Snake Bytes, 7/3: Enough Sho is Enough

Recaps

[SI] Homers Sink Gallen in Diamondbacks Loss to Angels - Zac Gallen motioned with his glove for catcher Carson Kelly to come out to the mound... They settled on a fastball, which Gallen missed away with. The next pitch was a curveball down in the lower half of the zone, but not low enough, and Moniak lifted it to straight away center for a three run homer, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead. That turned out to be decisive moment in a 5-2 loss for the D-backs. Gallen said afterwards "We just didn't execute really. We were on the right page. I think the pitch selection was fine, just pitch location was off. I think he does a lot of damage in the zone."

[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks burnt by early home runs in loss to Angels - [Gallen] struck out six batters through two frames but allowed four runs on two homers. Mike Trout took him deep off a cutter in the first, and Mickey Moniak hit a three-run shot off a knuckle curveball with two outs in the second. From there, Gallen allowed one hit through the seventh inning, tying a season-high 12 strikeouts. He retired 14 batters in a row at a point to keep the D-backs in the game. Gallen’s fastball was up to 94.3 mph, and he leaned on it to get 12 swings and misses with only seven balls in play.

[AZ Central] Angels slug their way past Diamondbacks in Anaheim - It was the fourth time in five games in which the Diamondbacks scored three runs or less. It was also the fourth consecutive game in which they played mostly without their best hitter, Corbin Carroll, who has been dealing with a shoulder issue since Thursday. Carroll left that game on Thursday after just two at-bats and was unavailable on Friday and Saturday. He returned to action on Sunday, grounding out as a pinch hitter in the ninth, and “most likely” will return to the starting lineup, Lovullo said, when the Diamondbacks are back in action on Tuesday night against the New York Mets.

Team news

[Dbacks.com] Gallen, Gurriel Jr. join Carroll as All-Stars - Lovullo made it clear that he had no issues with the players who did make the team instead of Marte -- Miami’s Luis Arraez will start at second base, and Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies was selected as a backup -- but the skipper felt like Marte certainly deserved it, as well. “It’s a little bit frustrating,” Lovullo said. “When you add up everything -- what Ketel has meant to this team and the way he’s performed and played, he is an All-Star.”

[AZ Central] Zac Gallen, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. join Corbin Carroll as Diamondbacks All-Stars - “We’re so proud of that,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “I feel like we could have had more, to be honest with you. We’re in a very good space. We’re in a good spot. When you have good players, you win baseball games. Those three All-Stars are a major reason why we are where we are.”... “Almost every player thinks about this,” Gurriel said in Spanish, as translated by coach Rolando Valles. “It’s an amazing thing that this is happening to me.”

[Burn City Sports] Diamondbacks prospect Yu-Min Lin shines in High-A - Over his past 28 innings, Min Lin has allowed just three earned runs and has struck out 41 batters in this span. Lin’s fastball may not blow by a batter, but his changeup and curveballs combine to produce an extremely high strikeout rate. In his start on June 3rd, he threw five innings of one-hit ball, displaying their deadly strikeout ability. With only 74 pitches, Lin struck out 13 of the first 17 batters. At only 19 years old, Yu-Min Lin may emerge as a critical player in the Diamondbacks decision-making process heading into the upcoming trade deadline

And, elsewhere...

[MLB.com] 9 unlikely All-Stars on this year’s rosters - The difficult part of predicting which players are going to have big years before the regular season begins is that it never entirely works out the way you anticipate. Many stars will, indeed, go on to have the types of seasons we all expect. Others, however, will struggle, and on the flip side of the coin, players who we never thought would be stars emerge with great performances. This season is no exception, and now that the All-Star rosters have been revealed for the 93rd Midsummer Classic, which will take place at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park on July 11, here’s a look at nine players you likely didn’t foresee being named All-Stars.

[Reddit] The Oakland A’s got their 22nd win on June 30th - As such, they are now mathematically certain to have a better winning percentage than the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. The 1899 Spiders went 20-134, for a winning percentage of 12.98%. The A’s also won on July 1st. They will avoid being the second worst team of all-time if they win five more games, at which point they would surpass the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenies.

[Reddit] Reigning Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara has already allowed more earned runs this season (59) than he did all of last year (58).

• 2022 Sandy Alcantara - 32 GS, 228.2 IP, 58 ER, 2.28 ERA
• 2023 Sandy Alcantara - 17 GS, 107.2 IP, 59 ER, 4.93 ERA

Mercy Falls (2023)

Rating: B-

Dir: Ryan Hendrick

Star: Lauren Lyle, Nicolette McKeown, James Watterson, Layla Kirk

“Come to beautiful Scotland! And die!” I remain a sucker for a Scottish film. This delivers, with no shortage of rugged mountain landscapes, beautiful lochs, a ceilidh band and trees. So. Many. Trees. The foliage is understandable, because most of it takes places in the woods, where Rhona (Lyle) and her friends are looking for a cabin, deep in the wilds, which belonged to her late father. To help find it, they enlist the help of local Carla (McKeown), whom they meet down the pub when they have a pre-trip planning get-together. She initially seems fun to be with. But once they’re away from civilization, a shocking incident proves she… has issues, shall we say. And might not be the only one in the party.

The “trip into the woods goes wrong” subgenre of horror has been a staple of the industry for decades – not least because, it’s cheap to do. Why bother with expensive sets, when you can just run around a forest for the bulk of your running time? [Though from previous conversations with Scottish film-makers, the dreaded blood-sucking local insects know as midges, might make that choice of location a decision to regret!] There’s not a lot new in this incarnation of it. Having the threat come from inside the party is a moderate twist, as is having both leads being women. But horror, generally, isn’t something which requires innovation. It’s considerably more about the execution. Or, perhaps, the executionS.

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