Snake Bytes 6/30: Greinke’d

Arizona Diamondbacks 4, San Francisco Giants 3

[D’backs.com] Escobar has starring role in duel with Giants - Maybe Ketel Marte will have some company in Cleveland. When reserves for the July 9 All-Star Game are named Sunday, don’t be surprised if D-backs third baseman Eduardo Escobar is added to the National League squad. Escobar is an expert in the art of driving in runs, as he has proven all season -- including Saturday, when he snapped a scoreless tie with a seventh-inning RBI single that helped the D-backs outlast the San Francisco Giants, 4-3. Escobar stroked three singles and collected his 64th RBI, maintaining his ranking among the league’s top 10 in that category. Colorado’s Nolan Arenado is the NL’s only third baseman with more. Escobar’s other credentials include a .291 batting average and 18 homers, giving him a decent chance to experience the Midsummer Classic with Marte, his D-backs teammate who’s also the NL’s starting All-Star second baseman.

[Arizona Sports] Zack Greinke pitches gem in Diamondbacks win over Giants - Greinke (9-3) struck out six and didn’t walk a batter in another dominant outing. The right-hander allowed only one runner past first base and got the Giants to hit into a pair of double plays while extending his scoreless streak on the road to 22.1 innings. He gave up five hits... Arizona stranded seven runners in the first five innings against Drew Pomeranz and had a runner tagged out trying to score in the seventh before breaking through against reliever Sam Dyson (2-1).

[AZ Central] Zack Greinke cruises, Arizona Diamondbacks get past San Francisco Giants - Greinke barely seemed to break a sweat. He allowed only a handful of baserunners, and those who did reach often were summarily erased. It felt like many of his starts this season; despite working with a fastball that averages around 90 mph, he has often managed to make the burden of retiring 18 or more hitters every five days look almost effortless. “I would say that my command has been really good this year,” Greinke said. “That makes it seem that way a little bit more so. You’re throwing the ball where you want and that takes away a lot of the stress. You’re able to throw it where you want, multiple pitches where you want, so that makes it nice.”

Diamondbacks News

[MLB.com] Saturday’s top prospect performers - D-backs: Domingo Leyba, 2B (No. 24) --5-for-6, 2 HR, 6 RBI (Triple-A Reno) Leyba could not be stopped on Saturday night, setting career highs in hits, home runs and RBIs as the Aces poured on the offense in a 20-9 victory at Las Vegas. The 23-year-old had a short stint on the big league roster this season and made his MLB debut, but he’s spent most of his time in Reno. While with the Aces in the hitter-friendly PCL, Leyba has his best slugging percentage since his first pro season in the Dominican Summer League back in 2013. This game on its own raised his slugging percentage by nearly 30 points, as he picked up his first RBIs since June 15.

[AZ Central] Jon Duplantier’s MRI ‘went well’ but Diamondbacks are no closer to timetable - Right-hander Jon Duplantier’s most recent MRI produced an encouraging image, Torey Lovullo said, but the Diamondbacks manager said the club is no closer to knowing when Duplantier might return from the injured list. Duplantier, who said after his June 11 start in Philadelphia that he felt discomfort in his arm, was diagnosed with the team called “right shoulder inflammation.” He underwent another MRI on Friday to track his progress. “It went well; it was a productive MRI,” Lovullo said. “It showed exactly what we wanted it to. But we are still determining what the next steps are at this point. What we’re going to do over the next couple of days is figure out when to ramp up the throwing program. I know there’s a few people that want to weigh in on the decision of what’s going on.”

Around the League

[ESPN] Union jacks: Yanks outslug Red Sox 17-13 in U.K. - Apparently, there was only one way the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox felt they could introduce baseball to the United Kingdom: with runs -- plenty of them. It took both teams very little time to flex their offensive power Saturday, plating a combined 12 runs by the end of the opening inning of this weekend’s two-game series at London Stadium. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, it’s the first time in the history of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry that both teams have scored six runs in the first inning of a series game. Nearly five hours later, when it was all over, the Yankees had held on for a 17-13 victory in a game that featured 37 hits and no errors. Aroldis Chapman was the last of the 16 pitchers used by both teams to take the mound, nailing down the win on pitch No. 422.

[MLB Trade Rumors] Cubs DFA Carlos Gonzalez, Place Cole Hamels On IL, Recall Dillon Maples, Rowan Wick - The scene in the Cubs clubhouse Friday suggested a DFA was coming for Carlos Gonzalez, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter), who noted Gonzalez receiving handshakes and hugs from teammates. CarGo indeed was put on waivers earlier today, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The team has officially announced the move, along with a trio of corresponding roster moves: Cole Hamels goes on the 10-day injured list, while relievers Rowan Wick and Dillon Maples have been recalled from Triple-A. The Cubs would like to send Gonzalez to the minors, per Heyman, though he would first have to go unclaimed, and second accept the assignment. If he does go unclaimed, the writing would be on the wall for Gonzalez, who then might be willing to accept a minor league assignment to stay in the Cubs organization.

[MLB.com] Cool, calm, nearly perfect: McKay wows in debut - The southpaw went on to retire the first 16 hitters he faced, tossing six scoreless innings to lead the Rays to a 5-2 win over the Rangers. McKay allowed one hit and one walk, and he struck out three. “It was fun to watch,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “The way he carried himself, it was kind of unflappable. You would not have thought, if you just picked up and turned on the TV, that that was his first Major League start. He picked us up in a big way.” McKay lost his perfect game bid with one out in the sixth inning on a Danny Santana blooper into right field. The fans responded with a standing ovation.