Snake Bytes 8/15: Carpe Diem

If you did not participate in or read last night’s GDT comments, allow me to share a few of my favorites:

In no particular order, these are some of my favorite comments because we can all relate. It is moments like what Tyler Gilbert provided last night that make you fall in love with the game of baseball all over again.

It has been a difficult season for the Arizona Diamondbacks and diehard fans like all of us in this community. Hell, pan out a little further and we would all agree it has been a difficult last year and a half of life in general. How many days do you wake up in the morning dreading doing the same thing that you did yesterday? It feels mundane. You get stuck in the day to day routine. That applies to baseball players too regardless of if they are the best or worst team in baseball. If they’re the best, it is that daily grind, playing through injury, hoping that they can win it all at the end of the season. If they’re the worst, it is difficult to put on the spikes in anticipation of yet another loss.

But if you take it for granted, you miss out on moments such as what Tyler Gilbert provided last night both in life and the game of baseball. It didn’t matter that he was a minor league Rule 5 draft pick. It didn’t matter that he did not pitch as a professional in 2020. It didn’t matter that he was an electrician last summer. It didn’t matter that he was making his first MLB start. He seized the moment and provided a memory that will never be forgotten for himself, his family, the Arizona Diamondbacks, fans of the franchise, and of the game overall.

Carpe diem. You never know when something incredible is going to happen on any given day. Give it all you’ve got and make something memorable happen.

Arizona Diamondbacks 7, San Diego Padres 0

[Dbacks.com] In 1st MLB start, Gilbert hurls no-no - A year ago, with the Minor League season having been canceled, Tyler Gilbert was working as an electrician in Northern California. On Saturday night at Chase Field, the D-backs left-hander etched himself into the record books as he threw a no-hitter in his first big league start in the D-backs’ 7-0 victory over the Padres. Gilbert allowed three walks in the game, all to leadoff hitter Tommy Pham, while striking out five and throwing 102 pitches. Gilbert became just the fourth player to throw a no-hitter in his first career start. The last pitcher to do it was Bobo Holloman in 1953. The other two happened before 1900.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ Tyler Gilbert throws franchise’s 1st no-hitter since 2010 - This is the first no-hitter in the Diamondbacks history since June 25, 2010 when Edwin Jackson threw 149 pitches in a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays. Gilbert, a Southern California product, was drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2015 MLB Draft. He joined the D-backs’ Triple affiliate, Reno Aces, this year and was called up by the organization on Aug. 3 of this season.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks’ Tyler Gilbert throws no-hitter in first career start - “I was aware in, like, the fifth inning,” Gilbert told MLB Network after the game, “but (Padres hitters) were hitting balls at (defenders) really hard, and other guys were missing it ... it was a rush.” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo agreed with Gilbert’s assessment of the fortunate series of events that led to the historic result. “We were in the right place at the right time and made the plays and it equaled a no-hitter,” Lovullo said in his post-game interview.

[ESPN] Arizona Diamondbacks’ Tyler Gilbert tosses MLB’s eighth no-hitter of the season in first start - The Chicago Cubs threw the majors’ most recent no-hitter with a combined effort June 24. The other no-hitters this year were thrown by San Diego’s Joe Musgrove (April 9), Carlos Rodon of the Chicago White Sox (April 14), Baltimore’s John Means (May 5), Cincinnati’s Wade Miley (May 7), Detroit’s Spencer Turnbull (May 18) and the New York Yankees’ Corey Kluber (May 19). In addition, Arizona’s Madison Bumgarner pitched a seven-inning hitless game in a doubleheader on April 25 that is not recognized as a no-hitter by Major League Baseball. Most of those gems were thrown before MLB cracked down on the use of sticky foreign substances by pitchers in late June.

Around the League

[NBC Sports] Sale makes first appearance since 2019; Sox pound O’s 16-2 - Chris Sale wanted to take it all in. He has a new outlook on his big league career. Bolstered by Sale’s first major league appearance in two years, the Boston Red Sox hit five homers while pounding Baltimore 16-2 on Saturday, handing the Orioles their 10th straight loss. “When I stepped out of the dugout, I knew there was going to be something, I wasn’t expecting all that,” Sale said. “I was just trying to soak in moments. This isn’t going to last forever.” The 32-year-old Sale completed his return from Tommy John surgery by pitching five innings, giving up two runs on consecutive homers by Austin Hays and Trey Mancini in the third. Relying mostly on his sharp slider, the lanky left-hander struck out eight and walked none. “Today was a special day for me and a lot of other people,” he said. “Like I said, this game was ripped out of my hands. I had a hole in my chest for two years. I’ll be completely honest, I took days for granted. … Through all of this I’ve had a huge perspective change. I can tell you one thing, I’m not wasting another day of my big league career.”

[MLB Trade Rumors] Giants Reinstate Evan Longoria From 60-Day Injured List - Evan Longoria is back with the Giants, as the team announced that the veteran third baseman has been activated off of the 60-day injured list... Longoria suffered a sprained shoulder in early June, which halted a major comeback year for the 35-year-old. After posting a below-average 94 wRC+ from 2017-2020, Longoria exploded for a 140 wRC+, nine home runs, and a .280/.376/.516 slash line over his first 186 plate appearances of the 2021 season.

[Fox News] FOX Sports’ Field of Dreams broadcast most-watch regular season MLB game since 2005 - Baseball fans from all over tuned in to watch the New York Yankees play the Chicago White Sox in the Hollywood-inspired Field of Dreams game Thursday night, making it the most-watched regular-season game in 16 years... According to FOX Sports PR, Thursday’s game set a record for the most-viewed regular-season game since 2005 when the Yankees took on the Boston Red Sox in a contest that drew in 5,909,000 viewers.

[The Washington Post] Dodgers star Trevor Bauer, on leave amid assault probe, was subject of previous protection order - Trevor Bauer, the star Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher under investigation on allegations of sexual assault in California, was the subject of a temporary order of protection sought by a different woman last year, according to sealed court records reviewed by The Washington Post. An Ohio woman sought the order in June 2020 after repeated threats from the then-Cincinnati Reds pitcher, according to her lawyer and records separately obtained by The Post. Photographs independently obtained by The Post also show bruises on the woman’s face and blood in her eyes, which her attorney said were caused by Bauer punching and choking her during sex without consent. Those allegations are similar to ones made by a woman in Los Angeles this summer when she applied for a temporary restraining order.