AZ Snake Pit - Game #160: 9/30, Arizona Diamondbacks 5, San Diego Padres 3An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2016-10-01T03:03:00-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/128881072016-10-01T03:03:00-04:002016-10-01T03:03:00-04:00Diamondbacks 5, Padres 3: Goldie and CO provide the fireworks
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7ViGpOGkWq5NSjejZ9YN7MgVPmg=/0x9:3541x2370/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51139481/fireworks.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>The biggest announced crowd at Chase Field since Opening Day saw the team prevail over the Padres, in the opening game of the final series. </p> <p id="BF5oeS"><strong>Record: 67-93. Pace: 68-94. Change on 2015: -11.</strong></p>
<p id="ebLY1l">I’m going to miss baseball when it has gone. Not necessarily baseball as such, particularly the “meh” kind we have seen the Diamondbacks play all too often this summer. But the social aspects are something I regret not embracing more this year, having managed to attend the princely total of two games at Chase Field. There are a number of reasons for this, many of them perfectly valid, but the enjoyable nature of tonight, both hanging out before first pitch at the Rose and Crown, then the contest itself, leaves me wishing I’d taken more advantage of it. Mind you, I’m not sure my body could handle consuming multiple pints of Four Peaks peach and consuming fish and chips on an everyday basis...</p>
<p id="bazZWc">We took over one of the rooms at the Rose and Crown, edbigghead and his posse having got there before us, with the asteroids showing up almost immediately after our arrival. Others trickled in steadily, including emilylovesthedbacks and lg451, as well as some of my work colleagues, though we were sorry to miss GuruB, soco and songbird, who were unable to attend as originally scheduled. We drank beers in their absence, aided by the presence of our very own liquor license [this is a joke which would require far too much explanation, but let me assure you, we found it highly amusing].</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZFXqhws2hPPhQ6EHfh251dI-Duo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7200321/brute.jpg">
</figure>
<p id="CsqPmB">Well fed and watered (even if the water also contained barley hops and yeast], we headed over to the park, and took our seats just in time to see Braden Shipley wobble into the first of a number of jams. He had men on second and third with one out in the first, and escaped with a strike-out and fly-out. The same happened in the second, and he got back-to-back K’s to put up another zero. After a clean third, there would be no escape for Shipley in the fourth, as San Diego scored three runs on five hits. He finished the night after the fifth inning, having thrown 95 pitches to that point, scattering seven hits and being charged with three runs, all earned. He walked a pair and struck out three.</p>
<p id="GGAuGr">One curiosity, in the “something you don’t see every day department,” was the play which ended the third inning. The box-score has it down as “Solarte bunt grounded out to catcher,” but what <a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Ferrin/status/782045664821649408">apparently happened</a> was he bunted the ball while out of the batter’s box. According to rule 6.06, “A batter is out for illegal action when- (a) He hits a ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter's box.” In this case, it appears Solarte was actually on home-plate. We were confused by that at the time, so thanks to asteroid and her quick work on the tubes of the Interwebz for finding down what had happened!</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hvuotpqusjcvJZ3vQ5f-v5715sI=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7200323/chase.jpg">
</figure>
<p id="whOQGg">By that point, Arizona were already a run up, having scored in the first. Jean Segura walked (he did go hitless today, so it looks unlikely he’ll be able to catch Luis Gonzalez’s single-season hits record of 206, being five shorts with just a pair of games left), then advanced on a couple of fly balls, and came home on Welington Castillo’s RBI single. The D-backs then opened things up in the bottom of the third inning, as Paul Goldschmidt cranked his 24th home-run of the season, just to the right of the batters’ eye in center, for a 428 foot shot. Arizona was proving remarkably efficient with their base-runners. That’s the optimistic view of saying they weren’t getting many people on base.</p>
<p id="tFeikx">They did, however, only leave two men aboard all night - they’ve only had fewer in a victory once this season, coincidentally also against the Padres. That was the 3-2 win in San Diego last week, where they had one man left on base. Here, the two were Castillo after his RBI single in the first, and Mitch Haniger, who led off the fifth with a single and was stranded on second. The next base-runner was Brandon Drury, who doubled with two outs in the sixth, and scored when Chris Owings went opposite field, with a 388-foot bomb to right. Or so I’m informed: I was on the hunt for ColdStone Creamery at that point, and was queuing up in a lengthy line, on behalf of Mrs. SnakePit. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k4FaseU_C3lnHojHz1xblOpihr0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7200325/crowd.jpg">
</figure>
<p id="23ymDT">Which seems like as good a place as any to mention the announced attendance of 42,651, comfortably the biggest crowd since Opening Day, and more than 3,400 over the third-best, on July 4th (39,203). This must be the new match, because as the picture above shows, there were certainly nowhere near that many in the park, and the easy in and out shows a similar short-fall. There did seem to be a lot of school groups and others present, for STEM night, so I suspect quite a few tickets were being given away. As a yardstick, that’s over nine thousand more than the last Friday home-game in 2015, but does all but guarantee the team will hit two million in attendance, now sitting just over 1,972,000 with two games left to play. </p>
<p id="788hdq">It wasn’t exactly a well-played game by the Diamondbacks, who were charged with three errors. Owings threw the ball wide of Goldschmidt in the sixth, on the second leg of what should have been a double-play, allowing the runner to reach second. In the ninth, Brandon Drury kinda fell over the ball in left-field. Segura seems to have been charged with an error as well, but I don’t recall that. This may have been during my long quest for ColdStone. There was good work by the bullpen, who tossed four scoreless innings of two-hit walkless ball. Patrick Corbin worked 2.2 of those, and now hasn’t allowed a run in his last 13 frames, with 15 K’s in that time. I suspect a rotation return is likely.</p>
<p id="nuQtgN">Daniel Hudson recorded the final out, getting the dangerous Wil Myers to pop up to Goldschmidt, representing the tying run. Arizona was outhit 9-6, with Drury getting two, but the win keeps alive hopes of the D-backs surpassing the Padres in the standings. Two more victories are needed there. If you are more interested in Tankapalooza, we are now tied for fourth with the Reds and A’s, as everyone else in the bottom seven lost today. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lxahBZ4ZBcPBTZ5UtpoT-spAoa4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7200315/chart.png">
</figure>
<div id="VWoU4e"><p style="text-align:center">[<em><a href="">Click for details, at fangraphs.com</a></em>]
<br><b>Rockets red glare: Patrick Corbin, +18.6%</b>
<br>Roman candle: Chris Owings, +16.1%
<br><b><em>Damp squib: Jake Lamb, -4.9%</em></b></p></div>
<p id="5QjHZM">Thanks to AzDbackfanInDc for keeping everyone in line in my absence. :) Also present in the thread were: DbacKid, Diamondhacks, GuruB, JoeCB1991, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, Oldenschoole, asteroid, coldblueAZ, gamepass, hotclaws and makattack71. Comment of the night to hotclaws:</p>
<blockquote id="cyUf0v">
<p><strong>Win for the Pitters, </strong></p>
<p><em>Ideally, the umpire should combine the integrity of a Supreme Court judge, the physical agility of an acrobat, the endurance of Job and the imperturbability of Buddha. ~"The Villains in Blue," Time magazine, 25 August 1961 </em></p>
<p>by hotclaws on Sep 30, 2016 | 9:33 PM reply rec (2) flag actions</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="OTyjRQ">Why, yes: yes, it was. Seems like a while since the last SnakePitFest win! Archie Bradley starts for the Diamondbacks tomorrow, with a 5:10pm first pitch. See you for that!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2016/10/1/13129610/diamondbacks-padres-recapJim McLennan2016-10-01T00:32:57-04:002016-10-01T00:32:57-04:00Diamondbacks 3, Padres 5
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BLLNTNMHCRDc7fHZSU8OtxzxZFI=/0x0:3165x2110/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51135479/usa-today-9233745.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Diamondbacks are not going quietly into the night.</p> <p>Two run homers from Chris Owings and Paul Goldschmidt powered the Arizona offense, and Braden Shipley was okay through five innings. I am somewhat vague on the details because I am trying to deal with the wi-fi at Chase Field, which appears to have gone off to play winter ball in Venezuela. The announced crowd tonight was also well into the forty thousands which... seems suspect.</p>
<p>Still, it was a very pleasant night, thanks to the asteroids and also thanks to everyone who showed up, either at the game, or before at the Rose and Crown. The win keeps the Diamondbacks' hopes alive of avoiding the cellar of the NL West. If they win the two remaining games, they can still overtake San Diego. Full recap, once I return to the 21st century and Internet that works. Might be a while, we're waiting for the fireworks that will be starting in about 10 minutes.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2016/10/1/13127476/diamondbacks-padres-scoreJim McLennan2016-09-30T19:00:03-04:002016-09-30T19:00:03-04:00D-backs Game Preview, #160: The final countdown
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XrIu0z441-eCWYUGxNshWAtVwUU=/0x0:4500x3000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51130279/GettyImages-491821540.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Matt Cardy/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Games until the blessed end of the season: 3</p> <p><span>Chris Owings</span> - SS</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 10%;"><img src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/2793905/sdg.png"></td>
<td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 40%;">
<h5>
<span>Edwin Jackson</span><br>RHP, 5-6, 5.77<br>
</h5>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 10%;"><img src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/2572695/ari.png"></td>
<td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 40%;">
<h5>
<span>Braden Shipley</span><br>RHP, 4-5, 5.26</h5>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 50%;">
<span>Travis Jankowski</span> - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Jean Segura</span> - 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Manuel Margot</span> - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Jake Lamb</span> - 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Wil Myers</span> - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> - 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Yangervis Solarte</span> - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Welington Castillo</span> - C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Alex Dickerson</span> - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Brandon Drury</span> - LF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Ryan Schimpf</span> - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Chris Owings</span> - SS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Austin Hedges</span> - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Socrates Brito</span> - RF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Luis Sardinas</span> - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">
<span>Mitch Haniger</span> - CF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Edwin Jackson - RHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Braden Shipley - RHP</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>And so we enter the last series of the 2016 campaign, and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> could still end up picking anywhere from second to seventh in next year's draft. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> have the #1 pick locked up, and have had for a while, with a record currently nine games worse than anyone else. But thereafter, only two games cover the next six teams, so a lot remains to be decided over the final weekend. Here are the current standings for those seven teams in Tankapalooza 2016, with the final column below showing who they are playing this weekend:</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th data-stat="ranker" align="center"></th> <th data-stat="team_ID" align="center">Tm</th> <th data-stat="W" data-filter="1" data-name="Wins" align="center">W</th> <th data-stat="L" data-filter="1" data-name="Losses" align="center">L</th> <th data-stat="win_loss_perc" data-filter="1" data-name="Win-Loss %" align="center"> <nobr>W%</nobr><span></span> </th> <th data-stat="winning_streak" align="center">Strk</th> <th data-stat="record_pythag" align="center">pyth</th> <th data-stat="record_last_10" align="center">last10</th> <th data-stat="record_last_20" align="center">last20</th> <th data-stat="record_last_30" align="center">vs</th>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tbody>
<tr data-row="29">
<td align="right">1</td>
<td align="left">MIN</td>
<td align="right">57</td>
<td align="right">102</td>
<td align="right">.358</td>
<td align="right">W 1</td>
<td align="right">64-95</td>
<td align="right">2-8</td>
<td align="right">6-14</td>
<td align="right">@ CHW<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr data-row="28">
<td align="right">2</td>
<td align="left">TBR</td>
<td align="right">66</td>
<td align="right">93</td>
<td align="right">.415</td>
<td align="right">W 1</td>
<td align="right">75-84</td>
<td align="right">2-8</td>
<td align="right">7-13</td>
<td align="right">@ TEX<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr data-row="27">
<td align="right"><br></td>
<td align="left">ARI</td>
<td align="right">66</td>
<td align="right">93</td>
<td align="right">.415</td>
<td align="right">L 1</td>
<td align="right">67-92</td>
<td align="right">3-7</td>
<td align="right">8-12</td>
<td align="right">vs. SDP<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr data-row="26">
<td align="right">4</td>
<td align="left">ATL</td>
<td align="right">66</td>
<td align="right">92</td>
<td align="right">.418</td>
<td align="right">W 3</td>
<td align="right">66-92</td>
<td align="right">9-1</td>
<td align="right">12-8</td>
<td align="right">vs. DET<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr data-row="25">
<td align="right">5</td>
<td align="left">CIN</td>
<td align="right">67</td>
<td align="right">92</td>
<td align="right">.421</td>
<td align="right">L 1</td>
<td align="right">67-92</td>
<td align="right">4-6</td>
<td align="right">10-10</td>
<td align="right">vs. CHC<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr data-row="24">
<td align="right"><br></td>
<td align="left">OAK</td>
<td align="right">67</td>
<td align="right">92</td>
<td align="right">.421</td>
<td align="right">L 4</td>
<td align="right">68-91</td>
<td align="right">1-9</td>
<td align="right">7-13</td>
<td align="right">@ SEA<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr data-row="23">
<td align="right">7</td>
<td align="left">SDP</td>
<td align="right">68</td>
<td align="right">91</td>
<td align="right">.428</td>
<td align="right">L 1</td>
<td align="right">72-87</td>
<td align="right">6-4</td>
<td align="right">11-9</td>
<td align="right">@ ARI<br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Although we have the same number of wins as Tampa and Atlanta, we have an edge over both. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Braves</a> have lost one fewer, and it doesn't appear that game will be made up. So if they get as many wins as the D-backs this weekend, we will finish marginally ahead. We also own the tie-breaker over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Rays</a>, because last year, they had one more win than us, so again, a tie will go to the D-backs. But let's not forget Cincinnati, who are playing the team with the best record in the majors (though quite how committed the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> will be, is hard to say) or Oakland, who face a Seattle team still in the wild-card hunt, albeit only just.</p>
<p>Beyond Tankapalooza, although the division races are all sewn up, with every leader ahead by at least five games, those wild-card races remain to be decided. Baltimore and Toronto look likely to prevail in the American League, and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">New York Mets</a> have an edge in the National League. The final spot here is between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a>, who host the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a>, and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a>, who are visited by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>. So there's plenty of reason to be scoreboard watching; personally, I'll be cheering for St. Louis, since I have no interest in perpetuating this "even year" bullshit any further.</p>
<p>It's SnakePitFest tonight! Woo-hoo! Thanks to the asteroids, a bunch of us will be meeting at the Rose & Crown before heading over to the game, so if you want to pop in and say hi, that's where we'll be. This is also why the preview is going up early, since this way, I can get all the Gameday Thread and quick recap in a row from here, rather than trying to organize all that stuff on my phone from the ballpark, on Chase Field's spectacularly under-powered wi-fi. Part of me hopes Arizona does win, for a happy SnakePitFest. Though on the other hand, losing and having SnakePitFest on the day we clinch last place would be an appropriate metaphor for the entire season!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2016/9/30/13122812/arizona-diamondbacks-game-preview-san-diego-padresJim McLennan