Diamondbacks 7, Rockies 2 :

Madison Bumgarner came to the ballpark tonight feeling a little under the weather. (Not Covid) and looked a little shaky to start this one. But he gutted through the early innings and ended his night in dominating fashion. The offense broke out in the 3rd inning to score 4 runs and tacked on 3 more later in the game and the bullpen did a good job closing it out for the second night in a row.

Bumgarner got two quick outs on a popup and a strikeout to start the game. But Trevor Story hit a soft line into the left centerfield gap that resulted in a Double, and C.J. Cron drove him in with a sharp single through the hole into left field to make it 1-0 Rockies. A long at bat from Charlie Blackmon followed before he finally popped out. Bumgarner had to throw 22 pitches in the inning and just 12 were strikes, including the two base hits.

Madbum had to work around baserunners in the 2nd and third and thanks to a 10 pitch at bat from Trevor Story the Rockies worked the pitch count to 58 through three. But it was definitely a bend but not break situation.

The offense broke through in the 3rd, bringing 9 men to the plate. Bumgarner helped himself out with a leadoff single to left. A Pavin Smith fly out was followed by a force out from Josh VanMeter. But with two outs Asdrubal Cabrera hit a ground ball just fair down the first base line that made it all the way into the corner, allowing VanMeter to come around to score. David Peralta then lined a single to center scoring Cabrera and giving the D-backs 2-1 lead. Carson Kelly jumped on the first pitch he saw and lined a single to center as well, this one 103 MPH off the bat. Eduardo Escobar followed with the 4^thstraight two out hit, smoking the ball into center scoring Peralta. Nick Ahmed then reached on a throwing error by 3^rd baseman Josh Fuentes, scoring Kelly. Josh Rojas finally grounded out to end the inning with the D-backs up 4-1. Here’s some of the fun for your viewing pleasure !

Bumgarner had a quick 11 pitch shut down 4th inning, allowing just a two out single. In the bottom of the inning Pavin Smith hit a one out triple down the line into the right field corner and came in to score on another two out base hit from Cabrera bringing the score to 5-1.

In the top of the 5th Bumgarner punctuated his outing by striking out the side in dominating fashion, finishing up with a 93 MPH four seamer at the top fo the zone that NL homerun leader Ryan McMahon swung through for the final out of the inning. That was the end of Bumgarner’s night, as Torey opted to go to the pen with just 81 pitches thrown from Madison. Torey felt he emptied his tank in this inning and having run the bases earlier and coming in not feeling great to begin with he had asked enough of his newfound ace. Madbum was on board with this direction and agreed he knew he was likely done and emptied the tank in the 5th. He sniffled and sounded horse during his post game press conference. He didn’t really appreciate some of the prying into his condition and symptoms, stating he’d already seen a real doctor. He passed all the protocols before the game and there was no concern from him or his manager that this was Covid. He did mention that whatever it was, (he referred to it as allergies) seemed to be passing around the clubhouse. So something to keep an eye on nonetheless. Bumgarner’s final line was 5 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 K’s. It was his 3rd excellent outing in a row and is a much welcome and exciting revival.

Taylor Clarke worked an inning and a third, striking out a batter for the 26th straight relief appearance as a Diamondback, which is a team record. He did allow a base hit to Fuentes and who advanced to 2nd on a deep fly. Clarke was then relieved by Alex Young. Pinch hitter Raimel Tapia dunked a ball into left to score fuentes but Young shut it down from there, retiring the next 5 hitters through the 8th inning.

In the bottom of the 8th, Josh Rojas launched an opposite field two run blast, his second homer in two nights to bring the tally to 7-2.

Matt Peacock pitched a scoreless 9th and the Diamondbacks improved their record to 14-12, winning their 9th game in their last 11. They’re , in 4th place in the NL West, ¹⁄₂ game back of the Padres, & 1 Back of L.A. and 2 back of the Giants, who both lost tonight.

Fangraphs Box Score

Bob Woodward: Asdrubal Cabrera. +.205 WPA, ( Double, Single 2 RBI, 2 Walks)

Carl Bernstein: Madison Bumgarner + .115 WPA, (5 IP, 1 Run allowed)

Richard Nixon: Josh VanMeter. -.088 (0 for 5)

Another quiet thread, although understandable. Suns and Coyotes in action and and Day 2 of the NFL draft were distractions I presume. Plus several pitters were at the game tonight

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Commenter list AzDbackfanInDc, Diamondhacks, GuruB, Jack Sommers, Jim McLennan, Keegan Thompson, Michael McDermott, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, NikT77, Preston Salisbury, Smurf1000, Snake_Bitten, edbigghead, gzimmerm, kilnborn, since_98

They’re back at it again tomorrow night, 5:10 Arizona Time. Zac Gallen will face Austin Gomber as the D-back look to clinch the series win.