Snake Bytes 5/11: Home Cooking

Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Miami Marlins 2

[D’backs.com] Weaver gets ‘revenge’ as D-backs snap skid - From the first pitch Luke Weaver threw Monday night, Torey Lovullo knew it was going to be a good night. “I saw an aggressive fastball from the first one that he threw,” the D-backs’ manager said. “And I saw some intensity from the first pitch of the game on, and I could tell this had the potential to be a little bit different, and it was.” Yes, it was, as Weaver held the Marlins scoreless through 6 1/3 innings while allowing four hits and striking out six batters, snapping the D-backs’ six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at Chase Field. It was quite a 180-degree turn from five days ago, when Weaver faced this very same Marlins team in Miami. By the time he had thrown 59 pitches in that game, Weaver had allowed six runs and it was just the second inning. This time, he didn’t hit the 59-pitch mark until the sixth inning.

[Arizona Sports] Luke Weaver goes scoreless vs. Marlins as D-backs snap losing streak - The offense also did its job with a three-run third propelled by a two-run double from third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera. A passed ball by catcher Chad Wallach extended Arizona’s lead to 4-0. “Offensively, I think we slugged a couple times with runners in scoring position and I’ve been specifically been talking about that,” Lovullo said. “It was Cabrera with the big double down the right field line. It was approach after approach, waiting for our pitch and driving the baseball.” A Christian Walker double in the fifth pushed the game firmly out of reach. With five runs through five innings, Arizona surpassed their run total from their three-game series against the Marlins (four) earlier this month. It marked the first time since May 2 the D-backs scored at least five runs in a game. “I felt like we did score the five runs, we could have scored some more. But look, after a grinding six-game losing streak, this is a great win,” Lovullo said. “The guys deserve to feel good about this one, they should. We gotta continue this thing moving in the right direction.”

[AZ Central] ‘Enough was enough’: Diamondbacks end losing streak behind Weaver’s strong outing against Marlins - In shutting down the Miami Marlins en route to a 5-2 victory at Chase Field, Weaver helped the Diamondbacks stop a six-game losing streak. He also stopped his own skid of rough outings. “I think enough was enough,” Weaver said.

Arizona Diamondbacks News

[D’backs.com] Carroll stays hot for Hops - Corbin Carroll’s Monday was already good after one game of a doubleheader. The nightcap took it to great. Baseball’s No. 38 overall prospect continued his hot start to the season, going 3-for-3 with a double and a walk in his team’s opener, then adding a homer and another walk in the finale as High-A Hillsboro swept a doubleheader at Eugene, 6-2 and 2-0. “He’s just exceptionally talented, honestly,” Hillsboro hitting coach K.C. Judge said on Monday night. “He’s one of the easier guys to coach because he’s so advanced for such a young age. We’ll have discussions and he’ll kind of bounce things off me that he’s working on, but really it’s just I’m in the cage, throwing to him or feeding the machine and letting him get his work in and kind of watching. He does some really special things in his swing, some things that are just innate and really special. That’s creating the environment to him to blossom in.”

Around the League

[MLB.com] Zimmermann retires with hometown Brewers - This time, he’s sure. Jordan Zimmermann is retiring from Major League Baseball. Zimmermann, the pride of Auburndale, Wis., and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, who made a pair of All-Star teams with the Nationals, twice garnered National League Cy Young Award votes and once led the NL in wins before struggling to shoulder the expectations of a $110 million contract with Detroit, made the announcement on Tuesday morning via the Brewers, the team he cheered on as a boy. He’d signed a Minor League deal with his home-state team in February to attempt a comeback, but pitched only twice for the Brewers in relief before hanging up his spikes for good. Zimmermann’s announcement came 12 days shy of his 35th birthday.

[MLB Trade Rumors] Mariners Expected To Promote Jarred Kelenic This Week - The Mariners are expected to promote star outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic on Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. The plan is for Kelenic to be up for the beginning of the Mariners’ series against the Indians. This is much-anticipated news for the Mariners and their fans, as the 21-year-old has done nothing but thrive in the minors since they acquired him from the Mets in the pre-2019 Edwin Diaz/Robinson Cano blockbuster. The Mets used the sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft on Kelenic, who has since batted a superb .294/.370/.523 with 31 home runs in 771 minor league plate appearances. He’s off to a dazzling .444/.500/.778 start with two home runs in his first 20 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

[Clutch Points] Pirates and Reds involved in hilarious standoff - There’s nothing that’ll get your squad more fired up than winning a pre-game standoff against someone from the opposing team in the MLB. Reds infielder Alex Blandino squared off against Pirates pitcher Luis Oviedo in this epic standoff. Both players stood frozen to their spots after the national anthem concluded in front of their respective dugouts. The Pirates literally took the field and we were warming up as Blandino and Oviedo stood firm to their position while keeping their hand over their heart as if the anthem was still going on. The battle lasted over two minutes which given the scenario, likely felt like an eternity. Oviedo looked uneasy at about the one minute mark as Blandino stayed as still as a statue. Then near the end it seemed as though Blandino would bow out first as the MLB home plate umpire for the game yelled and implored both to leave the field. In the end, the Reds came out on top in the standoff as Blandino edged out Oviedo and Cincinnati won the game in dominating fashion.