Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Los Angeles Angels 4: No-htani? No problem!

Record: 6-7. Change on 2017: -1.

Zack Godley threw four more scoreless innings this afternoon, bringing his tally for spring to 8.2 without allowing a run. This might have been his most impressive outing to date, holding a strong Angels line-up, including Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani, to one hit and a walk, with four strikeouts. The walk came to the very first batter of the game, and on four straight wide ones, but Godley then settled down, and needed only 47 pitches for his four innings. The Angels didn’t get a ball out of the infield until the third inning, and there were just two outfield outs. Godley now has eight strikeouts in 8.2 innings, and the K:BB is a solid 8:4.

The D-backs had some issues of their own early against J.C. Ramirez, but broke through in the third inning. Singles by Daniel Descalso and Jeff Mathis were followed by David Peralta’s first home-run of spring (above), letting the Diamondbacks jump out to a 3-0 lead. However, the Angels would chip away at that after Godley left the game, scoring single runs in each of their next four times up. Albert Suarez was charged with two of those in his 1.2 innings, though one was unearned, due to an error by Jake Lamb. Neftali Feliz allowed three hits in one inning, as the Angels tied the game, and T.J. McFarland was also tagged for an unearned run, in the seventh, coming from an Evan Marzilli gaffe.

Fortunately, the D-backs offense managed to do just enough to stay on top. New guy Cody Decker got a bases-loaded single to drive in a pair, with one out in the seventh inning, although subsequently became the second Arizona TOOTBLAN of the frame. Joey Krehbiel got the final two outs to close out the win for the D-backs. Descalso had a pair of hits, though he was also picked off first. In contrast to the last couple of games, there was only a single walk for Arizona. The key to this victory was probably the difference in the two sides clutch hitting: the D-backs were 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position, while the Angels went hitless in their six at-bats.

There’s an actual off-day for the D-backs tomorrow. So, talk among yourselves!