AZ Snake Pit - Game #87: 7/11, Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2022-07-12T01:53:51-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/229681372022-07-12T01:53:51-04:002022-07-12T01:53:51-04:00Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3
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<img alt="MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u04jHBEgL6GdNaL2-DeZxtHQXek=/0x87:3600x2487/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71097921/usa_today_18685851.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Noe Ramirez Celebrate a Big Double Play | Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The D-backs break a streak of 12 straight losses at Oracle Park</p> <p id="19iwKJ"><strong>Record: 39-48, Pace 73-89</strong></p>
<p id="Q1nW9g">The <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> hung on by the skin of their teeth to take a 4-3 victory from the <a href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">San Francisco Giants</a>. Merrill Kelly went 7+ innings giving up 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and 4 K’s. for the win. He improved to 8-5. Mark Melancon earned his 12th save. Daulton Varsho drove in two runs and Alek Thomas had three hits. </p>
<p id="5IROpi">The game was marked by a lot of good long at bats by the young hitters. They drew 7 walks and had 10 hits but were only 3 for 14 with RISP. So while they only scored four runs, there was still a lot to be encouraged about. </p>
<h2 id="JOyNxp">RECAP</h2>
<p id="IQvOuf"><strong>T-1:</strong> Rojas turned an 0-2 count into a walk and Alek Thomas singled to opposite field. But Ketel rolled over into a 3-6-1 double play and Walker grounded out to short, ending the promising inning with a zero.</p>
<p id="gmMem4"><strong>B-1:</strong> The heart fluttered a bit due to two warning track fly outs, but Merrill Kelly navigated a 12 pitch, 1-2-3 inning. </p>
<p id="BTuORo"><strong>T-2:</strong> A two out walk by Varsho and a single by Carson Kelly went for naught, as Perdomo grounded into a 6-4 force. All 6 outs recorded by Alex Cobb have been groundouts. </p>
<p id="Lh9JpX"><strong>B-2: </strong>Another 12 pitch inning, just a bloop single allowed. </p>
<p id="idHi5G"><strong>T-3:</strong> Alek Thomas lined a one out base hit to right, his second hit of the game. Marte narrowly missed hitting into his second DP of the game, legging it out on his balky hammy for the 4-6 force and giving Walker a chance with two outs. C-Walk punched a single to right, moving Ketel to third. David Peralta took his turn and singled into right on a 3-1 count to score Marte. Right fielder Gonzalez bobbled the ball, allowing Walker to move up to 3<sup>rd</sup> and Peralta to 2<sup>nd</sup>. Kennedy then walked to load them up for Varsho, who did the deed, singling to right, scoring two more runs and giving the <strong>D-backs 3-0 lead</strong>. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">David Peralta brings in the first run of the game! <a href="https://t.co/wM6Qr4M1oy">pic.twitter.com/wM6Qr4M1oy</a></p>— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/BALLYSPORTSAZ/status/1546684332370235392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Daulton Varsho keeps the boys moving with a 2-run single <a href="https://t.co/4dwJs734L7">pic.twitter.com/4dwJs734L7</a></p>— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/BALLYSPORTSAZ/status/1546685322838302721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a>
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<p id="wApu5y"><strong>B-3:</strong> Merrill responded with a 9-pitch shutdown inning. Just 33 pitches for the Mainstay so far. </p>
<p id="VZy3Zx"><strong>T-4: </strong>First 1-2-3 inning for the D-backs bats</p>
<p id="cur6eO"><strong>B-4:</strong> Wilmer Flores ripped a one out double past Rojas into left. Belt hit another rope into right for a base hit, but Varsho blocked it like a catcher to hold Flores as 3<sup>rd</sup>. Merrill almost got out of it when Gonzalez grounded to short, but Kennedy couldn’t get a handle the ball on transfer and instead of a 6-4-3 it was a 6-4 RBI force. That was followed by a walk from Merrill and a Brent Strom mound visit. Kelly fell behind a lot of hitters this inning but finally got Crawford to groundout 4-3. 24 pitch inning, <strong>3-1 D-backs</strong></p>
<p id="zPlsOf"><strong>T-5:</strong> Ketel drew a leadoff walk, but nothing doing after that. Cobb at 84 pitches. </p>
<p id="pnQ4py"><strong> B-5:</strong> Merrill gave up a single this inning but nothing else. </p>
<p id="2o6Osl"><strong>T-6:</strong> Another 1-2-3 inning, as Cobb gets through 6 innings despite giving up 6 hits and 4 walks. He retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced as <strong>the D-backs mid inning malaise continued.</strong></p>
<p id="fRcP0v"><strong>B-6:</strong> Merrill stranded a one out double , to get out of mini trouble in the 6th. </p>
<p id="EtSUAF"><strong>T-7:</strong> Rojas singled to lead off. Thomas, instead of sac bunting like I suggested, hit a sharp groundball to short that looked like a 6-4-3. The throw sailed over the first basemen’s head but bounced back to him. Thomas made a subtle move towards second and was tagged out and called out for the double play. It really cost them. Ketel hit a ground rule double after that and Walker walked. But Peralta struck out, and it was another scoreless inning. <strong>Still 3-1 Dbacks</strong></p>
<p id="yBQbqR"><strong>B-7: </strong> Kelly struck out Crawford and Yastrzemski and Bart lined out to left. Should have been his last batter. </p>
<p id="7pdDAG"><strong>T-8: </strong>Jake McCarthy , just up from Reno fell behind 0-2 and ended up working a 10 pitch walk. Big league at bat ! After an 8 pitch at bat from Varsho resulted in a pop out, Sergio Alcantara put up a 9 pitch at bat before singling to left to drive in McCarthy for a critical insurance run. <strong>4-1 D-backs</strong></p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sergio Alcantara battles to add another run for the <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dbacks</a>! <a href="https://t.co/uwcaBNBP4e">pic.twitter.com/uwcaBNBP4e</a></p>— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/BALLYSPORTSAZ/status/1546712952874668032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a>
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<p id="bjr4bT"><strong>B-8: INEXPLICABLY,</strong> Torey sent Merrill back out for the 8th after the LONG inning. So of course he walked the leadoff batter. Torey brought in the rapidly regressing Mantiply to face a parade of right hand batters, and things predictably went south. He gave up a single, an RBI double, an RBI groundout, plus his first walk in 34 games. Some bad luck to be sure, a swinging bunt, a ball off the third base bag.....but still. His streak of 34 games without a walk is over. Noe Ramirez came in and walked HIS first batter faced to load the bases. But a 3-6-1 double, Walker to Perdomo to an exultant Ramirez stood up on replay review and the D-backs escaped the inning with a <strong>4-3 lead</strong></p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The clutch bases-loaded double-play keeps the <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dbacks</a> in front! <a href="https://t.co/h5C6F0uJEJ">pic.twitter.com/h5C6F0uJEJ</a></p>— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/BALLYSPORTSAZ/status/1546721846241935361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a>
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<p id="peiYmL"><strong>T-9: </strong>Thomas lead off with a double to right but was stranded at third.</p>
<p id="jtbKrg"><strong>B-9:</strong> Mark Melancon gave up a leadoff single but locked down the rest of the inning and the save with a fielders choice groundout, a popout and strikeout to end it. </p>
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<p id="0rvj5i"><a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2022-07-11&team=Giants&dh=0&season=2022">Fangraphs Box</a></p>
<p id="xdAha2"><strong>WPA</strong></p>
<p id="0K8n3A">Team Bobby Fischer: Merrill Kelly +.270, Noe Ramirez +.238, Mark Melancon +.189, Daulton Varsho +.142</p>
<p id="4PXhq5">Team Boris Spassky : Joe Mantiply -.269, Ketel Marte -.122</p>
<p id="uHq7Tb">COTD: EDIT: There are actually two Sedona Red Comments</p>
<p id="c0LC2W">Kilnborn for his ever consistent humor:</p>
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<p id="3n8Khb"></p>
<p id="RnxLdC"> And Snake_Bitten with a bit of sarcasm that fortunately not warranted tonight</p>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/7/12/23204825/diamondbacks-4-giants-3-merrill-kelly-daulton-varshoJack Sommers2022-07-11T21:30:00-04:002022-07-11T21:30:00-04:00Gameday Thread, #87: 7/11 @ Giants
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<img alt="Russian-born chess master Boris Spassky (L) shakes" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FOMMeYNPSl-7UfEaNwb2x_fAOhI=/0x0:1024x683/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71097485/52028690.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo credit should read Dragan FILIPOVIC/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>On this day in 1972, the first game of the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/7/11/23204118/gameday-thread-87-7-11-giantsJim McLennan2022-07-11T20:30:00-04:002022-07-11T20:30:00-04:00Diamondbacks Game Preview #87: 7/11 @ Giants
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<img alt="Colorado Rockies v Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mDR7-Cr8TNphg15PwGQs-ndLgBQ=/0x18:4391x2945/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71097421/1407944589.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Joe Mantiply: unexpected All-Star</p> <div id="uNvm2e">
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<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<th align="left">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
<th align="left">GIANTS</th>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Josh Rojas - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">LaMonte Wade - 1B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Alek Thomas - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Joc Pederson - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Ketel Marte - DH</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Wilmer Flores - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Christian Walker - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Brandon Belt - DH</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">David Peralta - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Luis Gonzalez - RF</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Buddy Kennedy - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">David Villar - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Daulton Varsho - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Brandon Crawford - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Carson Kelly - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Mike Yastrzemski - CF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Geraldo Perdomo - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Joey Bart - C</td>
</tr>
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<td class="td-last td-name"></td>
<td class="td-first td-name"></td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Merrill Kelly - RHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Alex Cobb - RHP</td>
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</tbody>
</table>
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<p id="hZ1sJi">Probably no figure sums up Joe Mantiply’s remarkable season than his strikeout to walk ratio. After walking the second batter he faced this season, Mantiply has now gone 130 hitters in a row without adding to the tally, while striking out 34 of them. That 34:1 K:BB is the second-best ratio (min 20 IP) for the first-half of the season in the history of... Well, the history of seasons being divided into halves by the All-Star break. The only superior one prior to this year came in 1991, when Dennis Eckersley had a K:BB of 38:1 in the first half. Indeed, there are only a handful of other players to have reached even twenty, most recently Kenley Jansen, who in 2017 struck out 57 players while walking only two before the break. </p>
<p id="OGju1Y">Since that solitary base on balls, Mantiply has come close to issuing further free passes. On 12 occasions he has gone to a three-ball count on hitters. But they have all ended in other ways: three hits (all singles) and nine outs, five of those by the strikeout. Perhaps the closest was on July 3 in Coors Field, where he fell 3-1 behind Ryan McMahon - that has only happened three times this year - before getting him to fly out. But here’s an oddity: Mantiply has been more effective after throwing ball one than strike one. In 45 PA after going 1-0, he has held opposing hitters to an OPS of .405; in 78 PA after getting ahead 0-1, the comparable figure is .615. [9 PA ended on the first pitch, with an OPS of .444 there]</p>
<p id="SlQcy2">We’ll see how it goes the rest of the way. In 1991, Eckersley went (relatively) wild after the break, ending with a K:BB of 87:9, which wasn’t even the best of his career. If we set the line at 50 innings of work, the best K:BB ratio since the 1880’s still belong to Eckersley, who went 55:3 in 1989 (and then 73:4 the following year, the second-best mark in modern times). Liam Hendriks completes the podium, with a 113:7 ratio last year, remarkable as much for the K-rate, considering he only threw 71 innings. That does give Mantiply a bit of leeway, in that even if he was to walk the next batter he faced, his K:BB would still be 17, good enough for third in the past 140 years. It’ll certainly be something fun to follow for a bit. </p>
<h4 id="77H8Ow">Roster moves</h4>
<p id="RkT2j6">The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:</p>
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<li id="qoKsmR">Recalled OF Jake McCarthy (No. 30) from Triple-A Reno.</li>
<li id="SNl5Vi">Optioned OF Cooper Hummel to Reno following yesterday’s game.</li>
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<p id="xSBsiP">Hummel has definitely struggled in his most recent promotion, having gone 4-for-28 with one walk and nine strikeouts. That dropped his season triple-slash down to .171/.282/.295 for a .576 OPS. As we noted <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/7/9/23201914/diamondbacks-game-preview-85-7-9-vs-rockies">a couple of days ago</a>, the gap between that and his Triple-A OPS (much of it in Reno) is massive - now more than <em>four hundred</em> points... McCarthy has hit .333/.397/.485 since being sent down, so we’ll see how much his drop-off ends up being. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/7/11/23204131/diamondbacks-game-preview-87-7-11-giantsJim McLennan