Diamondbacks 5, Angels 4: Pollock bunts them off

Patrick Corbin came out strong in the first inning of tonight’s game. He got Kole Calhoun to ground out and then a line out from David Fletcher before giving up a walk to Albert Pujols. He didn’t get further than first, though, as Corbin ended the inning with a strike out to keep the Angels in check.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Dbacks pounced quickly. With one out, Eduardo Escobar walked on four straight pitches to bring up David Peralta. Peralta then took a 2-1 slider and put it in the seats to give Arizona a quick 2-0 lead.

Corbin came out firing in the top of the second. He got the first two batters out on strike outs before giving up a double to Kaleb Cowert. He let Cowert get to third on a wild pitch, but got his fourth straight strikout to end the inning, persevering the lead.

He wasn’t quite so lucky. Calhoun doubled with one out and then came home on a Fletcher single. Pujols walked to keep things moving, and then Aldrelton Simmons singled home Fletcher, tying the game. After a mound visit, Corbin held them there, though. He struck out Rene Rivera on three straight pitches for the second out. Taylor Ward then flew out on the first pitch he saw to end the inning. Tied at 2

It didn’t stay that way for long. Pollock was hit by a pitch with one out and went to second thanks to a single from Eduardo Escobar. Peralta then got his third RBI on the evening thanks to a single of his own, though Escobar was thrown out trying to go to third. Goldschmidt continued the stretch of singles by getting one of his own, and Peralta went to third. Souza Jr. scored Peralta on yet an other single, extending the lead back to two. Marte walked to load the bases, but Nick Ahmed struck out swinging to end the inning. 4-2 Diamondbacks

After that, both pitchers really settled in. Both teams went down in order in the fourth, with only one of the six outs not being a strike out. The fifth wasn’t quite as clean. Corbin gave up a single, but erased it thanks to a Pujols double play. In the bottom of the inning, Peralta got a double, putting himself a triple away from the cycle. He was stranded there after Goldy struck out and Souza popped out to short. Both pitchers finished their evenings with 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and handed the ball over to their bullpens.

That didn’t go quite as well as the Diamondbacks would have hoped. Yoshi Hirano came in and got two quick outs in the seventh. However, he gave up a two out home run to Jefry Marte and was pulled after that in favor of Andrew Chafin. As I pointed out in the GDT, Chafin didn’t walk the first hitter he faced, however, he did get the same end result, as he gave up a single and was promptly pulled from the game. Bradley came on to replace him, and immediately gave up a triple to David Fletcher, scoring the runner. He left Fletcher base thanks to a ground out from Pujols to keep the game tied at 4.

Bradley and Brad Boxberger recorded scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth respectively, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth with the tie still intact. Jon Jay lead off and was promptly hit by a pitch, as is becoming his signature way to get on base. Then the fun started. John Ryan Murphy, who had come in late in the game replacing Mathis behind the plate, tried to bunt him to second. He got down a good bunt, and it was good enough he was actually able to reach first in addition to moving the runner over. That brought up AJ Pollock, also trying to get down a sacrifice bunt. He got a sac bunt down, but the Angels reliever, Cam Bedrosian, threw to third. It went waaaaay wide, and Jay was able to walk home. Suddenly, Diamondbacks win. 5-4.

★★★ David Peralta, 29.6%

★★ Patrick Corbin 15.8%, Brad Boxberger 15.2%

★ AJ Pollock, 13.9%

355 comments spread between 24 of us tonight. As usual, DC lead the way with almost double second place. All present were:

AZDovs11, AzDbackfanInDc, DORRITO, DeadManG, GuruB, Imstillhungry95, Jack Sommers, Jackwriter, Jim McLennan, Johnneu, Keegan Thompson, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, Rockkstarr12, asteroid, coldblueAZ, david.munter, edbigghead, kilnborn, since_98, smartplays, suroeste

For the first time in weeks, you guys actually gave me a red comment to use for COTN and, in fact, you actually gave me two, so comment of the night goes to kilborn for this prayer to the Patron Saint of the Diamondbacks

The Rockies lost before the Diamondbacks’ game was over, and as I’m finishing this recap up, the Dodgers also lost, so Arizona’s lead over those two teams increases by a game each. Same time tomorrow, as the Dbacks look to complete the two-game sweep!