AZ Snake Pit - Game #51, Diamondbacks vs. RangersAn unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2013-05-27T20:53:27-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/41345292013-05-27T20:53:27-04:002013-05-27T20:53:27-04:00D=backs 5, Rangers 3: Taste the future. NomNomNom.
<figure>
<img alt="Oh, yeah; Corbin also had his first major-league hit, and drove in a run too..." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ForS6GYAVE31uk_Dy8vrcyUD4so=/0x2:4000x2669/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13732645/169533483.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Oh, yeah; Corbin also had his first major-league hit, and drove in a run too... | Norm Hall</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hey,. Texas! Our left-handed pitching prospect born in 1991 is better than your left-handed pitching prospect born in 1991!</p> <h4>Record: 29-22. Pace: 92-70. Change on 2012: +6.</h4>
<p>Arizona Diamondbacks fans got a sample of what the future of their pitching rotation might be like this afternoon, with the 2013 debut of Tyler Skaggs. And if this is any indication, it's as sweet as a triple-chocolate fudge-cake with caramel sauce and whipped cream. Skaggs faced a very potent offense in the Texas Rangers, and blanked them for six innings, striking out a career-high nine batters, mostly with a curveball which appeared to drop vertically through the strike-zone from above. While Tony Sipp and Heath Bell combined to make things far too interesting in the ninth, the Diamondbacks held on to take the opening game in the Memorial Day double-header.</p>
<p>He out-dueled follow left-handed pitching prospect Martin Perez, with the early couple of innings particularly significant in this regard. Skaggs allowed a lead-off single in the first and a one-out double in the second, in both cases the runner advancing to third with two outs. But both were met with strikeouts: in the first, Nelson Cruz was the first - but far from the last - victim of the Skaggs curveball [we have to find a name for that, like "Mr. Snappy". Ms. Curvey?]. And in the second, the first at-bat of Perez's professional career, ended exactly the way you would expect it would - in a three-pitch K. Man, I love AL pitchers trying to hit. They just try <u>so</u> hard...</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks were doing a good job of being patient against Perez, who took 49 pitches to get the first six outs, and left the second inning down by three runs, all the runs coming with two outs. In the first, Martin Prado continued to rake, singling home Paul Goldschmidt. It was his seventh consecutive at-bat with a hit, tying the club record, last done by Eric Byrnes in 2007 [he's doubtful for tonight, after fouling a pitch off his knee in a later at-bat: he stayed in the game, but reports have him sporting a nasty bruise] And in the second, an A.J. Pollock double scored Wil Nieves, and after Didi Gregorius had reached on an error, Goldschmft singled Pollock home.</p>
<p>However, Harvey settled down after that, and through five innings, had thrown almost the same number of pitches as Skaggs - albeit surrendering Cody Ross's second home-run of the year [a long time coming, the first having been three weeks ago]. Meanwhile, Skaggs continued to motor: he wasn't impeccable, walking three guys, and his pitch-count was up there a little quicker than you'd have hoped. There was a Texas base-runner each inning through the fifth, but Skaggs finished strong, with a strike three on his 102nd pitch of the night. Final line: six innings, three hits, three walks and nine strikeouts, blowing away his previous career high of five.</p>
<p>As is often the case, fastball location was key: Skaggs threw strike one to 17 of 24 batters faced, which opened up his repertoire from there. He was able to throw his 12-6 curveball for strikes when he wanted to, but could also drop it in the dirt, and provoked some ugly swings and misses from the hitters. He seemed a very different pitcher from the one who posted a 5.83 ERA in six starts for the Diamondbacks last year, or even the one who allowed fourteen hits and eight walks in just nine spring innings, before being sent down. There was some suggestion that if Wade Miley continues to struggle, Skaggs should replace him, and on this afternoon's showing, you can see why.</p>
<p>The bullpen didn't exactly have its best outing. Will Harris allowed a lead-off single, then walked the next batter, but managed to rebound and put up a zero, albeit after coming within a ball from seeing Adrian Beltre at the plate as the tying run in the seventh. David Hernandez pitched the eighth, and allowed a one-out double, but nothing more, and the Diamondbacks added a fifth run, when Eric Chavez came off the bench to stroke a double. It should probably have scored two, but Gerardo Parra had delivered the daily TOOTBLAN, being thrown out on an ill-advised attempt to advance on a ball in the dirt. Still, 5-0 up: WP = 99.3%. This one's in the bag, right?</p>
<p>Not so fast. Tony Sipp had a poor outing, his BABIP regressing a tad, as he retired one of the four batters face, the other three reaching base on two hits and a walk, loading the bases with one out. That made it a save situation with the tying run in the on-deck circle, and that meant it was time for another ride on the Heath Bell Experience. Bell immediately took care of those three inherited runners: unfortunately, he did so by letting them cross home-plate, meaning the tying run was on base, still with only one out. Fortunately a strikeout [our 15th K, a number reached in a regulation game <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/WwQJG">only three times since 2004</a>] and groundout ended things satisfactorily.</p>
<p align="center"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-05-27&team=Diamondbacks&dh=1&season=2013"><img alt="20130527_rangers_diamondbacks_1_20130527185410_live_medium" class="photo" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1629171/20130527_Rangers_Diamondbacks_1_20130527185410_live_medium.png"></a><br>[<i>click to enlarge, at fangraphs.com</i>]<br><b>Memorable: Tyler Skaggs, +28.2%<br><i>Forgettable: Gerardo Parra, -3.5%</i></b></p>
<p>An unsurprisingly breezy Gameday Thread, with close to 500 comments on the afternoon, spread over 28 commenters. Yesterday's winner imstillhungry95 tied with Clefo, and Rockkstarr12 was third. Also present: AJV19, BattleMoses, BrokeNBattleX, Circa4life, DbackCardsFan, Diamondhacks, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Lozenge, Marc Fournier, Paper Clip, SongBird, TolkienBard, Zavada's Moustache, azshadowwalker, benhat, blank_38, coldblueAZ, dbrowell, ford.williams.10, hotclaws, luckycc, onedotfive, porty99 and soco. Comment of the Day, by a landslide, to dbrowell, for his reponse to soco, wondering why we weren't wearing camo caps.</p>
<p><span class="cactions mod "> <span id="comment_tools_164821929" class="tools actions_link"> </span> </span></p>
<div class="sbn-comment citem ui-state-depth-2 recommended ui-state-no-avatar collapsible" data-comment-depth="2" data-comment-id="164821933" id="comment_item_164821933" data-timestamp="1369685497" data-user-id="847839" data-parent-comment-id="164821777">
<div class="comment-entry">
<a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/dbrowell" class="avatar" id="comment_avatar_164821933"> <img src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/profile_images/998637/485290_578819914066_110065680_n_small.jpg" alt="dbrowell"></a> <span class="collapse_toggle collapse_toggle_button"><span class="ss-icon"></span></span>
<h2 class="title collapse_toggle" id="comment_title_164821933"><a id="comment_164821933">They're wearing them...</a></h2>
<div id="comment_body_164821933" class="body">
<p>…you just can’t see them.</p>
</div>
<div class="sig">
<p>#VA4AZ</p>
</div>
<div class="meta">by <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/dbrowell" class="poster">dbrowell</a> on <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370616/gameday-thread-51-5-27-vs-rangers-first-game#164821933" class="date">May 27, 2013 | 1:11 PM</a> <a class="up_link" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370616/gameday-thread-51-5-27-vs-rangers-first-game#comment_item_164821777">up</a> <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370616/gameday-thread-51-5-27-vs-rangers-first-game#comment_tease" class="reply_link" title="reply to this comment" data-comment-id="164821933" id="comment_reply_164821933">reply</a> <span class="cactions mod "> <a id="rec_link_164821933" class="recommend rec-link user_recommended recommended" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370616/gameday-thread-51-5-27-vs-rangers-first-game#">rec <span class="rec-count" id="comment_rec-count_164821933"> (6) </span> </a> <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370616/gameday-thread-51-5-27-vs-rangers-first-game#" id="actions_link" class="actions_toggle">actions</a></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>We'll be back shortly for the night-cap, in which Trevor Cahill takes on Yu Darvish, though I'm dealing with internet connection issues here, so the preview for that might be a bit... terse. We'll see...</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2685691/rangers_v_dbacks_2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Rangers_v_dbacks_2_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2685691/rangers_v_dbacks_2_medium.jpg" width="600"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Mock-up camouflage hats by Charles Sellars:<br>Flickr site <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourteen85/sets" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/<wbr></wbr>photos/fourteen85/sets</a><br>tumblr <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/blog/charlessollars" target="_blank">http://www.tumblr.com/<wbr></wbr>blog/charlessollars</a><br>pinterest <a href="http://pinterest.com/charlessollars/" target="_blank">http://pinterest.<wbr></wbr>com/charlessollars/</a><br>twitter @charlessollars</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4371102/diamondbacks-rangers-tyler-skaggsJim McLennan2013-05-27T18:53:11-04:002013-05-27T18:53:11-04:00Diamondbacks 5, Rangers 3
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5vsEZR_guhB8MBARYbVnQUxMbe0=/0x504:2896x2435/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13728787/169560789.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jennifer Stewart</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tyler Skaggs was everything we could have wanted, working six shutout innings, and striking out a career high nine batters, as the D-backs took the first game of the Memorial Day double-header at Chase.</p> <p>The battle of young pitching prospects went decisively to the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Diamondbacks</a> this afternoon, as <span>Tyler Skaggs</span> out-pitched the <a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Rangers</a>' Martin Perez. Skaggs held a potent Rangers line-up to three hits over six scoreless innings, and Arizona scored one in the first and two in the second - easily enough to make a winner of Tyler in his 2013 debut. After he left, Will Harris and David Hernandez pitched scoreless innings, but <span>Tony Sipp</span> struggled in the ninth, letting three of four batter reach base. While <span>Heath Bell</span> then allowed all of those to score, with the tying run on base and one out, he closed things out for the save. We struck out a total of 15 Texas batters, a season-high for our hurlers.</p>
<p>On offense, <span>Martin Prado</span> got Arizona on the board in the first, and there were RBI hits from <span>A.J. Pollock</span> and <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> in the second. <span>Cody Ross</span> got his second home-run of the year in the fifth, to make it 4-0, and <span>Eric Hinske</span> came off the bench to deliver an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth. The Diamondbacks outhit the Rangers 12-9 in total, with two hits apiece for Goldschmidt, Ross and <span>Gerardo Parra</span>. The victory gives the D-backs sole possession of first in the NL West, pending the final score in the <a href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Giants</a>-<a href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Athletics</a> game (though it's looking promising). .</p>
<p>Full recap to follow, but I'm about to enjoy the fruits of the barbecue, so don't hold your breath. :) And don't forget the nightcap, in which <span>Trevor Cahill</span> goes up against <span>Yu Darvish</span>, which starts at 6:40pm.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370962/diamondbacks-rangers-recaoJim McLennan2013-05-27T14:15:35-04:002013-05-27T14:15:35-04:00Preview: Let's Play Two, Vol.1
<figure>
<img alt="Here's to more #slaphands #uphigh today." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GmOO-43UC1DUdQ7PRyz251SSMxo=/0x144:4000x2811/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13718931/169533590.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Here's to more #slaphands #uphigh today. | Norm Hall</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Let's play two!</p> <p>
<style type="text/css">
table.oldschool {
border-width: 1px;
border-spacing: 2px;
border-style: outset;
border-color: gray;
border-collapse: separate;
background-color: white;
}
table.oldschool th {
border-width: 1px;
padding: 3px;
border-style: inset;
border-color: gray;
background-color: white;
-moz-border-radius: ;
}
table.oldschool td {
border-width: 1px;
padding: 3px;
border-style: inset;
border-color: gray;
background-color: white;
-moz-border-radius: ;
}
table.newschool {
border-width: 0px;
border-spacing: 2px;
border-style: outset;
border-color: gray;
border-collapse: separate;
background-color: white;
}
table.newschool th {
border-width: 0px;
padding: 3px;
border-style: inset;
border-color: gray;
background-color: white;
-moz-border-radius: ;
}
table.newschool td {
border-width: 0px;
padding: 3px;
border-style: inset;
border-color: gray;
background-color: white;
-moz-border-radius: ;
}
</style></p>
<table class="oldschool"><tbody><tr>
<td>
<table class="newschool"><tbody><tr>
<td valign="middle"><img alt="tex_medium" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2684543/tex.png"></td>
<td valign="middle">
<h4>
<br>Martin Perez<br>LHP, 0-0, N/A</h4>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table>
</td>
<td>
<table class="newschool"><tbody><tr>
<td valign="middle"><img alt="ari_medium" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2572695/ari.png"></td>
<td valign="middle">
<h4>
<br><span>Tyler Skaggs</span><br>LHP, 0-0, N/A<br>
</h4>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table>
<h4>
<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> Line-up</h4>
<ol>
<li> <span>A.J. Pollock</span>, CF</li>
<li> <span class="sbn-auto-link"><span>Didi Gregorius</span></span>, SS</li>
<li> <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span>, 1B</li>
<li> <span>Cody Ross</span>, LF</li>
<li> <span class="sbn-auto-link"><span>Martin Prado</span></span>, 3B <span class="sbn-auto-link"></span> </li>
<li><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span>Gerardo Parra</span>, RF<br></span></li>
<li><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span>Wil Nieves</span>, C</span></li>
<li> <span>Cliff Pennington</span>, 2B<br>
</li>
<li>Tyler Skaggs, P</li>
</ol>
<p>Definitely an odd kinda day here, with two games to be squeezed in - to avoid too much cramming, the Fantasy Baseball report has been held over and will appear tomorrow morning, as part of our off-day coverage.</p>
<p>For today, it's a double-header kinda day, though I have to say, this feels less like the traditional one, and more like a fairly-shallow attempt by the team to cram two games on to a holiday and get more people at the park. Hence the clearing out of the park between games, which if I had tickets for both would leave me seriously peeved. A large part of the reason I'm not going, is the prospect of having to kill three hours or so outside Chase with the temperature in the mid-90's. I wonder if the Seventh Inning Grill is prepared for the occasion.</p>
<p>Both teams have called up left-handers from the minors to start the opening game of the double-header, and both will be making their season debuts. I'm keen to see how how the Diamondbacks' top prospect performs: he came into spring training supposedly competing for the fifth rotation spot, but that didn't last long. After a wobbly spring, he seemed to take some time to get adjusted down at Reno, but has been a lot better of late. It's the first time since 2005, Arizona has got through the first 50 games with just five starters - since then, we've always needed at least seven. [The rotation in 2005 was <span>Shawn Estes</span>, <span>Brad Halsey</span>, <span>Russ Ortiz</span>, <span>Javier Vazquez</span> and <span>Brandon Webb</span>]</p>
<p>Definitely feels like a B-lineup for the opening game, with <span>Miguel Montero</span>, <span>Eric Chavez</span> and <span>Jason Kubel</span> given the afternoon off. That perhaps makes sense, given what's to come - I'm sure they'll all be back in the line-up for the more difficult task to follow tonight, as we have to face Yu Darvish. That said, it probably wouldn't do to under-estimate Perez, who (in another coincidence) is the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a>' top pitching prospect, just like Skaggs is for the D-backs. But, on the MLB Top 100 prospects list from before the season, while Skaggs was #9, Perez was all the way down at #88. He turned 22 last month; Skaggs will do so in July.</p>
<p>The Rangers come into this double-header with their bullpen already wheezing, because it took them 13 innings before they were beaten by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lookoutlanding.com/">Mariners</a> last night, with seven of their relievers having to combine for 7.1 frames of work. Only a couple had to throw more than 20 pitches, but it would be nice if we could solve Perez early, because the Rangers probably will not want to burn too many bullpen arms, even with their staff ace going in the night-cap, and Darvish average start has lasted two outs into the seventh inning. Patience could be the key, see if they can get Perez's pitch-count up early.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2684607/rangers_vs_dbacks_6_medium.png" width="600"><br>Mock-up camouflage hats by Charles Sellars:<br>Flickr site <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourteen85/sets" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/<wbr></wbr>photos/fourteen85/sets</a><br>tumblr <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/blog/charlessollars" target="_blank">http://www.tumblr.com/<wbr></wbr>blog/charlessollars</a><br>pinterest <a href="http://pinterest.com/charlessollars/" target="_blank">http://pinterest.<wbr></wbr>com/charlessollars/</a><br>twitter @charlessollars</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/5/27/4370158/diamondbacks-rangers-previewJim McLennan