AZ Snake Pit - Game #46: 9/11, Diamondbacks 4, Mariners 2An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2020-09-12T00:39:34-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/211973562020-09-12T00:39:34-04:002020-09-12T00:39:34-04:00Diamondbacks Sink Mariners 4-3
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<p>Good pitching, just enough offense nails down series opener</p> <p id="jegaqX"><span>Caleb Smith</span> had a short but successful debut for the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>. He pitched 3 efficient innings, allowing just one hit, a solo homerun in the third. The offense scored 3 first inning runs and tacked on one more in the 4th. <span>Alex Young</span> threw 5 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>3</sub> effective and ultimately gutsy innings in relief to get the win. Stefan Chricton nailed down the last two outs of the 9th to earn his first career save. </p>
<p id="E7ggvT"><span>Smith</span> made a good first impression with his teammates picking them up after some shoddy defense by <span>Nick Ahmed</span> and <span>Christian Walker</span> in the first. Ahmed made a throwing error on a routine groundball by <span>Dylan Moore</span>, and later after having the runner picked off <span>Walker</span> threw side arm into Moore’s arm to allow him to get to second base. But <span>Smith</span> fanned <span>Kyle Lewis</span> and <span>Kyle Seager</span> to end the threat. </p>
<p id="axWOdp"><span>Smith</span> walked one in the second inning, but worked around that, and gave up a homer Dylan Moore in the 3rd, but that was it. It wasn’t a bad pitch either as Moore tomahawked a fastball high above the zone into the left field seats. Smith needed just 40 pitches , 29 of which were for strikes in his three innings. Not yet stretched out, Torey Lovullo limited Smith’s outing, but had to be happy with what he saw. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Caleb Smith fans Kyle Lewis for his first <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dbacks</a> strikeout! <a href="https://t.co/waEOlqIvIJ">pic.twitter.com/waEOlqIvIJ</a></p>— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/1304598052532031493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2020</a>
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<p id="ntlWwt">The first inning rally was a welcome outburst. <span>Tim Locastro</span> singled to lead off the game. After being forced out by <span>Josh Rojas</span>, <span>Christian Walker</span> slashed a line triple into the right field corner, scoring Rojas. <span>Eduardo Escobar</span> lifted a sac fly to left scoring Walker. Not satisfied with that <span>Kole Calhoun</span> stroked a two out double through the shift and <span>Nick Ahmed</span> knocked him home with an RBI single to stake newcomer Smith to a 3-0 lead</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now that's how you hit and run! <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshRojass?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshRojass</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/CWALK328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CWALK328</a> <a href="https://t.co/NxIf2JAWgH">pic.twitter.com/NxIf2JAWgH</a></p>— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/1304600795397136385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2020</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Slick Nick with the stick! <br><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dbacks</a> grab an early 3-run lead. <a href="https://t.co/lQTboOl4by">pic.twitter.com/lQTboOl4by</a></p>— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/1304601693246697480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2020</a>
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<p id="KUrz62">The D-backs got to Kikuchi for a pivotal run in their half of the 3<sup>rd</sup>. Josh Rojas singled and went to 3<sup>rd</sup> on a bloop double by <span>Eduardo Escobar</span> down the right field line. <span>Kole Calhoun</span> lifted a deep fly to center to score Rojas making the sore 4-1</p>
<p id="ytAgO6">From there Kikuchi settled down with three hitless innings, lasting six, issuing just one walk to <span>Stephen Vogt</span>. in the 4th. </p>
<p id="PJx2ys">Alex Young came on in the 4th, and was great for the first 3 innings he threw, walking just one batter. The <a href="https://www.lookoutlanding.com/">Mariners</a> got one run back in the 7<sup>th</sup>. Young struggled with his control a bit, walking leadoff batter <span>Evan White</span> and allowing him to advance to second on a wild pitch. Marmolejos lined a one out single to center to score White. Young then got Philip Ervin to hit into a 5-4-3 double play however to get out of the inning with no further damage.</p>
<p id="itEFZE">In the 8th inning Young allowed a two out homer to <span>Ty France</span>, a deep shot to left center field, making it a 4-3 ballgame. </p>
<p id="ogzI4H">Josh Rojas singled in the 8th and advanced to 2nd on a deep fly ball to center by Walker. But Escobar flew out and <span>Calhoun</span> struck out, stranding Rojas, and failing to deliver the insurance run. </p>
<p id="0rnkC1">With Stefan Chricton already warmed up in the D-backs bullpen Torey Lovullo surprisingly opted to send Young back out to face lefty <span>Kyle Seager</span> to lead off the 9th. It worked like a charm as he got <span>Seager</span> to chase a down and away slider for strike three as he couldn’t check his swing. That brought out Chricton to try to get the last two outs for the save. </p>
<p id="V6AkJ3">He fell behind Evan White 2-0 but got back in the at bat and caught him looking for the 2nd out. Then Luis Torrens ground out to <span>Nick Ahmed</span> and that was the ballgame. </p>
<p id="jvZoYW">It was a very solid win, and well pitched and played game. The DBacks now have a two game winning streak. </p>
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<p id="gpxDDV">Y’all gave this 6 recs, so here is your COTD. Ratt Leon getting a lot of play I guess </p>
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<p id="hdzNfp">Fangraphs WPA chart won’t finish updating the game, so I’m going to sign off here and leave you the <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?game_pk=630224&game_date=2020-9-11">Baseball Savant Box</a> for your viewing pleasure. The Mariners had the hardest hit balls of the night, but the D-backs had the most runs. They’re back at it again tomorrow night at 5:10 P.M.</p>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/2020/9/12/21433504/diamondbacks-sink-mariners-4-3Jack Sommers2020-09-11T20:31:00-04:002020-09-11T20:31:00-04:00Preview #46: 9/11, Diamondbacks vs. Mariners
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<figcaption>Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Mr. Smith goes to Arizona...</p> <div id="jPRovk">
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<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<th align="left">MARINERS</th>
<th align="left">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Dylan Moore - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Tim Locastro - CF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Ty France - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Josh Rojas - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Kyle Lewis - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Christian Walker - 1B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Kyle Seager - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Eduardo Escobar - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Evan White - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Kole Calhoun - RF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Luis Torrens - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Nick Ahmed - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Jose Marmolejos - DH</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Wyatt Mathisen - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Phillip Ervin - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Stephen Vogt - C</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Dee Strange-Gordon - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Carson Kelly - DH</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name"></td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Yusei Kikuchi - LHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Caleb Smith - LHP</td>
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<p id="U7ElSQ"><strong>Games until the blessed end of the season: 15</strong></p>
<p id="4MH5N2">That said, there’s always some reason to watch <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>’ baseball, if you look hard enough [and of late, that would be really, REALLY hard...] Tonight, that would be the debut for Arizona of left-handed starting pitcher Caleb Smith. He was traded to us from the <a href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a>, in the <span>Starling Marte</span> trade at the deadline, but he had been taken out of active play by becoming part of the Miami outbreak of COVID-19, which led to no fewer than 17 Marlins testing positive for the disease. The 29-year-old is in his fourth season in the majors, having previously posted a 4.64 ERA over 252.1 innings of work. But he has only appeared once this year, allowing one run over three innings. </p>
<p id="Fbjtxh">The final few games promise to be an audition for starting jobs in 2021. The team will have some vacancies to fill, with <span>Robbie Ray</span> gone, and <span>Merrill Kelly</span>’s option looking increasingly dodgy. Right now, next year’s rotation would be <span>Madison Bumgarner</span>, <span>Zac Gallen</span> and... Well, then fill the rest of the spots out with your picks from <span>Luke Weaver</span>, <span>Taylor Clarke</span>, <span>Alex Young</span>, Smith, <span>Corbin Martin</span> and whoever else turns up to spring training. So, show us what you’ve got, Mr. Smith. With our rotation having mustered just six wins in the first 45 starts of the season - <span>Stefan Crichton</span> leads all our active pitchers with... two W’s - it won’t take much to be considered an improvement.</p>
<h4 id="e8RVpf">Pre-game audio from Torey Lovullo</h4>
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<p id="JECRSB"><span><strong>Kevin Ginkel</strong></span><strong>:</strong> Lengthy 5-minute discussion about the reasoning behind sending Kevin down and also why the seeming disconnect between this action and Torey’s comments a few days ago. Torey said his fastball command has been off, and he’s not getting swing and miss with his slider and they feel he’ll be better able to work things out at the alternate site rather than in MLB games.</p>
<p id="qL7Rp1">His comments to Kevin were: <em><strong>“We aren’t here to just pacify and allow you to kind of feel your way around, we want you to be great again. We feel like this is the biggest thing we can do is challenge you in this area and let you go down there and work without the pressure of having to perform”</strong></em></p>
<p id="OuBoVW">He has to be careful what he says as the players all tune in to his comments and read what he writes. So sometimes he’s trying to give them confidence without undercutting them publicly. (My words, not exactly his). Suggest listening to the discussion for greater clarity.</p>
<p id="jH64n0"><span><strong>Pavin Smith</strong></span><strong>:</strong> With lefties starting each of today and tomorrow he felt the matchup was better tomorrow. It has to do with swing plane data and GB/FB tendencies, but I couldn’t identify a clear trend. He will start tomorrow it sounds like.</p>
<p id="UYGOqa"><span><strong>Josh VanMeter</strong></span> likely to play mostly 2b while Ketel is on IL. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2020/9/11/21432765/preview-46-9-11-diamondbacks-vs-marinersJim McLennanJack Sommers