After waiting in a short line for flautas and Spanish rice from Mi Casita, I sat back with some sangria and prepared to watch Mason Saunders Madison Bumgarner make his Diamondbacks debut. He was facing off against left-hander, Max Fried. It loked like it was going to be a good match-up.
1st Inning
Ender Inciarte led things off with a single, but Bumgarner needed only seven pitches to send the next three batters back to the bench. This would become a running theme in the game.
*****
The Diamondbacks went three up, three down.
ATL 0 - AZ 0
2nd Inning
Atlanta goes three up and three down, including two strikeouts.
*****
Things got fun in the second inning for Arizona. Eduardo Escobar led off the Diamondbacks’ half of the inning with a walk. He was followed by Carson Kelly who deposited a 2-2 offering from Fried in the left field bleachers. That was followed by back-to-back doubles from Kole Calhoun and Nick Ahmed. David Peralta singled, moving Ahmed to third. Bumgarner then sacrificed Peralta to second. Starling Marte contributed in his at-bat, lifting a fly ball to center that was deep enough to score Ahmed without a throw. Christian Walker then flew out to end the inning.
ATL 0 - AZ 4
3rd Inning
With two outs in the third, Inciarte was hit by a pitch. That was followed by a Dansby Swanson single on the first pitch, moving Inciarte to second. Then came Freddie Freeman, who also singled, scoring Inciarte. Ronald Acun battled his way to a walk. Finally, Bumgarner stopped the bleeding by retiring Johan Camargo.
*****
Despite getting slapped around in the second, Fried returned to the mound in the third. Ketel Marte greeted him by lacing the first pitch for a single. Escobar and Kellly followed that up with a pair of flyouts. That brought up Kole Calhoun, who clearly loves being at home in Arizona. He smashed a double down the right field line. Marte, taking an aggressive approach went for home and just beat the throw. Heads up running by Calhoun allowed him to take third on the throw home. That brought an end to Fried’s day. Shane Greene came on to pitch and induced a groundball out from Peralta to end the inning.
ATL 1 - AZ 5
4th Inning
Bumgarner was the model of efficiency in the fourth, needing only three pitches to record three outs.
*****
A one-out double by Starling Marte was followed by a walk to Christian Walker. Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks were unable to capitalize and failed to score in the inning.
ATL 1 - AZ 5
5th Inning
Atlanta made the curious decision to have Greene hit for himself, leading off the Atlanta half of the fifth. He struck out. This was followed by a single by Inciarte. Bumgarner then proceeded to strike out the next two Braves, resulting in another goose egg being thrown on the scoreboard.
*****
Carson Kelly managed to draw a walk to lead off the Diamondbacks’ fifth inning. Calhoun and Ahmed then both struck out before David Peralta came through in the clutch, clubbing an RBI triple down the right field line. He was stranded at third, as Greene managed to strike out Bumgarner to end the inning.
ATL 1 -AZ 6
6th Inning
Bumgarner continued to make quick work of the Braves, needing only six pitches for another three up, three down performance by Atlanta.
*****
Mark Melancn was brought in to face the top of the Diamondbacks order. Starling Marte singled to center on the first pitch he saw. He advanced to second on a wild pitch by Melancon. Christian Walker then flew out to left field. Ketel Marte moved Starling Marte over to third with a groundball to the right side. Starling Marte then scored on a single by Escobar. Kelly then grounded to short, resulting in an easy force at second to end the inning.
ATL 1- AZ 7
7th Inning
Adieny Hechavarria led off the seventh by sending an 0-2 pitch into the gap in left center for a double. He then tagged up on a deep fly to center. With one out, Markakis flew out to Peralta in left, but not deep enough to score Hechavarria. Unfortunately, that brought up Inciarte, who seemed to have Bumgarner’s number . Inciarte sent Bumgarner’s offering right back up the box into center to score Hechavarria from third. Dansby Swanson then grounded out to second.
*****
After the stretch and more sangria, Melancon returned to the mound for the Braves. He made quick work of the Diamondbacks in a one, two, three inning.
ATL 2- AZ 7
8th Inning
Bumgarner needed only three pitched to get two more fly outs to Peralta in left. THis brought up Camargo. With two outs in the inning, Camargo took a 1-1 Bumgarner offering 370 feet into left, just clearing the wall for a solo shot. The braves were still high fiving Camargo in the dugout when Ozuna followed that up with a 382 foot tater of his own. Hechavarria then ended the inning with a flyout to the warning track in left. That would bring an end to the Atlanta eighth and also to Bumgarner’s day on the mound. He finished the day with eight full innings, six strikeouts, and one walk.
*****
A.J. Minter came on to pitch for the Braves in the eighth. The Diamondbacks again went three up, three down.
ATL 4 - AZ 7
9th Inning
Archie Bradley took the mound in the ninth, looking to pick up an easy save, Travis d’Arnaud led off the inning with a single. Austin Riley was then called on to pinch hit. He took Bradley to the wall in right center for a double. This sent the slow-footed d’Arnaud to third. Then, with Inciarte at the plate, Bradley, for the second time in two nights, uncorked a wild pitch, allowing d’Arnaud to score and letting Riley take third. Inciarte then slapped another single to center, scoring Riley. This brought an end to Bradley’s night. Andrew Chafin was then called upon by Virtual Lovullo. Blissfully, he managed to make short work of the next three batters, no muss no fuss.
Final score: ATL 6 - AZ 7
The player of the game was Ender Inciarte who went 4-for-4 with two RBI. This brings the Diamondbacks to 1-1 on the season. They will be sending Zac Gallen to the mound tomorrow to face off against Mike Foltynewicz.