Arizona Diamondbacks 6, San Diego Padres 7: Godley-dammit!

Record: 68-56. Pace: 89-73. Change on 2017: +1.

The weekend has returned, and with it so have I. With beer in hand and cell phone primed I await the third game is this four game set versus the friars. With the playoff race now in ludicrous speed every single game from now through the end of Sept count that much more. Next week’s games again SF and LA will matter much more from a head-to-head basis, but as we saw last week look past “lesser” teams helps no one.

Beer 1: Hope & Dreams

Considering the hopes and dreams we all have for this season I could think of no better beer to start a game out with. In all honesty though, my expectations for this team was always to make the playoffs yet again. Yet we’ve come now to a time where doing so may be decided upon a razor’s edge, versus last year where at least the wild card was never truly in doubt.

Times are very different now. As this season will likely come down to the last week. Division or bust.

Jay grounds out to lead off the 1st as Peralta’s mysterious absence continues on in to its second day. Hmmmmm.

Blessedly Escobar and Pollock knock back to back doubles and we’re quickly up 1-0. Goldy (blessed be His name) then singles to drive in another run. 2-0 good guys and we’re off to another good 1st inning. I like.

Godley cruises through his half of the 1st. He, Corbin and Greinke are the three I expect to see....should we make the playoffs. Ray “should” be there, but he’s still not his 2017 self, and that’s a maddening thing to say. With him back to full power this race may not be as close as it is, regrettably that’s not the case.

Godley’s now at 4k’s through the 2nd and he looks like he’s us rare form. When that curve is on, everyone else is off

Beer 2: Kerfuffled Chicken IPA

Can’t not order a beer with a name like that. It’s blessedly also a hazy IPA, so I got the best of both worlds: haziness and ludicrous name.

Goldy needeth not the long bomb to giveth thee RBI’s. For even the humble single may score and thus the way of Goldy is made clear. Amen. Hazen 5:23

3-0 going in to the bottom of the 3rd and Godley continues to cruise: 1-2-3. He’s almost making this writing of mine boring.

Wrote that way too soon as Godley’s 4th frame becomes quite the mess, with bad calls and bad plays leading to bases loaded with no outs.

Nicked by a comebacker, Godley helps the score to 3-2 with 1 out. Make that 3-3 after a sac fly as we go to the 5th.

Beer/Cider 3: C-Bees cider by Cider Corps

After that putrid inning it pays to have a refreshing cucumber cider to cleanse the palate. Aaaaaa...

Couple singles up the middle later and a sac fly brings us right back to the lead.

Through Him all things are possible and all opposing leads finite. Thus Goldy’s double brings us to a 5-3 lead.

If only Godley read from the Book of Goldy. For then his innings would be as immaculate as His. It is not meant to be and the lead is gone yet again. 5-5 in the 5th....then it’s 5-6...someone forgot to tell Godley we’re in a race.

Ugly 5th finally over, and thank God. Can’t afford innings like that in a race like this.

Beer 4: Sonic IPA by Pueblo Vida

The 6th is uneventful, blessedly for us, and in the 7th the Friars somehow feel it’s wise to pitch to Goldy with a man on 2nd. Goldy makes them pay and pay dearly with his 4th RBI of the game. We’re now tied again. Hold on to your hats, we’re in for a ride. 6-6 tie.

McFarland keeps things under control for the 2nd inning in a row after Godley’s exit and we’re on to the 8th with the Rocks having already won and the Doyers losing. Gotta close out!!!!!!!

1-2-3 in the 8th go the Dbacks. Not exactly inspired in their performance there, but at least the top of the 9th will see the teeth of our offense let again. Goldy awaits ....

Archie finally has an inning that won’t cause me to shatter teeth! Yay offspeed pitches!!!

Now the 9th is upon us and I’m listening to samurai death metal to help set the pace of this crucial inning.

Sadly no one can even get on base to allow Goldy. Now going in to the bottom of the 9th our bullpen must yet again buckle down.....

Now I listen to power metal, for nothing is so laced with hope. Just the kind of pick-me-up a fan needs with a game like this.

Not even Avantasia can save this game as Yoshi gives up the winning run. Sigh. 6-7 Padres

Bells and whistles, by Jim

Those present in the Gameday Thread were: AZDovs11, DeadManG, Dewberry, GuruB, Hannibal4467, Jack Sommers, Jackwriter, Jim McLennan, Johnneu, Keegan Thompson, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, ShirtOffYourBack, Sprankton, UofALifer, Wildcats4Life13, asteroid, edbigghead, kilnborn, onedotfive, pyroman168, smartplays, suroeste and that_tall_fella. Comment of the night to kilnborn, for the proper placement of the monument to the 2018 NL Most Valuable Player (pending...), Paul Goldschmidt:

The Rockies snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to beat the Braves, so the D-backs’ lead in the NL West is down to half a game. The good news - if there is some - is that the Dodgers are losing 4-1 to the Mariners in Seattle in the eighth inning, so hopefully, those six outs will be uneventful, and our lead over Los Angeles at least will remain two games. Finale of the series and the road-trip tomorrow: victory will give the D-backs a win in both, though I can’t help feeling it should still have been better...