AZ Snake Pit - Game #58, 5/31: Diamondbacks 4, Mets 5An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2019-06-01T01:40:51-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/184120832019-06-01T01:40:51-04:002019-06-01T01:40:51-04:00D-backs 4, Mets 5: Chilling with Turambar
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<img alt="Chicago Cubs v Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wh4Iza8PtBpoL_ghoBxXcEjuy4M=/0x186:2047x1551/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63931989/1145973053.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Relax, it’s Friday</p> <p id="XlBce1">Friday’s here, and after a long week of watching the Dbacks struggle from one series to the next it couldn’t come any sooner.</p>
<p id="rr5PtH">No beercap today folks, I’m on a month long diet without the suds, so you’ll just have to endure my writing sans the ale. I’m sure you’ll survive and you might even enjoy.</p>
<p id="kGLX2Y">J Dup starts things out with a strike for his first Major League start. Despite all the talk of the absolute glut of picks we have in this Monsieur Duplantier represents a very important part of our pitching future. I don’t expect his first start to shake the foundations of the earth, but I hope and pray it’s the first step upon a long and productive career.</p>
<p id="oww0zZ">One strike out, a walk and a double play later and I find myself rather content, but far from convinced. Love me them scoreless innings though. </p>
<p id="ImaS07">Escobar gets our only hit in the 1st to keep his hot streak going, but with Wheeler throwing some serious heat that’s all we get. Spinning that prayer wheel right now to ensure our offense shows up at some point tonight. </p>
<p id="1tFxUi">Dup’s decent 1st gives way to a not so decent 2nd; leadoff walk, followed by a single to put men on the corners with nary an out to be seen. </p>
<p id="I27YaW">Before things could get more dicey Umpire Jim Wolfe gets rocked by a fastball off his face mask and J Dup gets a break of sorts to collect his thoughts and hopefully reinforce in his mind how bad walks are. </p>
<p id="PtKKGz">Forever and a day latter (seemingly) Manny Gonzalez comes out to call this young game behind the plate in Wolfe’s stead. We’re back to baseball once more, but Dup benefits not at all from the break, as a <a href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">Mets</a> single followed by a double makes this a 0-3 game STILL with no outs. </p>
<p id="9FWMUw">We get out of the inning without any further bruising followed by <span>Walker</span> hitting again (God I hope he’s back) and gradually getting driven home to get 1run back: 1-3 going in to the 3rd.</p>
<p id="KAsHas">Duplantier sure owes his infield a few drinks for how he got out of the 3rd; after allowing the first two runners to reach, followed by a double play and a ground out. That’s the kind of luck I can get behind! </p>
<p id="q53gef">Nothing doing in our half of the 3rd and Dup surprisingly navigates his way through the 4th without any drama. Still 1-3.</p>
<p id="QQmKbS">And STILL 1-3 after the 4th despite <span>Walker</span> with yet another hit. Followed by Duplantier throwing another scoreless frame, and likely his last as he breaks the 70pitch mark. So after 5 innings I give his first start a solid B-. That’s all.</p>
<p id="bhvRLZ">The bottom of the 5th brings more of the same sputtering offense, and I could sure use some fire works right about now.</p>
<p id="dZiLrP">Crichton is brought in to take care of business in the 6th, and does just that.</p>
<p id="YPPkDD">Then the bottom of the 6th happens, and in a big way with Marte homering followed by Walker getting a THHHHIIIIICCCCCCCC blast of his own. 110mph off the bat and likely capable of shattering existence. So just like that we’re up 4-3. I like this kind of party!</p>
<p id="XJ1yh7">Ugghhhh. Bradley walks out of the pen to greet me this fine 7th. Not what I or any fan (Dback fan at least) is eager to see after the last few weeks. Just what does Bradley need to do to get the boot? Burn the clubhouse down when his beard trimmer catches fire? </p>
<p id="KOqpkE">Blessedly the Baseball Gods saw fit to show pity upon the bearded one this time, though I doubt any consistency will follow. So we’re still holding the lead as we towards the finish line. Just gotta home those bats keep going.</p>
<p id="HqgEsg">I pen that and then notice Archie is at the plate. Please no. Why? I know the bullpen is spent but come on! We don’t need to tempt fate that much with TWO innings of beard guy. </p>
<p id="56IzcR">Wheeeewwwwwww. You had me there Torey, you sly dog you. Thought Bradley was going to start the 8th, but our manager pulls a fast one on me and sends up Andriese. </p>
<p id="dsOPMe">Andriese suffers from a case of the Bradley’s and we’re tied after a two-out single. Then the fact we are dealing with a three man umpire crew leads us down even darker paths when an apparent foul ball was suddenly called fair bringing in another run, but it can’t be reviewed sooooooooo dammit. 4-5 Mets</p>
<p id="kPuMFU">Escobar! Pure hustle triple and suddenly my frown is turning upside down just a bit. Marte can’t bring Esco home, and the Mets have seen enough of Walker and send him walking. Lacastro just ain’t up to the challenge though and we’re sent to the 9th stranding Escobar at third.....</p>
<p id="ots49u">So here we are, down one-run in the bottom of the 9th, but ends up that no one is up to the challenge and Duplantier 1st start ends with a thud. Sigh.</p>
<p id="J7sQJd">Later ya’ll.</p>
<p id="bJk7iG"><strong>Bells and whistles, by Jim</strong></p>
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<div id="tJZpV7"><p style="text-align:center"><b>Click <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2019-05-31&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0&season=2019" target="_blank">here</a> for details, at Fangraphs.com</b>
<br><b>Eduardo Escobar: Christian Walker, +42.5%</b>
<br>Ketel Marte: Eduardo Escobar, +16.9%
<br><b><i>Archie Bradley: Matt Andriese, -44.5%</i></b><i>
<br>Matt Andriese: Jones, -18.1%; Dyson -17.0%; Ahmed, -14.9%; Locastro, -12.3%; Kelly, -11.1%</i></p></div>
<p id="wCUkXB">Present in the Gameday Thread were: AZDovs11, AZPerson, AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, Gilbertsportsfan, GuruB, Hannibal4467, Jack Sommers, Jim McLennan, Justin27, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, NikT77, Rockkstarr12, Samburt, Schilling2001, Sprankton, Ubersnake, West Valley Devil, katers15, kilnborn, redsedona and suroeste. Comment of the thread to Gilbertsportsfan, for calling <span>Christian Walker</span>’s shot:</p>
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<p id="49Y5So">For what it’s worth, tonight’s performance lifts Walker’s OPS for the year back above Goldschmidt, .830 to .810. But on the other hand, seven of the last nine D-backs losses have been by one run, and the team has lost the last eight games to be decided by one run. Either way, that ends the month of May, and we get to turn the page tomorrow and see what June brings. It begins with a match-up of <span>Zack Greinke</span> against <span>Jacob deGrom</span>, which should be a good one. A late start for a Saturday, with first pitch at 7:10pm. </p>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/diamondbacks-gamedays/2019/6/1/18647764/d-backs-4-mets-5-chilling-with-turambarTurambar2019-05-31T21:30:00-04:002019-05-31T21:30:00-04:00Gameday Thread, #58: 5/31 vs. Mets
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<img alt="Godiva Unveils The “Diva” Shoe" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NI-V4tCLo8ByCzMH8LAMpPCM_08=/0x48:3000x2048/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63931404/51950355.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Matthew Simmons/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">May 31 - 1045: England - Lady Godiva rode naked, covered only by her long hair, through Coventry protesting oppressive taxes imposed by her husband on his tenants ~ in legend, Thomas, a man who watched her ride, was struck blind, originating "Peeping Tom". history</p>— Today In History (@Yesterday_Today) <a href="https://twitter.com/Yesterday_Today/status/1134402388570382336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2019</a>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/diamondbacks-gamedays/2019/5/31/18648065/gameday-thread-58-5-31-vs-metsJim McLennan2019-05-31T21:00:00-04:002019-05-31T21:00:00-04:00Preview, #58: 5/31 vs. Mets
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<img alt="Arizona Fall League All Star Game" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WdEgcqsKf2F3Mvgfrsu11tzkwEQ=/0x144:2660x1917/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63931354/1057540746.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Hopefully, the D-backs will do better against the Mets than the Rockies. </p> <div id="ETf4i3">
<div class="pane sports_data_widget lineup clearfix">
<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" class="zebra">
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<th align="left">METS</th>
<th align="left">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
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</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Amed Rosario - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Jarrod Dyson - CF</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Dominic Smith - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Ketel Marte - 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Pete Alonso - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Eduardo Escobar - 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Michael Conforto - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Adam Jones - RF</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Wilson Ramos - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Christian Walker - 1B</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Todd Frazier - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Tim Locastro - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Adeiny Hechavarria - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Nick Ahmed - SS</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Juan Lagares - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Alex Avila - C</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Zack Wheeler - RHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Jon Duplantier - RHP</td>
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</tbody>
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<p id="sBeMjj"><span>Jon Duplantier</span> gets the start, in place of the injured Luke Weaver. See Jack’s pre-game report for an update from Torey Lovullo on Weaver, and also the plans to try and stretch out Duplantier a bit. Considering the bullpen is wheezing after <span>Taylor Clarke</span>’s early departure AND then the game going extra inning - they had to throw eight innings - I imagine Duplantier will have been told to throw strikes and hopefully get some quick early outs. It would be nice if those expected 80 pitches would be enough for at least five innings. So far in the majors, he has been quite economical. Small sample size, but the 12 innings he has thrown here have taken 187 pitches, 15.6 per frame, so five innings would seem achievable. </p>
<p id="TG34Lx">To make way, <span>Kevin Cron</span> was optioned back to Reno after yesterday’s game. I doubt it will be the last we see of him. Barring injury, he can’t be called up for 10 days, perhaps when the bullpen returns to a more normal seven-man set-up? As Jack noted, It seems likely they’ll go from nine to eight when <span>David Peralta</span> returns. As for <span>Cron</span>, he went 3-for-14, though all three hits were doubles. His OPS was .676, which was <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/5/24/18638255/arizona-diamondbacks-kevin-cron">below the numbers expected</a> based on his Triple-A stats, adjusting for Reno. However, he was on the receiving end of what <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/giants-pillar-with-catch-of-mlb-season/ar-AABUjlc">has been called</a> the “catch of [the] MLB season” in San Francisco, and with better batted-ball luck, his numbers would have significantly higher. </p>
<p id="LbA6ky">The team could certainly use a win, to end May on a decent note. As we noted, it has been a strange one, with the team outscoring their opponents overall, yet stumbling to an 11-16 record. That remain considerably better than May 2018, both directly, and in terms of a change from the previous month. Last May, Arizona’s winning percentage was just .296, a whopping 424 points down on the April figure. This time, we’re at .407 going into the final game, which is currently a 208 point drop in W% from April. So, this slump is perhaps only half as bad as the one from 2018. But it’s also worth remembering how well the team rebounded in June, going 19-9. Hopefully, this year’s model will follow suit there, too. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/diamondbacks-gamedays/2019/5/31/18648043/preview-58-5-31-vs-metsJim McLennan