Recaps

[Dbacks.com] Sewald finally celebrates in D-backs garb - A huge crowd of 41,351 turned out to watch, creating some enthusiasm early on. “The first thing I noticed when I came out of the dugout was the crowd,” said first baseman Christian Walker. “And it changes everything. That’s home-field advantage, in my opinion — the crowd on your side and booing the other team and cheering for us. It was exactly what we needed to help us pull our way out of this.”

[Arizona Sports] Zac Gallen deals as D-backs snap nine game losing streak - Gallen threw his first scoreless outing since May 30. He went six innings, gave up just four hits, walked only one batter and struck out eight. He threw 98 pitches, 66 of them for strikes and lowered his earned run average from 3.37 entering the day to 3.24 after his start. “Starting to feel a little bit more like how I want to feel,” Gallen said. “But still didn’t feel 1,000% great. But I feel like I had pretty decent feel. There’s always stuff to improve on so I’m going to watch the video but yeah, felt solid.”

[SI] D-backs Snap Losing Streak Behind Zac Gallen’s Strong Outing - All they can do now is keep playing one day at a time. Asked about this mindset after today's victory and whether the win might be the start of something, Gallen was refreshingly realistic. "Yeah, I mean I hope obviously it's the start of something. We have a tough road ahead of us. We have to play some really good teams in the next two months. Obviously everyone in there hopes that it's the start of something good. We're going to have to earn it....Nobody is going to give it to us"

[AZ Central] Gallen leads Diamondbacks past Padres to break losing streak - “It was everything I had hoped for,” Lovullo said. “It was that dynamic approach where we were unpredictable. Look away, hit away; next at-bat, maybe cheat in. We just had some really quality approaches all game on.” Thanks to Gallen and a sterling bullpen effort, the early offense was enough. And so when Walker stepped on first base to end their first win in nearly two weeks, the Diamondbacks met, for once, in a handshake line instead of with pouts and sighs in the dugout.

Team news

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks announce team Hall of Fame during 25th anniversary celebration - More than 50 former Diamondbacks players returned to Chase Field on Saturday to celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary in a pregame ceremony that featured tribute videos, introductions and a ceremonial first pitch delivered by radio voice Greg Schulte. The Diamondbacks announced during the ceremony the club would launch a Diamondbacks Hall of Fame next year, with Johnson and Gonzalez set to be the first two inductees.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ Torey Lovullo expects to use Buddy Kennedy in platoon system at 3B - “Buddy was raking and doing his job in Triple-A,” Lovullo said. “… We are looking for some ways to create some offense, get some run scoring opportunities going and push us in the right direction. Buddy will get this opportunity and we’ll see where it takes us.” With third baseman Evan Longoria on the injured list and Rivera now in the minor leagues, Lovullo said he thinks he will use a platoon system between Kennedy, trade deadline acquisition Jace Peterson and Geraldo Perdomo at the hot corner.

[SI] Buddy Kennedy Talks Hitting Mechanics and Improvement - Kennedy also discussed his work to improve on defense. He focused on slowing everything down in the field, especially his footwork. Kennedy will continue to focus on that every day here. He will be repeating the fundamentals and making sure his position is good on every ball. He’s especially concentrating on his first step toward the ball and which direction he should go.

[Dbacks.com] Breaking down D-backs’ new Top 30 prospects - Impact callup: Bryce Jarvis, RHP (No. 30). The D-backs recently moved Jarvis to the bullpen, in part because he might be someone who can contribute in that role in the big leagues down the stretch. Long term, the D-backs still see him as a starter, but as they contend for an NL Wild Card spot, strengthening their bullpen would be a plus. Jarvis, with a fastball that he can run up to 98 mph, might be able to help in that regard.

And, elsewhere...

[NY Post] Mets get throttled by Braves in 21-run embarrassment as disaster season gets worse - The Mets fielded a makeshift lineup Saturday afternoon that barely would have met requirements for a road game in spring training, much less an August clash against the team with the best record in baseball. Results aren’t always predictable in an unpredictable sport, but this purported mismatch stayed fully on script as the Mets were outclassed for the second straight game by the Braves in a humiliating 21-3 loss in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at Citi Field.

Doll Shark (2022)

Rating: C

Dir: Anthony Polonia, Mark Polonia

Star: Danielle Donahue, River Dalton, Kevin Coolidge, Kasey Cox

It’s the story of Kirby (Dalton), a kid whose separated, shark hunter father sends him a toy… along with a tooth from a “devil fish” he had just slain, which had killed a number of people. Naturally, this causes the cuddle buddy intermittently to become evil, animated and capable of moving about on land. The mechanics of this are left vague: “So, it can walk?” commented Mrs. SnakePit sardonically. Yes, and rattle a doorknob too, apparently. Anyway, babysitter Lyla (Donahue) dopes Kirby up, so she can invite her friends over for a party. It does not end well, but fortunately, Dad has had a sense his son might be in danger, and shows up, ready to battle the plush monstrosity.

As much as a horror movie, this is a scattergun parody of pop culture, covering everything from podcasts through YouTubers, to annoying and repetitive songs for children about sharks (I’m sure you know exactly what I mean there). There are also a non-trivial number of lines copied word for word from Jaws, which may be stretching the “satire” exemption for copyright, just a tad. Some of this works, some of it falls flat: a few aspects feel like they were in the movie simply to act as Kickstarter rewards. However, they are necessary to push the running-time to feature length, eventually wheezing its way across the finish line there at 76 minutes, even with all the extraneous side-dishes.

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