Turambar Recap, Up in the Pines: D-backs 4 Cubs 3

Hello, once again!

This recap is being composed up in the cool and tranquil pines of Northern Arizona. That’s right folks; while you all burn down south I’m sipping on a lovely cocktail outside with a gentle breeze caressing my majestic beard.

It’s lonely at the top.

Enough about me though, let’s get to this game!

Inning 1

• Excuse me all, I’m in the process of entertaining my father for dinner so watching the start of this game is challenging but not impossible. On that note both Davies and Smyly get through the 1st without too much of a challenge, though Davies certainly makes me wonder how long our good streak of starters with good starts will continue on. This aint 2020 or 2021, but we could certainly regress toward that.

Inning 2

• Davies strikes out the side in the 2nd, but no support just yet from our bats outside of Marte’s lonely double in the 1st and now Varsho’s lone double in the 2nd. (Yes I am catching up a bit from dinner ending, deal with it)

Inning 3

• Things get interesting here in the 3rd. Jason Heyward leads off the 3rd for the Cubs with a double, followed by a Villar single and then Vargas crushes a triple to center to make it a 0-2 Cubs games. Ortega keeps the fireworks going for the Cubs with a sac fly, and suddenly we’re in a 0-3 hole. Fun.
• This surprising Dbacks team though will not go quietly. Hummel kicks off our side of the 3rd with a 1-out triple, followed by a Marte double, a CWalk single and finally capped off by a Pavin Smith Double (so very close to leaving the yard) to tie things right back up. 3-3 and we got a whole new game folks.

Inning 4

• Looks like Davies has decided to calm down a bit here in the 4th, which is well timed since I’m pretty damned sure our offense isn’t gonna put up another crooked number in the bottom of this frame, though I’d love to be proven wrong.
• Looks like I’m correct, though I had expected no runs for us in the 4th. Still I’ll happily take a wild pitch scoring our buddy Rojas to make it 4-3 Dbacks.

Inning 5

• Wow, looks like Davies is very much settled in after the rocky 3rd as he throws a cool 1-2-3 inning. God I’m really starting to love our pitching.
• Our bats take a bit of a break here in the 5th, but I can feel that the team is finally starting or at least attempting to be consistent on the offensive side of things. They don’t have a Strom to lead them on, but something is starting to click.

Inning 6

• Davies ends his night with a K, walk and a K completing a very solid night of 5 & ²⁄₃ innings with 6K’s. Great night for the starting staff yet again and yet another reason for me to have hope this season. Let’s hope it continues.
• Dbats tease once more, but though our hero Rojas gets a leadoff single we enter in to the 7th with our tenuous lead. Nice to have a lead though. 4-3 Dbacks

Inning 7

• Kyle Nelson, who had come in relief for our hero Davies in the 6th, continues on the good vibes in the 7th. Thanks in large part to a very fortunate double play after giving up a leadoff single. Luck be a Dback tonight.
• Meh, guess not. Still that razor’s edge going in to the 8th.

Inning 8

• Our old compadre Ian Kennedy comes in to relieve Nelson and quickly gets the first 2 Cubbies out, and would have likely gone 1-2-3 were it not for an error by Perdomo. A walk to Ian Happ immediately thereafter makes this more dicey than I’d like. Ugghhhh. Ian juices the bases with a walk. Not ideal at all, but thanks be to the gods he gets the final out and we’re off to the bottom of the 8th and three more outs away from glory.
• 9 pitches is what it takes for Varsho to lead things off in the bottom of the 8th with a hit-by-pitch. All for not though as Rojas flies out, Ahmed strikes out and ...........Perdomo does a thing and we got Sneks on the corners with 2 outs. Meh, another offense tease, so we’re off to the 9th hoping to close things out.

Inning 9

• Our slightly/mostly frustrating closer Melancon comes in to put this game on ice.

Folks, this game is now in the deep freeze and we’re now enjoying another night over .500. Drink up, tips your servers and smoke em if you got em.

Night all!

4-3 Dbacks!

Bells and whistles, by Jim

• ABBA: Mark Melancon, +16.3%
• Bucks Fizz: Nelson, +13.4%; Marte, +12.8%; Kennedy, +12.1%; Rojas, +10.9%
• Nicole: Seth Beer, -14.7%
• Johnny Logan: Jordan Luplow, -12.1%

Comment of the thread to Michael, after Pavin Smith’s... interesting dive.

The same two teams go at it tomorrow, with a first pitch at 5:10 pm. Zac Gallen gets the start for the Diamondbacks.