AZ Snake Pit - Game #137, 9/2: Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 3An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2018-09-02T19:51:05-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/175759372018-09-02T19:51:05-04:002018-09-02T19:51:05-04:00Arizona Diamondbacks 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
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<img alt="MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qZBgPA4RzfZBgEIvS0K608Pbs0Y=/118x0:2614x1664/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61117559/usa_today_11180738.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Another day. Another late blown lead. Another loss. </p> <p id="0QMjUx">As has been the case so often this road-trip, it was a pitching duel in Los Angeles this afternoon, with <span>Walker Buehler</span> and <span>Clay Buchholz</span> each doing work on the mound and it was scoreless until the fifth. The <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> drew first blood with a solo home-run there, but that was also <span>Buchholz</span> allowed over 5.1 innings of work. He gave up four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.</p>
<p id="RVeKKb">However, Arizona rallied to tie the game in the seventh on an <span>Alex Avila</span> sacrifice fly, <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> scoring after review, being initially called out (above). The Arizona bullpen did its job, and leading off the top of the ninth inning, <span>Daniel Descalso</span> hit his 12th home-run of the season, JUST out of the reach of Cody Bellinger for a 2-1 lead. However, Brad Boxberger walked the first two batters he faced and after a bunt, Torey Lovullo brought in Archie Bradley to face Matt Kemp again. The result was much the same, a two-run hit off the wall, and Arizona is now in third place in the NL West. </p>
<p id="zGXdu2">@realStephenCase will be along with the full recap later, presuming he gets out of Dodger Stadium alive. :)</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2018/9/2/17813122/arizona-diamondbacks-los-angeles-dodgers-scoreJim McLennan2018-09-02T16:00:02-04:002018-09-02T16:00:02-04:00Gameday Thread, #137: 9/2 @ Dodgers
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<figcaption>Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">September 2 - 1666: England - The Great Fire of London broke out and burned for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings including St Paul's Cathedral. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/history?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#history</a></p>— Today In History (@Yesterday_Today) <a href="https://twitter.com/Yesterday_Today/status/1036255741265489925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2018</a>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/diamondbacks-gamedays/2018/9/2/17812060/gameday-thread-137-9-2-dodgersJim McLennan2018-09-02T15:00:02-04:002018-09-02T15:00:02-04:00Preview, #137: 9/2 @ Dodgers
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<img alt="MLB: Los Angeles Angels at Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fee7TI-X3jiEZq-PQr5owgqtM8M=/0x242:2440x1869/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61114685/usa_today_11136190.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>We COULD have been going for a four-game sweep. Now? Not so much...</p> <div id="w5yrZg">
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<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<th align="left">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
<th align="left">DODGERS</th>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Jon Jay - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Joc Pederson - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">A.J. Pollock - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Justin Turner - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">David Peralta - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Manny Machado - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Paul Goldschmidt - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Cody Bellinger - CF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Eduardo Escobar - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Brian Dozier - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Daniel Descalso - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Yasmani Grandal - C</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Ketel Marte - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Max Muncy - 1B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Alex Avila - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Enrique Hernandez - RF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Clay Buchholz - RHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Walker Buehler - RHP</td>
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<p id="1GlFl0">There’s no doubt the last couple of games have been severely disappointing, with the Diamondbacks blowing late leads in both of them. However, if Arizona can win this afternoon, they’ll leave Los Angeles with a split of the four-game series and in sole possession of first place, exactly as they came in. I’d have been perfectly happy with that on the way into the city of angels, so even if that might feel like a missed opportunity now, we can’t complain too much. Of course, the key word there is “if”, and if we lose three out of four, that will certainly make things harder. Though even should it happen, the team has dropped out of first on multiple occasions this season, and always regained it. </p>
<p id="HnTKsV">And so, we we turn to Clay Buchholz, who has been <em>extraordinarily </em>good of late. Over his last three starts, Buchholz has allowed only a solo home-run to Hunter Renfroe of the Padres over 23 innings, for an ERA of 0.39. Now, we can’t expect that to carry on forever, but his K:BB over that time is 16:2, and the resulting BABIP of .209 is probably higher than I expected, given the ERA. In August he was 5-for-5 in giving us better than quality starts, going six innings or more and allowing TWO or fewer earned runs each time. There’s a good argument that he was our best pitcher last month, and it’d be nice if he was so again in September. </p>
<p id="S4dEjy">But it has not really been the D-backs’ starting pitching which has been the problem. On the this road-trip, they have gone 39.1 innings with an ERA of 1.60 and a K:BB ratio of 39:8. Much more to blame are an offense which has batted .181 overall, gone 5-for-36 with runners in scoring position, have a K:BB of 46:!0 and managed a total of just ten runs over the six games. Given that, it’s actually quite impressive we’ve managed to win two of those contests. We need to do a better job of getting on base, get some hits with runners in scoring position and not cough up the late-inning lead this time. Do that, and we can head back to Phoenix in okay shape. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/diamondbacks-gamedays/2018/9/2/17811860/preview-137-9-2-dodgersJim McLennan