Diamondbacks 3, Yankees 1: You can have the history, we’ll take the win

Tonight’s game featured the most combined career strike outs between two pitchers since Jamie Moyer pitched against Greg Maddux over ten years ago on August 15th, 2008. That matchup featured 5,567 strike outs, while tonight’s game “only” featured 5,471. Not only that, at first pitch, CC Sabathia was a mere three strike outs away from reaching the very exclusive 3000 K mark, something only achieved by 17 pitchers ever, and something no active pitcher could say.

The matchup definitely lived up to the billing of two probable future HOFer’s facing off against each other. Zack Greinke pitched around a couple baserunners, but both him and Sabathia recorded 0’s in the first inning, and Greinke added one in the top of the second as well.

The Diamondbacks were able to get to Sabathia in the second, courtesy of Wilmer Flores. He cracked a two out home run to put Arizona on the board. Unfortunantly, that was all the Diamondbacks were able to manage in that inning. However, John Ryan Murhpy got to earn himself another footnote in the annals of Yankee history, when Sabathia struck him out to end the inning, his third K of the night and his 3000 of his career. 1-0 Diamondbacks

Both teams went down in order in the third inning before each scoring a run in the fourth. For the Yankees, it came thanks to back-to-back doubles from Gary Sanchez and Glyber Torres to start the inning, with Torres’ being of the ground rule variety. Took a bit more work for the Dbacks. Eduardo Escobar got a lead off double of his own, but Peralta grounded out and Walker lined out leaving him at second, now with two outs. However, Flores was able to continue getting the job done and brought him home on a single, before Nick Ahmed grounded out to end the inning. 2-1 Dbacks

And there the score would stay for awhile. While he didn’t have the impact at the plate that he’s had in recent games, Greinke contributed more than enough on the mound. He ended up going 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 7 Ks. On the flip side, Sabathia wasn’t quite as sharp, but still pretty good. He went 5.2 IP, also with 5 H, but 2 BB, 2 ER, and only 5 Ks. And, of course, one milestone that will end up on his plaque in Cooperstown.

The Dbacks would add one more insurance run off the Yankees’ bullpen. It came off reliever Zack Britton. Ketel Marte hit a lead off double and then went to third on an Escobar single. He then came home thanks to a David Peralta sac fly. That was all they managed on the night, but it was all they needed. Greg Holland closed it out, and that was the ball game.

Of note, Dbacks pitchers sat the last 18 Yankees down in order. After the two lead off doubles in the fourth inning, Greinke, Andrew Chafin, and Holland shut the door for the rest of the game. Makes it a lot easier to win when the pitching staff is doing stuff like that

A night of big WPA%. Greinke accumulated a pretty staggering 42.8%, while Wilmer Flores added another 28.6%, and Escobar got 15.5%. On the negative side, Fangraphs must have seen Ahmed and Peralta attempting to kneecap their teammates, as they were awarded a -15.2 and -10.8% respectively.

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No red comments, so I’ll forgot CotN tonight. Day game tomorrow, as the Dbacks wrap up this short series and homestand. Merrill Kelly faces off against Masahiro Tanaka. Heard a rumor that you could get discounted lower bowl tickets for tomorrow’s game if you purchase online and use promo code AZSPORTS, so do with that information what you will. See you tomorrow!