AZ Snake Pit - Game #127, 8/20: Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 7An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2019-08-21T01:54:48-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/205898892019-08-21T01:54:48-04:002019-08-21T01:54:48-04:00Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 7: Arizona’s bats sell out
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<img alt="MLB: Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X1o3k9Fs1Eq8c8DQpySzH0ZobA0=/0x0:3988x2659/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65079167/usa_today_11216681.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>A five-run sixth from the D-backs pushed them back above .500, as they won their third in a row. </p> <p id="Z0VkCq"><strong>Record: 64-63. Pace: 82-80. Change on 2018: -7. </strong></p>
<p id="WI1GYx">On a night when 1,200 mystery bats were sold off by the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>’ players for various charities, it seemed fitting that it was the offense which carried the day, and got the team back to a winning record. Arizona also turned some key double-plays, took full advantage of some errors by the <a href="https://www.purplerow.com/">Rockies</a>, scoring five unearned runs, and the early departure of their starter with an apparent injury. Against that, <span>Alex Young</span> had the lowest quality of quality starts possible, and the bullpen didn’t exactly shut things down, <span>T.J. McFarland</span> in particular taking another step closer to DFALand. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/NickAhmed13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NickAhmed13</a> just crushed his 17th home run, a career-high!<br><br>He's also donating proceeds from tonight's charity broadcast to the <a href="https://twitter.com/phxmission?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PHXMission</a>. Help out a great cause: <a href="https://t.co/88yGR9rXkz">https://t.co/88yGR9rXkz</a> <a href="https://t.co/znHiiOk7QJ">pic.twitter.com/znHiiOk7QJ</a></p>— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/1163998506480095232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2019</a>
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<p id="hxwvqR">Early on though, the game was on pace to be completed in about two hours. Both Alex Young and the Rockies’ <span>Kyle Freeland</span> came out throwing strikes and getting quick outs, helped by a generous strike-zone from home-plate umpire Dan Bellino. Young needed only 27 pitches to get through three innings, facing one batter over the minimum, that being a one-out double in the second. <span>Freeland</span> took 35 pitches through his three innings, and also allowed one hit However, that gave Arizona the lead, because it was <span>Nick Ahmed</span>’s 17th home-run of the season, leading off the third (above). It marked a new high for Nick. </p>
<p id="nhi9U5">It would have been nice if Young had come out and posted a shutdown inning, but neither he nor <span>Freeland</span> proved capable of doing that for a bit. The Rockies took a 2-1 lead in eight pitches, <span>Trevor Story</span> getting his first of four hits on the night, and <span>Nolan Arenado</span> following with his contractually-obligated home-run. But Arizona responded, loading the bases with no outs in the bottom half, on two hits around an error, and scoring two of their own. <span>Adam Jones</span> tied things up with a sharp single back up the middle, and <span>Ahmed</span> also tied his career high in RBI, driving in his 70th run of the season with a sacrifice fly. After an intentional walk to <span>Carson Kelly</span> reloaded the bases, Young grounded out, but Arizona had a 3-2 lead.</p>
<p id="d0Nr2Z">Young wasn’t able to hold that either in the fifth. Worse still, he committed the cardinal sin for a pitcher of walking his opposite number, with two outs to boot. And the Rockies made him pay for it, following up with a pair of hits, locking the game back up at three. The D-backs couldn’t respond, but the sixth proved to be a pivotal inning. It looked as if the Rockies were destined to take the lead, opening the frame with a pair of hits to put runners on the corners with no outs. But Young managed to Houdini his way out of it, getting a strikeout and the first of three double-plays in consecutive innings, to keep Arizona tied. And if you wanted a demonstration of momentum in action, you were about to get it. </p>
<p id="KY2Hue">With one out, a rare <span>Arenado</span> error put <span>Jones</span> on second. Freeland then went to a 3-0 count on <span>Ahmed</span> before leaving the field with a trainer, with what looked like it might have been a groin injury. Enter former D-back Bryan Shaw who has become the poster boy for why paying mid-inning relievers big bucks is a bad idea. Signed to a three-year, $25 million contract before the 2018 campaign, he has put up a 5.79 ERA since. And he’s now three appearances from a $9 million option for 2021 becoming guaranteed, turning it into a four-year, $34 million contract. Speaking as an Arizona Diamondbacks fan, I look forward to that happening. </p>
<p id="03Y3zr">Because he was awful tonight. Shaw walked the first two batters he faced, then <span>Jake Lamb</span> found a hole in the infield for a two-run single. An RBI groundout was followed by a <span>David Peralta</span> single, and <span>Eduardo Escobar</span> drove in a pair more runs, finally getting the 10th triple, for which he has been hunting over the past few games. With it, he became the third Arizona player in club history to have 20+ home-runs, 20+ doubles and 10+ triples in a season. <span>Steve Finley</span> did it twice (1999 and 2003), while <span>Stephen Drew</span> also achieved the feat in 2008. Escobar is the first switch-hitter to reach the triple milestone since Philadelphia’s <span>Jimmy Rollins</span> in 2007. </p>
<p id="EZ2NnI">8-3 up, I felt safe in leaving the living-room to get the recap started. “Not so fast,” said <span>T.J. McFarland</span>, as he also loaded the bases with no outs in the 7th. Admittedly, a lead-off error by <span>Wilmer Flores</span> didn’t help, but TJ’s ERA this year is now at 5.21. He has been as unreliable this season as he was reliable in 2018, when he had a 2.00 ERA in 72 innings: oh, relievers, “volatility” is thy middle-name... I suppose, at $1.45 million, he’s cheap enough, but on this kind of performance, you have to wonder about picking up his option. <span>Yoan Lopez</span> came in, to try and clean up the mess. Instead, a lead-off bloop single meant the Rockies had gone from five down, to having the tying run at the plate without recording an out. </p>
<p id="uVttuz">Another double-play helped, even if a run crossed the plate, and an RBI double allowed Colorado to close the gap to 8-6 before the inning ended. Arizona weren’t able to tack on in the seventh or eighth, the former ending with <span>Jarrod Dyson</span> being caught stealing for only the fourth time this year. <span>Kevin Ginkel</span> worked a scoreless eighth, with <span>Eduardo Escobar</span> doing a particularly good job as pivot man on an inning-ending double-play, scooping up a low throw from Ketel Marte. That set the stage for <span>Archie Bradley</span> in the ninth. He has been kinda busy of late: this was his third day taking the mound in a row, for the first time since June 9-11 last year (and that streak started with outings of 8 and 5 pitches, not 23 + 20). </p>
<p id="ISm2QN">A lead-off double spelled trouble - not least because it meant <span>Bradley</span> would have to face <span>Arenado</span>, who hit a walk-off home-run when they saw each other in the Colorado finale. A ground-out advanced the runner, and my heart skipped a beat as <span>Story</span> launched a long fly ball. <span>Jones</span> was able to haul it in at the track, although the runner scored from third, to make it 8-7, and bring Arenado up as the tying run. As last night though, <span>Bradley</span> won the battle, getting Arenado to pop out, to record his sixth save. <span>Peralta</span> had three hits, and Ahmed a walk in addition to his home-run, as the D-backs moved back above Mt. .500.</p>
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<div id="LUGpZW"><p style="text-align:center"><b>Click <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2019-08-20&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0&season=2019" target="_blank">here</a> for details, at Fangraphs.com</b>
<br><b>George Bernard Shaw: Jake Lamb, +17.4%</b>
<br>Sandie Shaw: Jones, +15.5%; Ginkel, +14.1%; Ahmed, +13.9%
<br><b><i>Bryan Shaw: Wilmer Flores, -12.2%</i></b><i>
<br>Tommy Shaw: T.J. McFarland, -10.1%</i></p></div>
<p id="Ij7pba">Thanks to all the people who showed up in the GDT: DORRITO, DeadManG, DesertWeagle, GuruB, Jack Sommers, Jim McLennan, Johnneu, Justin27, Michael McDermott, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, Rockkstarr12, Schilling2001, Smurf1000, Snake_Bitten, Sprankton, kilnborn, onedotfive and suroeste. Comment of the night to Jack, for this little meme-gem.</p>
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<p id="B2eH6S">Still, the win’s the thing, I guess! The D-backs get another chance to sweep the Rockies tomorrow; let’s hope it goes better than the last time, though at least I imagine we won’t be seeing Bradley tomorrow. On the other hand, we will be seeing <span>Mike Leake</span>. I think the picture above might be getting recycled.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/8/21/20826162/diamondbacks-rockies-recapJim McLennan2019-08-20T21:30:00-04:002019-08-20T21:30:00-04:00Gameday Thread, #127: 8/20 vs. Rockies
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<img alt="Voyager Golden Record" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/njhsEVaQrUdzoC1dv29CWUHPyFw=/0x453:4713x3595/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65078338/164430723.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">August 20 - 1977: Space - unmanned Voyager 2 launched, carrying a copper record of greetings in multiple languages, music samples and sounds of nature. <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/1163967198735536131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2019</a>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/8/20/20825990/gameday-thread-127-8-20-vs-rockiesJim McLennan2019-08-20T20:30:00-04:002019-08-20T20:30:00-04:00Preview, #127: 8/20 vs. Rockies
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<img alt="MLB: AUG 09 Diamondbacks at Dodgers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MrKRdWfeQtw4jywMPE8gvnaaofs=/0x0:4424x2949/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65078037/1160494182.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Carson Kelly is already tied for the most ninth-inning home-runs in a season by any Diamondbacks’ hitter. </p> <div id="8jSQVE">
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<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<th align="left">ROCKIES</th>
<th align="left">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Raimel Tapia - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Ketel Marte - CF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Trevor Story - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">David Peralta - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Nolan Arenado - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Eduardo Escobar - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Daniel Murphy - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Christian Walker - 1B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Ian Desmond - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Wilmer Flores - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Ryan McMahon - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Adam Jones - RF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Yonathan Daza - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Nick Ahmed - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Tony Wolters - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Carson Kelly - C</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Kyle Freeland - LHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Alex Young - LHP</td>
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<p id="E0guQr">Interesting Tweet today, with two D-backs among the MLB home-run leaders on a per-inning basis.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most HR by inning:<br><br>1st: 12 Eugenio Suarez<br>2nd: 8 Kole Calhoun<br>3rd: 8 Anthony Rizzo<br>4th: 8 Eduardo Escobar<br>5th: 8 Jose Altuve<br>6th: 10 Mike Trout<br>7th: 9 Cody Bellinger<br>8th: 7 Javier Baez<br>9th: 7 Carson Kelly<br>Extras: 3 P Sandoval and S Marte</p>— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBRandomStats/status/1163923219654565890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="uKlsm8">I thought it might be interesting to dig into the Diamondbacks’ history, and see who leads the team across each inning. So here are the Arizona franchise record holders, for home-runs in a season by frame:</p>
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<li id="LKN0PM">1st: Paul Goldschmidt (2018) - 13</li>
<li id="ihIUsO">2nd: Mark Reynolds (2009) and Ryan Roberts (2011) - 6</li>
<li id="M4nTaV">3rd: Luis Gonzalez (2001) - 8</li>
<li id="Xak2De">4th: Mark Reynolds (2010) - 10</li>
<li id="KgefXL">5th: Luis Gonzalez (2001) - 8</li>
<li id="pG67hw">6th: Jay Bell (1999) - 9</li>
<li id="71BFvX">7th: Luis Gonzalez (2001) - 10</li>
<li id="paZMwg">8th: Three tied with 6</li>
<li id="q6HmIf">9th: Jake Lamb (2016) and Carson Kelly (2019) - 7</li>
<li id="xqhQwl">Extras: Seven tied with 2</li>
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<p id="p3bXc6">No real surprise to see Gonzo’s 2001 campaign appear three times on the list, considering he hit 13 more home-runs that season than any other Diamondbacks. I was initially surprised to see Reynolds, but I’d forgotten that he had 44 homers in total that year, the only player bar Gonzalez to reach the forty mark. Of course, his 223 SO is still the all-time record for a single season, having withstood even the recent surge in strikeouts. Roberts is the name I would not have expected to see on the list. Also impressed to see Kelly having tied for the franchise record in the ninth already, despite having only appeared 88 times this year so far. Curious to see where his home-run tally ends up.</p>
<p id="hUQ3d6">There haven’t been many catchers lately who reached 20 HR during their age 25 seasons or younger. Outside of Wilin Rosario, who gets a big ol’ asterisk, due to playing for Colorado, the only other have been Mike Zunino, who had 22 for the 2014 Mariners, and Gary Sanchez who hit 33 for the Yankees in 2017. Curiously, Kelly’s colleague, Alex Avila, fell just short, reaching 19 as a 24-year-old for Detroit in 2011. Then again: it’s the balls, stupid. For I also note, Arizona has already hit 33 homers against the Rockies this year. That’s tied with last season against the Dodgers, for a franchise best versus any single opponent in a season, with two games against Colorado still to play. </p>
<p id="GA2asw">One roster move for the Diamondbacks. With the bullpen back in a better place after the last couple of games, Bo Takahashi has been optioned back to the minors, the team recalling Ildemaro Vargas in his place. Takahashi will indeed be a “ghost Diamondback,” at least for now - someone who was on the roster, but never took the mound. Joel Payamps is also in the same category, but at least he is still down there in the bullpen, potentially awaiting his first call-up. We’ll see if tonight turns out to be the charm for Joel. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/8/20/20825854/preview-127-8-20-vs-rockiesJim McLennan