AZ Snake Pit - Game #13: 4/21, Diamondbacks 4 @ Nationals 3An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2022-04-21T19:22:05-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/228000432022-04-21T19:22:05-04:002022-04-21T19:22:05-04:00Diamondbacks 4, Nationals 3 - Homers Are Good
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<img alt="MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4cUKkF8bH3Nu89nGhtLz8BYc4Rg=/0x0:3105x2070/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70778587/usa_today_18127851.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Led by old friend Matt Davidson, the offense finally showed some muscle, hitting 3 homers this afternoon.</p> <p id="eHpm1n">Matt Davidson has had a whirlwind of a career in his last 5 years. Starting in Chicago with the <a href="https://www.southsidesox.com/">White Sox</a>, he went to Texas with their AAA club, Cincinnati for a handful of games in the COIVD season, then last year with the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> and now Arizona. All he’s done during that time is hit homers. 92 of them in fact. But now, after 254 career homers, he’s finally back at the place where his career started, looking to infuse a 3rd base position with some much needed firepower.</p>
<p id="OG02ky">He took no time to make his presence known to the big league team. With two outs and on a chilly day, Matt blasted a drive deep to right. <strong>1-0 Dbacks.</strong></p>
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<p id="P68sAJ">The same occurence happened in the 2nd, two outs and Jake McCarthy at the plate. He delivered. <strong>2-0 Dbacks.</strong></p>
<p id="j45mY2">Zach Davies making his third appearance of the year, looking to perform better than his previous outing against the <a href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">Mets</a> where he allowed two homers and boy did he ever his first pass through the Nationals batting order.</p>
<p id="cFB8Lg">Staked to an early lead, Davies struck out 4 batters while allowing a single walk to Victor Robles before inducing a ground ball out to Walker to end the 3rd. His command was excellent, using his sinker and change-up effectively to confuse Nationals batters.</p>
<p id="6TDm53">That control escaped him in the 4th as Juan Soto led things off with a 5-pitch walk. Nelson Cruz followed and after a strike, he tattooed one deep to left, tying things up at <strong>2.</strong></p>
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<p id="bOY6c2">After that mistake to Cruz however, Davies was excellent. A 1-out single made a little noise, but Zach struck out the next two batters and pitched a clean 5th inning to end his day after 87 pitches, and Juan Soto due up in the 6th. He left allowing 2 walks and 2 hits (homer and single), with 7 strike-outs. Sure, you’d want to see him go longer into games, but I think you’d take 2 runs allowed across 5 innings every time out.</p>
<p id="pslIvg">The D-backs started the 5th with Geraldo Perdomo at the plate, and he dumped a ball down the line in left, which looked to be a surefire double. But an awkward deflection and a hard charging Yadiel Hernandez in left cause the rookie to take a cautious approach, settling for a single. No matter. Cooper Hummel is here to save the day. <strong>4-2 D-backs.</strong></p>
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<p id="w6jn5p">A small lead meant the bullpen was summoned to protect that lead, and the lesser-known guys were solid. Joe Mantiply needed just 4 pitches to get through the heart of the Nationals order in the 6th, and induced a double play after a leadoff single to set up Noe Ramirez, who forced a grounder to end the inning.</p>
<p id="LzgZ2c">It was a wild ride for both Ian Kennedy and Mark Melancon though. A leadoff walk and two-base error gave the Nats two runners in scoring position. A strikeout brought up Soto, but he was immediately intentionally walked to load the bases. A foul out from Cruz on the first pitch, gave the D-backs life and after going up 0-2 on Josh Bell, a very late swing on the next pitch smacked Jose Herrera’s glove, pushing a run across on catcher’s interference. <strong>4-3. </strong>Thankfully, Keibert Ruiz popped out in foul territory to end the threat.</p>
<p id="vu75H0">Mark Melancon wasn’t any better, although it appeared that way to start things off. Hernandez and Franco lined out and grounded out respectively for a quick two outs. But Alcides Escobar singled, Robles singled, and Hernandez was hit by a pitch to load the bases against the closer. In the end, Mark got the job done, getting Juan Soto to pop out behind the pitcher's mound to end the game. </p>
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<p id="T5B1Ee">What a ride and a nice win after losing both games in the doubleheader.</p>
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<iframe src="https://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=1525194&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2022-04-21&team=Nationals&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width="450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2022-04-21&team=Nationals&dh=0&season=2022">FanGraphs</a></span>
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<p id="O2sYfa">Never in doubt :)</p>
<p id="RgsPvz">Cooper Hummel (2 for 5, 1HR) led the WPA way with a +.197 and Mark Melancon (1 Save) calmly came out of the threat with a +.192. </p>
<p id="SvIHyj">The negative was both Ketel Marte and Carson Kelly with a -.046, as they combined to go 0 for 7.</p>
<p id="piDhas">The Mets return to Arizona for a 3-gamer starting tomorrow at 6:40pm. Stop by the field and make sure you’re checking <a href="http://AzSnakepit.com">AzSnakepit.com</a> for more <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> news!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/4/21/23036377/diamondbacks-nationals-game-recap-april-21stSteven Burt2022-04-21T16:00:00-04:002022-04-21T16:00:00-04:00Gameday Thread, #13: 4/21 @ Nationals
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<img alt="Loch Ness Monster" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N6SEgy4sKYFUmXj1vwVC3Ac-0XA=/0x269:6925x4886/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70777809/3422579.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Keystone/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>On this day, in 1934, the “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1994, it is revealed to be a hoax).</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/4/21/23036153/gameday-thread-13-4-21-nationalsJim McLennan2022-04-21T15:00:45-04:002022-04-21T15:00:45-04:00D-backs Game Preview, #13: 4/21 @ Nationals
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<img alt="Arizona Diamondbacks v Pittsburgh Pirates" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5C04jaYzu_BEnizTGLvSMgtP2p4=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70777475/176714274.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>It has been over 8 1⁄2 years since we saw Matt Davidson in the majors as a Diamondback...</p> <div id="HiCe5r">
<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">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
<th align="left">NATIONALS</th>
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</thead>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Cooper Hummel - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Cesar Hernandez - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Ketel Marte - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Juan Soto - RF</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Matt Davidson - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Nelson Cruz - DH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Christian Walker - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Josh Bell - 1B</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Seth Beer - DH</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Keibert Ruiz - C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Pavin Smith - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Yadiel Hernandez - LF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Carson Kelly - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Maikel Franco - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Jake McCarthy - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Alcides Escobar - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Geraldo Perdomo - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Victor Robles - CF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name"></td>
<td class="td-first td-name"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-last td-name">Zach Davies - RHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Josh Rogers - LHP</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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</div>
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Zqf8aS">
<h4 id="AO36yl">Roster moves</h4>
<p id="l4fI8a">The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:</p>
<ul>
<li id="kj1hku">Selected INF Matt Davidson (No. 22) from Triple-A Reno</li>
<li id="dZCSLx">Optioned RHP Corbin Martin to Reno following last night’s game.</li>
<li id="nnIYNw">Designated RHP Matt Peacock for assignment.</li>
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<p id="SbvCby">This was discussed somewhat in the comments of this morning Snake Bytes, but figured it was worth officially recording for the SnakePit record (since Google doesn’t index comments). It’s a return for Davidson who was originally a first-round pick by the Diamondbacks, all the way back in 2009. He debuted for the team in 2013, but was traded to the White Sox that winter for Addison Reed [sorry if mentioning that name triggers anybody!]. Since then, Davidson has also spent time with the Rangers, Reds and Dodgers, though major-league playing time has been hard to come by of late. He has just 47 PA in MLB since the end of the 2018 season. </p>
<p id="OKzi8f">However, Matt has been absolutely bombing the hell out of the ball with Reno. He has eight home-runs in just 51 PA, with a triple-slash of .386/.471/.955 for an OPS of 1.425. I’m kinda dubious about those figures, considering his career AAA OPS, across 682 games, is only .794. I would not be at all surprised to find out he turns out to be another example of Reno stats being utterly meaningless. But what the heck: it’s not as if he can hit any worse than Arizona’s third-basemen, who so far have a combined line of .111/.135/.139. Even if Davidson only delivers at his MLB career average (.223/.292/.433), that’s still going to be a considerable improvement over what we’ve seen. </p>
<p id="MEDacQ">It won’t <em>quite </em>be the longest interval between appearances for Arizona. That seems to belong to Ian Kennedy, with whom Davidson was almost-a-teammate on the 2013 Diamondbacks. Kennedy was dealt to the Padres at the trade deadline, while Davidson was promoted from the minors 11 days after that, and played until the end of the season. So IPK probably has it over Matt, by about seven weeks. Think the previous champion was likely Lyle Overbay, who went away from Arizona at the end of 2003, returning in August 2011, so he now occupies third place on the podium.</p>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/4/21/23036013/d-backs-game-preview-13-4-21-nationalsJim McLennan