Snake Bytes 9/15: Easy Breezy

Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Cincinnati Reds 0

[D’backs.com] D-backs manage 1 baserunner -- and win - From the first day he gets his hands on position players at Spring Training, D-backs first base/baserunning coach Dave McKay begins hammering home a theme: You run hard out of the box, and you run until the other team stops you. Simple? Maybe so, but it’s not something that every player in the game does. And every so often, it can be the difference between winning and losing a game. Take, for example, the D-backs’ 1-0 win over the Reds on Saturday night at Chase Field. Arizona managed just one hit, one total baserunner, all night. And yet, because shortstop Nick Ahmed was running hard out of the box, it proved to be enough to win the game, snap a six-game losing streak and keep the D-backs’ hopes of a postseason berth alive.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks snap six-game losing skid despite managing just one baserunner vs. Reds - “If I was going to predict that was the only run we’d score today,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said, “I would have been a little surprised. But it stood up. I’ve never been a part of a game like that and won the baseball game.” To be fair, not many managers in baseball history have been a part of games like that. There is only one other instance in MLB since at least 1900 where a team has registered just one baserunner and won the game. They are the first team to do so in a nine-inning game. It was just the second time in Diamondbacks history that they have been one-hit and still came out with a victory.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ one baserunner is somehow enough to beat Reds - [Merrill] Kelly was lights out for the D-backs in his 30th start of the season. After giving up a pair of singles to Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez in the first inning, Kelly got stingy. He stayed ahead of batters all night, and his efficiency gave the bullpen a much-needed break. The only baserunners he allowed after the first inning was Freddy Galvis in the second and fifth on walks and Aristides Aquino off a single in the seventh.

Diamondbacks News

[The Athletic] Boston who? With a contract extension, the Diamondbacks ensure Mike Hazen isn’t going anywhere - [Mike Hazen] wanted to stay in Arizona – before there was an opening in Boston and afterward – because he feels he hasn’t yet done what he set out to do here. “I feel like we have a lot of unfinished business here together,” Hazen said, “something that we started, something that we as a group are extremely passionate about – making this organization as successful as it can be.” Even that unfinished business has been met with praise. As Hazen’s name popped up on list after list of possible Dombrowski successors, it was accompanied by glowing reviews of his efforts with the Diamondbacks.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks signal era of stability with GM Mike Hazen’s contract extension - The contract extension the Diamondbacks gave Mike Hazen maintains stability for an organization accustomed to upheaval, and it caps what has been a very good stretch for the club’s third-year general manager. In a 12-month span, Hazen has traded away stars Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Greinke in deals that were widely lauded by the industry. He has restocked the club’s prospect inventory, taking it from a farm system ranked near the bottom of baseball to one some say belongs in the Top 10.

Around the League

[CBS Sports] MLB teams that could benefit the most and least from the remaining schedule as playoff races heat up - Given that a modest number of games are left in the 2019 MLB regular season, you can see some pretty stark disparities when it comes to remaining strength of schedule. Those disparities, as such, could play a determinative role in who winds up snagging those remaining playoff berths.

[MLB.com] Looking at some crazy tiebreaker scenarios - Scenario 1: The six-way tie for two Wild Card spots! Technically, it could happen in the NL. It would require the Nationals to stumble and the D-backs to surge. Let’s set the bar at 85 wins at season’s end. In that scenario, here’s how the six teams would need to fare the rest of the way: Nationals: 4-11; Cubs: 5-9; Brewers: 6-8; Phillies: 9-6; Mets: 8-6; D-backs: 9-4 If that happened (Spoiler: it won’t, but we’re trying to have fun here), MLB would certainly want to keep travel to a minimum and prevent division winners from sitting around any longer than necessary. So a round robin in which each team plays the others at least once unfortunately wouldn’t be practical. An alternative would be to expand the established procedure for a three-team tie (for one spot) and, basically, double it. No, it wouldn’t be especially fair for all involved, but that’s why you shouldn’t get yourself into this mess!

[Sports Illustrated] At 43, Lew Ford’s Never-Ending Career Keeps Rolling as Player-Coach - The first time Lew Ford thought his professional baseball career had reached its end came 1,911 games, 11 teams, five leagues, three countries and 18 years ago. Back then, he was a 24-year-old outfielder buried in the Minnesota Twins’ farm system, frustrated that his first taste of Double A had gone so poorly in 2001. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in math and computer science and living in Austin, Tx., he figured he could get a good-paying job with one of the local tech companies—one that would allow him to settle down and raise a family instead of playing for pennies. But before he gave up on the big leagues, he talked to his wife, Corri, about what the future might hold. They agreed that he’d give baseball one more shot.