AZ Snake Pit - Game #44, May 20: Diamondbacks 9, Padres 1An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2017-05-21T02:24:34-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/154347252017-05-21T02:24:34-04:002017-05-21T02:24:34-04:00Diamondbacks 9, Padres 1: Perdomo No Nostromo Hero
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<figcaption>Robbie Ray pitching for his first win in a calendar month, and he was dealing | Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>At Petco, no-one can hear Padres fans scream...</p> <p id="v1Turs"><strong>Record: 26-18. Pace: 96-66. Change on 2016: +6.</strong></p>
<p id="Bg39Ew">The D-backs came into tonight hoping for a repeat of last night, as opposed to a repeat of game 2 last time they were in San Diego. <span>Robbie Ray</span> was looking to get his first win since April 22nd against the Dodgers, and <span>Luis Perdomo</span> was looking for his first decision of the season. Boy, did they deliver on this one.</p>
<p id="mSH4Kb">In an almost dead on repeat of last night, the D-backs started on the attack. <span>Chris Owings</span> (leading off for the 2nd time this season) led off with a single on the first pitch he saw, followed by David Peralta ALSO singling on the first pitch he saw. They moved up a base on a wild pitch by Luis Perdomo, and then scored on an RBI single by <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span>. <strong>2-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs. </strong>Then, <span>Jake Lamb</span> hit a double to deep center over the head of <span>Manuel Margot</span> to score Goldy, making it <strong>3-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs</strong> before we even recorded an out. </p>
<p id="FTtlGy">That out would come on the next batter, with <span>Yasmany Tomas</span> going down swinging. <span>Brandon Drury</span> grounded out on a short little chopper that catcher <span>Austin Hedges</span> picked up, but Lamb moved to 3rd. It didn’t really matter what base Lamb was on, as the next batter <span>Chris Herrmann</span> hit a 2 run homer to straight away center field, making it <strong>5-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs</strong> and getting us Tacos. Rey Fuentes hit a loud deep out number 3 to Margot, but the damage was done. The D-backs have 12 HRs in the 1st inning, most in MLB and 30 runs in the first. (h/t GuruB).</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">• D-backs have 12 HRs in the 1st inning this season, most in <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB">@MLB</a>. <br>• <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks">@Dbacks</a> have 30 runs in the 1st this year, 13 (43.3%) in past 2 days.</p>— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/866119891522211840">May 21, 2017</a>
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<p id="k81tZW">Robbie Ray cruised through the first inning, getting 1 strikeout on 13 pitches with no baserunners. Ray led off the 2nd striking out against Perdomo, with Owings grounding out. Peralta hit another single, Goldy was hit by a pitch (not in an area worth worrying about), Lamb walked, and all of a sudden the bases were loaded for Tomas. Tomas proceeded to crank a single to left center, scoring Peralta and Goldy <strong>7-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs.</strong> </p>
<p id="2WqVmi">Robbie cruised again needing only 9 pitches to get through a clean 2nd. The D-backs were quiet in the 3rd, still up <strong>7-0</strong>. The 3rd inning also went quickly, the only blemish for Ray was a ground ball that Drury couldn’t quite get out cleanly, but a strikeout and 12 pitches quieted the Padres.</p>
<p id="nI3wZj">The 4th inning saw another run cross home, with Peralta, Goldy and Lamb hitting consecutive singles to chase Perdomo, bringing in <span>Jose Valdez</span> and going up <strong>8-0.</strong> Valdez only gave up a walk, while retiring the side. <strong>8-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs.</strong> Ray only needed 8 pitches to get through the 4th with a strikeout, and he was sitting at a very manageable 42 pitches through 4 innings.</p>
<p id="JxbpqT">The 5th inning was quiet, with a small threat when Owings and Peralta singled back to back, but Goldy grounded into a double play, only his second of the year, to end it. <strong>8-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs.</strong> Ray struggled a little bit, needing 18 pitches to get through the inning, but ended up with another strikeout. The 6th was quiet, as Lamb, Tomas and Drury went down in order. That would be all for Goldy and Tomas, with Descalso and Blanco replacing them at 1st Base and Left Field, respectively. Ray struggled a bit in the 6th as well, need 18 pitches, giving up a walk, a hit, and a fielder’s choice, but getting out without any runs <strong>8-0 D</strong><strong>-</strong><strong>backs.</strong></p>
<p id="xIOHPX">The 7th saw some defensive replacements for the Padres, trying to get their young guys some playing time. Otherwise it was a quiet inning with the side going down in order and Ray needing only 10 pitches with a strikeout. Still <strong>8-0. </strong>The D-backs went down quietly again in the 8th. The pitching side in the 8th got a little hairy, with Ray hitting 21 pitches for the inning and 110 for the day. Lovullo pulled him after he walked his 2nd batter of the inning. </p>
<p id="s6QzNc"><strong>Robbie Ray’s Final Line: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 ER</strong>. Bringing his road ERA down to a microscopic 1.03 on the year.</p>
<p id="DGwqmU">Lovullo went to the Bartender, <span>Tom Wilhelmsen</span>, for the final out in the 8th, and boy did he have trouble. First he threw a wild pitch, allowing the runners on 1st and 2nd to each move up, he then walked <span>Matt Szczur</span> (recently acquired from the Cubs) to load them for Wil Myers. Luckily he struck him out swinging to end the threat, keeping the game at <strong>8-0. </strong></p>
<p id="Xsu68f">Andy Green decided to send out his closer <span>Brandon Maurer</span> for some work, who gave up a walk to Lamb, got Blanco and Drury out, gave up a double to Herrmann, and walked Fuentes to load the bases. Lamb then came home on a wild pitch to make it <strong>9-0 D-backs</strong>, but Maurer K’d pinch hitter <span>Nick Ahmed</span> to end any chance at more runs. <span>J.J. Hoover</span> came on for the D-backs in the 9th, and proceeded to need 28 pitches, giving up a hit, a walk, a hit by pitch, and a run on an infield single that Owings had no throw on. But he shut the door, with the final being <strong>9-1 D-backs.</strong> </p>
<p id="f0HDah">The win, coupled with the Colorado Rockies loss to Cincinnati earlier today moves us to within 1 game of the NL West lead. Tomorrow Zack Godley takes on Clayton Richard at 1:40pm Arizona Time, where the D-backs look to break out the brooms and sweep San Diego. </p>
<p id="lgHHb8"><strong>Bells and Whistles by Jim</strong></p>
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<div id="scnXGn"><p style="text-align:center"><b>Click <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2017-05-20&team=Padres&dh=0&season=2017" target="_blank">here</a> for details, at Fangraphs.com</b>
<br><b>Aliens: Jake Lamb, +10.7%</b>
<br>Alien: Chris Herrmann, +10.1%
<br><b><i>Alien 3: Brandon Drury, -2.4%</i></b><i>
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<p id="01h1ml">Only fractionally less flat-liney a graph than last night. Another pleasantly low-impact GDT, with those present being: AzDbackfanInDc, BenSharp, Cumulus Choir, GuruB, Hazzard21, I suppose I'm a Pessimist, Imstillhungry95, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, Mr Butterworth, MrMrrbi, TylerO, aldma, asteroid, bbtng, blue_bulldog, coldblueAZ, deerhaven, edbigghead, hotclaws, noblevillain, shoewizard, since_98, smartplays and thunderpumpkin87. Comment of the Night quite easily goes to bbtng for this little gem in the first:</p>
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<p id="0e1mdH">Tomorrow, we could end the day tied for first place. Dinger, you feel that hot breath on the back of your neck? </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2017/5/21/15671078/arizona-diamondbacks-san-diego-padres-recapHazzard212017-05-21T01:07:48-04:002017-05-21T01:07:48-04:00Diamondbacks 9, Padres 1
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<figcaption>Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It's deja vu, all over again!</p> <p id="kOWdya">IIn what seemed very much like a rerun of last night, Arizona broke out the bats early, providing a helping of first inning tacos, and largely cruised to victory. <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> got the D-backs on the board with a two-run single, with a <span>Jake Lamb</span> double, and Chris Herrmann's homer with a man aboard completing a five-run first. <span>Yasmany Tomas</span> drove in a pair in the second, and Lamb added another RBI in the fourth. A wild pitch completed things in the ninth. </p>
<p id="GwJA1K">Meanwhile, <span>Robbie Ray</span> was almost as good, if less dominating, as last time he faced San Diego. He threw 7.2 innings of scoreless ball, giving up just two hits. Ray walked three and struck out six. <span>Tom Wilhelmsen</span> escaped with the bases loaded in the eighth. <span>J.J. Hoover</span> came in for the ninth, and like last night, Arizona was not quite able to complete the shutout. It was still the D-backs' fifth win in a row, and puts them one game behind the <a href="https://www.purplerow.com/">Rockies</a>. </p>
<p id="SQZkYe">Hazzard21 will be bringing you the full recap in a bit.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2017/5/21/15671306/arizona-diamondbacks-san-diego-padres-scoreJim McLennan2017-05-20T21:00:02-04:002017-05-20T21:00:02-04:00Preview, #43: Diamondbacks @ Padres
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<figcaption>Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Last time the D-backs had an emphatic win in San Diego, it didn't end up working out too well for them...</p>
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<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<th align="left">ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS</th> <th align="left">SAN DIEGO PADRES</th>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Chris Owings - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Manuel Margot - CF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">David Peralta - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Matt Szczur - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Paul Goldschmidt - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Wil Myers - 1B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Jake Lamb - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Yangervis Solarte - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Yasmany Tomas - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Hunter Renfroe - RF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Brandon Drury - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Austin Hedges - C</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Chris Herrmann - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Cory Spangenberg - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Reymond Fuentes - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Erick Aybar - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Robbie Ray - LHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Luis Perdomo - RHP</td>
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<p>There's always the feeling, when a team pours it on in a blow-out victory, that they should "Save some runs for tomorrow." We saw evidence for that the last time the D-backs played in San Diego. They won the opening contest 11-2, only to manage one run over the next two games, losing the series despite outscoring the Padres by a 12-7 margin. The team has had an impressive nine "blowout" (margin of victory = five runs or better) wins this season. What has happened the game following the previous eight such contests?</p>
<p>Well, the jury is pretty much out: four of those blowout wins were followed with another win, and four with a loss. There is weak evidence the offense does seem to sit back a little, with Arizona scoring a total of 33 runs in those eight games, for an average of 4.1. That's lower than the overall season average, of 5.0 runs per game. But the pitching steps it up somewhat too, conceding 30 runs (3.8 per game), which is also below the average (4.0), though by a smaller amount. Small sample size applies to all these though: you'd need a much bigger sample to see whether this is any kind of genuine trend.</p>
<p>But on that basis, I'd be somewhat inclined to take the under on runs at Petco tonight. Not least because both pitchers have had recent success against their opponents. We didn't see Perdomo in either of the earlier series against San Diego, but he's 3-for-3 in quality starts against Arizona, all coming in 2016, with an ERA of 2.25 and a K:BB of 12:0 over 20 innings. Meanwhile, last time Ray faced the Padres was also last year, in August, and he tossed seven innings of one-hit ball, and becoming the first Arizona pitcher to strike out 13 in a game, since Randy Johnson in 2008. So, yeah: I'm not expecting this to be a double-digit victory again!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2017/5/20/15670652/preview-arizona-diamondbacks-san-diego-padresJim McLennan