dancing lady. Then the dancing granny. Then the Diamondbacks gave me the official name of 'Rally Sally'. Then, everyone just called me the 'Flag Lady', so I just became the 'Flag Lady'."

Around the League

[ESPN] Power Rankings: Indians still sizzling down the stretch - I mean we made the postseason as improbable as it should been, so the Diamondbacks should be #1, right? They are at least #1 in our hearts. ESPN keeps the Diamondbacks at #7. Bleacher Report drops Arizona down 3 spots to #6. Fanrag holds the team in the top 5. Sports Illustrated moves the Diamondbacks down to #6.

[LA Times] Aaron Judge goes on record with 50th home run - Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire’s 30 year old record for most home runs in a single season by a rookie with his 50th home run of the season Monday night against the Kansas City Royals. Will we see another home run record race between Giancarlo Stanton and Judge in 2018 reminding us of past duels between McGwire and Sammy Sosa?

[MLB Daily Dish] Rays will listen on Chris Archer, Alex Colome - A pair of impact arms could be on the move this winter from the Tampa Bay Rays in the form of staff ace Chris Archer and closer Alex Colome. Archer has struggled a bit in September possibly due to injury. Colome has 83 saves over the past two seasons and was an All Star in 2016.

[NBC Sports] Yasiel Puig was late to a workout on Monday, so Dave Roberts benched him - I think it is fairly safe to say that a player with Yasiel Puig’s behavioral track record would not last as long on the Arizona Diamondbacks. At least I hope not. Puig was absent from the Dodgers game on Monday after being late to a workout.

[CBS Sports] NL MVP Watch: Are Giancarlo Stanton's home runs enough to win a wide-open race? - When Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for Best Actor after his performance in The Revenant, it may have not been the best performance in his career. Did he deserve it? Absolutely, but perhaps it was more of a Lifetime Achievement Award that he was overdue for. Paul Goldschmidt finds himself in a similar position, although he is in the midst of one of the best years in his career. Goldy is absolutely deserving of the National League MVP award, but he faces difficult competition as cases can be made for a handful of other players. But we all know Goldy is not focused on individual accolades, as he would much rather hoist the World Series Championship Trophy at the end of October.