Snake Bytes 5/1: A Series Win, A Bogus Ump

Diamondbacks News:

[SI] Rockies blow out Diamondbacks 12-4

After such a promising start to his major league career last year, (3 starts, 1.47 ERA) and back to back quality starts on April 9th and 15th this year, Ryne Nelson is suddenly looking for answers amidst a sea of hard contact and hits. He gave up nine hits and six runs today in a blowout 12-4 loss to the Rockies.

[AZC] Ryne Nelson has another rough outing in Diamondbacks’ loss to Rockies

Right-hander Ryne Nelson allowed six runs in four innings on Sunday, his performance in a 12-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies representing the latest rough outing from a Diamondbacks starting pitcher this season.

Through six starts, Nelson has a 6.39 ERA. He has given up 15 runs his past 14 innings (three starts).

[MLB] Takeaways as D-backs drop finale against Rockies

“These guys play hard,” Lovullo said. “And I’m proud of what they did. They came in here and won a series. Like I said, there’s no throwaway games. To get to where we have to get to we have to find a way to play better on a Sunday day game. We’ll figure that out. But we won two out of three in a pretty uneven environment. It’s always scary coming in here. So we want them to enjoy the off-day tomorrow, and we’re onward to Texas.”

[AZS] D-backs thumped by Rockies in attempt for road sweep

With the win, the last-place Rockies avoided both their third sweep of the young season and tying the worst 29-game start in franchise history. The 12 runs were the most this season for Colorado, which came into the day with the fifth fewest runs in the majors.

[SI] What to expect from Dominic Fletcher

The one tool were he’s limited in is raw power. While Fletcher does a good job of keeping the ball off the ground, he isn’t as consistent at driving the ball on air contact. His average exit velocity on fly balls and line drives sits at 88.5 MPH, around the same speed of his 88.2 MPH mark on all balls put into play.

Baseball News:

[SBJ] Facilities: Early data shows not only increased MLB attendance with faster games, but improved F&B sales, too.

“I was skeptical at first because I’m a traditionalist,” said Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall, “and I think it’s the best thing our game has adapted to in a long time.”

[Walk off homer ends White Sox 10 game skid]

“I blacked out,” said Vaughn of his first walk-off hit. “I honestly don’t remember running the bases. That was a lot of fight. That was awesome. One of the most gritty baseball games I’ve seen in a long time.”

[STLToday] Goold: Cardinals traveled a long way to get nowhere, far from the team they need to be

“It’s hard to speak on what we need to do when I feel like I’m not playing my part the way I should,” said Arenado, whose average sank from .293 to .239 on the trip. “A lot of that falls on me. I’ve just been poor and have been really poor thus far. I think it’s just a mixture of things. Like when things are going bad, every little mistake we make – it haunts us. And we’re playing not to make a mistake, instead of playing freely.”