D-backs 8, Phillies 2 - Showing off on Facebook

Eric Byrnes is bad. Like hearing him talk for a couple hours has made me want to drink something, and I don’t even drink. This game was shown on Facebook for some odd reason and was a decent enough experience. No commercials was strange, but very very nice. Of course, sex bots took over and Eric Byrnes got excited for every ball hit decently hard. Must be a Dodgers fan now or something.

Matt Koch took the mound for the D-backs, looking for a better result than his last time out when he faced Tyson Ross who almost threw a no-hitter. For the Phillies was Ben Lively, who did not throw a no-hitter his last time out. He’s been okay thus far this season, doing just enough to give the Phillies a chance to win, as they are 3-1 when he starts.

The D-backs wasted no time bouncing back after a strugglefest that was last night’s game, with David Peralta singling and Jarrod Dyson homering to deep right field for a quick 2-0 lead. It was his 2nd of the series. Paul Goldschmidt continued his offensive turnaround with a single to center, a popup from Pollock and walk to Descalso followed, bringing up Chris Owings. He doubled, driving home Goldy for a 3-0 lead.

The D-backs piled it on in the 3rd, scoring 5 more times by way of a Nick Ahmed 3-run homer and David Peralta 2-run homer. Descalso doubled and Avila walked before Ahmed’s homer and Koch walked before Peralta. That would push the lead to 8-0 D-backs and knock Lively from the game for good. He was alright out there, balls just flew out of the park in the midday sun.

Matt Koch was pitching brilliantly himself, giving up a single hit in the first 3 innings (a double to Hoskins) but allowing not much else. He ran into trouble in the 4th, allowing a 2-out double to Aaron Altherr to score Santana after his leadoff double to start the inning, giving the Phillies their first run of the game 8-1.

Koch ran into trouble in the 5th, allowing back to back singles to lead off the inning but induced a double play and ground ball to escape without damage. He wasn’t as lucky in the 6th, putting a runner in scoring position with 1 out after a single and walk. Herrera took 3rd on a wild pitch and scored on a ground ball, giving us our final score of 8-2.

Koch would leave after the 6th, allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits, 2 walks with 4 K’s. He has been excellent since joining the big club, proving all the doubters (me) wrong about the depth issues this team has at starting pitcher.

The offense went quiet after their early 8 runs, with the Phillies bullpen giving up just 1 run over their final 6 2/3rds innings. Luckily for them the Phillies were even worse, with the lefties Jorge de la Rosa and T.J. McFarland finishing up the game. McFarland ran into trouble in the 8th, loading the bases but escaped with a double play to take all the air out of the stadium.

With the victory the D-backs move to 17-7 on the season and have won each of their first 8 series to start their season. This team is really good.

☆☆☆ - Jarrod Dyson (2 for 5, 1 HR, 2 RBI) +13.3% WPA
☆☆ - Matt Koch (6IP, 2ER, 4Ks), +11.5% WPA
☆ - A.J. Pollock (0 for 5, 3 LOB) -4.9%

Lots of comments today, 600+! Good job! Comment of the thread goes to Jim.

The Diamondbacks continue their roadtrip with a visit to the Nationals for a 3-game set starting tomorrow. Zack Godley faces off against Stephen Strasburg in the opener at 4:05 AZ time.