AZ Snake Pit - Game #59, Diamondbacks 10, Cardinals 3An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2013-06-06T03:00:44-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/41642432013-06-06T03:00:44-04:002013-06-06T03:00:44-04:00Diamondbacks 10, Cardinals 3: A Grand Evening
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<img alt="Paul Goldschmidt is pretty good at this whole "baseball" gig." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3srOGZgH44PKM027T_YEpBKth2g=/0x69:4000x2736/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14284531/20130605_jla_ac1_555.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Paul Goldschmidt is pretty good at this whole "baseball" gig. | USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It was another rainy evening in Saint Louis, but that didn't slow the Diamondbacks offense down much, and the ballad of Paul Goldschmidt carried on.</p> <h4 style="text-align: center;">Record: 34-25. Pace: 93-69. Change on 2012: +5</h4>
<p>Anyone tuning in to catch our regularly first pitch of the night was sorely disappointed at the start tonight, with a rain storm moving in, the tarp on the field, and a rain delay in effect. With how late last night's game went, maybe some of the players appreciated a little bit of extra rest. Of course, given that the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> were sending out their long reliever and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> were sending out the star of the recurring "What's up with <span>Wade Miley</span>?" series on our Sunday roundtable, maybe everyone appreciated delaying the game a little.</p>
<p>But as another avian figure reminded us, it can't rain all the time, so the storm eventually tapered off enough to let the game begin about fifty minutes late. Note that I didn't say it stopped- the rain merely seemed to lessen as the game went on, but there was a lot of precipitation falling throughout the game.</p>
<p>It seemed like a situation that could lead to some less than excellent play, and the first inning seemed to support that concern. Both teams pitchers gave up walks in the first inning, only to see those runners stranded by their respective offense, with Wade Miley getting a nice strike out looking from <span>Allen Craig</span> to end the inning. The second started off with more hope for the Diamondbacks offense, with <span>Martin Prado</span> doubling to right center to begin the inning. Didi Grigorius followed that with a single to shallow left that brought Prado around to score, and the Diamondbacks offense had their first lead of the night with no outs in the second.</p>
<p>And then they seemed to stall out a little. <span>Wil Nieves</span> grounded into a double play, and... That was our last baserunner for a few innings. Until the sixth, actually, so we'll set the Diamondbacks offense aside for the time being.</p>
<p>On the mound, Wade Miley was looking a little more like the Wade Miley we'd hoped to see this season, rather than the guy we saw in the month of May. That isn't to say that he was perfect- the Cardinals kept getting baserunners on, but Miley would work his way out of trouble. A double play in the second, a runner stranded on second in the third- these were the situations that Miley might have faltered with in his last few starts. He did finally run into trouble in the fourth inning, as the Cardinals started stringing together singles. Back to back hits from <span>Matt Holliday</span> and Allan Craig put two on, and then Holliday moved to third on a fly out from <span>David Freese</span>. A single from <span>Shane Robinson</span> brought Holliday in to score, and we were all tied up.</p>
<p>Miley did settle back in after that, though. He got two ground outs to end the inning, stranding two Cardinals runners in scoring position, and then worked another inning ending double play in the fifth inning to keep the game tied up. But with the Diamondback offense suddenly in a bit of a swoon, it seemed a little tense.</p>
<p>The sixth inning brought about an end to that swoon, though, and an end to <span>Joe Kelly's</span> evening. <span>Willie Bloomquist</span> was responsible for the first, getting a one-out single that made him our first baserunner since the second inning. The other ending was probably more a factor of Joe Kelly's pitch count, as he got Paul Goldschmidt to fly to deep right for the second out of the inning. I'm sure if you'd asked the Cardinals dugout what they wanted from Kelly on the night, 80 pitches for 5.2 innings and only one run would have been pretty acceptable from their long relief guy. With a pat on the back and probably an ice pack on the shoulder, he headed to the dugout, replaced by <span>Randy Choate</span>, looking to hold the game tied.</p>
<p>Well, sorry, no luck there. The first batter he faced, <span>Jason Kubel</span>, hammered a pitch deep to left field that clanked off the outstretched glove of Matt Holliday. By the time everything was cleared up, Holliday had an error, Bloomquist had come around to score, and Kubel was standing at third base with two outs. A <span>Cody Ross</span> groundout ended the inning, but the Diamondbacks had the lead once again, and the prospect of a creaking Cardinals bullpen for the rest of the game.</p>
<p>The bottom of the sixth inning went quickly, with Parra making a great defensive play in center for the second out and Miley working around a two-out single by Freese. And then we were into the top of the seventh, and that's where things fell apart for the Cardinals.</p>
<p>It began the same way the second inning did, with a Martin Prado double. That was followed by <span>Didi Gregorius</span> getting hit by a pitch to take first base. Wil Nieves made the Cardinals pay with a single, bringing Prado in and letting Didi hustle his way over to third. Wade Miley struck out, and then Parra hit into a fielder's choice for the second out- probably one of the odder outs I've seen, as Allen Craig fielded the ball towards first, came in towards home, and then ran Didi back to third base, diving to make a half tag/half tackle move for an unassisted out.</p>
<p>That was Choate's last batter, as <span>Maikel Cleto</span> came out of the Cardinals bullpen to make his 2013 debut and... It was less than stellar. I mean, I don't know if there's actually a Reliever's Handbook, but if there is, I'm pretty sure it would be pretty emphatic on this point: whatever you do, don't hit the first batter you face, <i>especially</i> if the next batter in the lineup behind him is the guy who came into the game leading the National League in OPS. But Cleto's a loose cannon who doesn't play by the rules, and that's just what he did. And Paul Goldschmidt, in that way that we love him, made Cleto pay, hitting his second grand slam in the five days, and giving the Diamondbacks a 7-1 lead.</p>
<p>The Cardinals tried to fight back in the bottom of the inning. With one out, they started stringing together singles against Wade Miley again, loading the bases. Miley got what looked like an excellent double play ball, but bad luck struck and Jordan Baker was a part of the game, again, as the ball was hit directly at him and deflected away from Willie Bloomquist. A potential double play turned into a two RBI single for <span>Carlos Beltran</span>, and that was the end of Miley's outing. Brad ZIegler came in from the bullpen, threw one pitch, got two outs, and rode off into the sunset- er, clubhouse. Like he does.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they didn't really have anyone left in the bullpen to call on. That meant that Cleto took on the role of sacrificial lamb, remaining on the mound for the eighth inning. The Diamondbacks took advantage. Cleto got two quick outs before he ran into trouble, hitting Didi Gregorius with a pitch again, this one bouncing in front of the box before it nicked our shortstop. Wil Nieves followed that with a single, and a walk by pinch hitter <span>Eric Hinske</span> loaded the bases. <span>Gerardo Parra</span> took advantage of the situation, singling to center and scoring two runs. Willie Bloomquist brought the night's tally of runs to double digits with a single of his own, scoring Hinske, before Cleto finally got Goldschmidt to strike out and end the inning.</p>
<p>Will Harris came in to pitch the eighth for Arizona, sending down the Cardinals 1-2-3, and then, with the game effectively over, both teams shuffled their lineup in the ninth inning. Jason Kubel led off with a single, but didn't move from there, with <span>Cliff Pennington</span> pinch hitting for Didi Gregorius to ground out and end the top of the inning. <span>Tony Sipp</span> came in to finish out the game for Arizona, as Pennington, <span>Josh Wilson</span>, and <span>A.J. Pollock</span> took the field. Those replacements had some mixed results- A.J. Pollock made a great running grab for the first out of the inning, but a two-out error from Cliff Pennington let the Cardinals extend the inning, getting two runners on. But after another nice defensive play in deep center from Pollock, the Diamondbacks ended the game, ensuring a series split at the worst from St. Louis, with one more game to be played tomorrow.</p>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-06-05&team=Cardinals&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width="450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;">Source: </span><a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-06-05&team=Cardinals&dh=0&season=2013" style="font-size: 9pt;">FanGraphs</a><br><b>Consuls of Rome: Wade Miley (+19.6%) and Jason Kubel (+19.4%)</b><br>Honorable Senate: Martin Prado (+11.9%), Paul Goldschmidt (+10.4%)<br><i>Caesar Salad: Gerardo Parra (-10.4%), Cody Ross (-10.3%)</i>
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<p>Clefo led the way in commenting today, with SongBird and imstillhungry95 in second and third. We also heard from 4 Corners Fan, AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, BuSeaAir, Diamondhacks, GuruB, Jake6233, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, JoelPre, Lozenge, Marc Fournier, Paper Clip, Rockkstarr12, SenSurround, The so-called Beautiful, TolkienBard, TylerO, Zavada's Moustache, asteroid, azshadowwalker, blank_38, coldblueAZ, dbacks79, deerhaven, frienetic, hotclaws, kishi, luckycc, monty101, onedotfive, preston.salisbury, rd33, since_98, snakecharmer, soco, and walleye01.</p>
<p>Comment of the Day goes to Zavada's Mustache, for his comment after <span>Paul Goldschmidt's</span> grand slam:</p>
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<p><span class="collapse_toggle collapse_toggle_button" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; display: block; position: absolute; top: 16px; left: 6px; width: 10px; height: 10px; font-size: 10px; overflow: hidden; opacity: 0.5; cursor: pointer; visibility: visible; color: #222222; font-family: 'Gotham SSm A', 'Gotham SSm B', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ss-icon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: SSStandard; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-font-feature-settings: 'liga' 1, 'dlig' 1;"></span></span></p>
<h2 class="title collapse_toggle" id="comment_title_166430197" style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; border: 0px; line-height: 17px; color: #222222; cursor: pointer; background-image: url(http://cdn2.sbnation.com/images/icons/thumb-green.vaa5927d.png); background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Gotham SSm A', 'Gotham SSm B', Arial, sans-serif; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><a id="comment_166430197">Is is strange</a></h2>
<div id="comment_body_166430197" class="body" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; font-family: 'Gotham Narrow SSm A', 'Gotham Narrow SSm B', Arial, sans-serif; color: #222222;">
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 19px;">That I honestly would have been more surprised if Goldy hadn’t gotten a hit there? I can’t remember ever feeling that way about a guy before. Maybe Upton for a few weeks every now and then in 2011, but not like this.</p>
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<div class="sig" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-family: 'Sentinel SSm A', 'Sentinel SSm B', Georgia, Georgia, serif; color: #888888; font-size: 11px;">
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: #666666;">Paul Goldschmidt looks at <span>Tim Lincecum</span> and says "We are going to foxtrot, and I will always lead." <br>-Clefo</p>
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<div class="meta" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Gotham Narrow SSm A', 'Gotham Narrow SSm B', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">by <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Zavada's%20Moustache" class="poster" style="color: #424242;">Zavada's Moustache</a> on <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/5/4400242/gameday-thread-59-6-5-vs-cardinals#166430197" class="date" style="color: #424242; margin-right: 8px;">Jun 5, 2013 | 8:12 PM</a>
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<p>It's a nice feeling to have.</p>
<p>So, what seemed like a lackadaisical effort from the offense in the early innings turned into a rout, we saw some good glovework in the outfield, and Wade Miley put up a fairly respectable showing against one of the top teams in the National League. Not a bad game, and we'll see the Diamondbacks out on the field again tomorrow for the series finale, starting an hour earlier than our previous games this season. See you then. Or not. Whatever.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/6/4401268/diamondbacks-10-cardinals-3-paul-goldschmidt-wade-mileyDevin Jessup2013-06-06T00:10:53-04:002013-06-06T00:10:53-04:00Diamondbacks 10, Cardinals 3
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<p>After the late inning drama of Tuesday night's extra innings game in St. Louis, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> did not leave much to chance on Wednesday. The offense racked up eleven hits and ten runs on the night, with the nail in the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a>' coffin coming from <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> in the seventh inning as he hit his second grand slam in less than a week. <span>Martin Prado</span> added two doubles and scored twice.</p>
<p>On the mound, Wade Miley bounced back from his past few rough outings, helping out a Diamondbacks bullpen that wanted some rest. Miley went 6.2 innings and looked like he might escape the seventh with only one run allowed on the night, but a potential double play deflected off everyone's favorite umpire and extended the inning. <span>Brad Ziegler</span>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="#">Will Harris</a>, and Tony Sipp filled in the rest of the game, and the Diamondbacks took an easy win and assured themselves of at least a series split against the Cardinals.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/6/4401180/diamondbacks-10-cardinals-3Devin Jessup2013-06-05T19:00:05-04:002013-06-05T19:00:05-04:00Preview: The Running of the Bullpens
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<figcaption>Dilip Vishwanat</figcaption>
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<p>After last night's marathon, in which the good guys prevailed over the gum-spitting forces of darkness, the preview today will consist of 45 minutes whimpering from the respective bullpens. </p> <p>
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<h4>
<br><span>Wade Miley</span><br>LHP, 3-5, 5.01</h4>
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<h4>
<br><span>Joe Kelly</span><br>RHP, 0-2, 6.75</h4>
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<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> Line-up</h4>
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<li> <span class="sbn-auto-link"><span>Gerardo Parra</span>, CF</span> </li>
<li> <span class="sbn-auto-link"></span><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/1062/willie-bloomquist">Willie Bloomquist</a>, 2B</li>
<li> <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span>, 1B</li>
<li> <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/651/jason-kubel">Jason Kubel</a>, LF </li>
<li> <span>Cody Ross</span>, RF</li>
<li> <span>Martin Prado</span>, 3B</li>
<li> <span class="sbn-auto-link"><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/130091/didi-gregorius">Didi Gregorius</a></span>, SS </li>
<li> <span>Wil Nieves</span>, C</li>
<li>Wade Miley, P</li>
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<p>Both teams will be praying that their starters can go deep into today's contest, and ironically, the fact it went 14 innings could actually end up working to our advantage. Because, due to the double-header the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> enjoyed against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a> over the weekend, this evening sees them starting long reliever Joe Kelly. While his last start was five days ago, that took all of eight pitches. He has one outing this season which lasted even 30 pitches, and that was still only three innings. If ever there was a case of taking a few pitches to get the opposing starter out of the game early, this would be it.</p>
<p>Both sides are resting their starting catchers today, though in the case of the Cardinals, Molina won't be available off the bench either. He has dropped his appeal against the one-game suspension recently imposed on him by MLB for bumping an umpire: the fact that it just happens to coincide with the day after a 14-inning marathon is, I'm sure purely coincidental. The "appeal process" is pretty much a mockery in cases like this, since it's clearly being used simply so that the offender can pick and choose the games for which he is suspended, rather than being done out of any genuine sense of injustice.</p>
<p>To bolster their bullpen today, the Cardinals dumped Marte, whose wildness in the 14th was largely responsible for the loss, and recalled <span>Maikel Cleto</span> (whose name I inevitably misread as "Clefo"!). Though <i>Viva El Birdos</i> doesn't seem to impressed, one commenter <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2013/6/5/4397712/lucky-13-cardinals-v-diamondbacks-overflow#166314561">stating</a>, "No control fireballer who we don't mind shuttling, for no control hardthrower that we don't mind shuttling." He certainly would be rested, but even with the change, here's how the two bullpens stack up, with the number of pitches thrown last night alongside them.</p>
<table border="3" cellpadding="3" align="center"><tbody>
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<td><b>Cardinals</b></td>
<td align="right"><b>#</b></td>
<td><b>Diamondbacks</b></td>
<td align="right">#</td>
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<td><span>Seth Maness</span></td>
<td align="right">28</td>
<td><span>Brad Ziegler</span></td>
<td align="right">21</td>
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<td><span>Trevor Rosenthal</span></td>
<td align="right">25</td>
<td><span>Matt Reynolds</span></td>
<td align="right">5</td>
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<td><span>Edward Mujica</span></td>
<td align="right">21</td>
<td><span>David Hernandez</span></td>
<td align="right">22</td>
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<td><span>Keith Butler</span></td>
<td align="right">16</td>
<td><span>Tony Sipp</span></td>
<td align="right">14</td>
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<td><span>Randy Choate</span></td>
<td align="right">0</td>
<td><span>Will Harris</span></td>
<td align="right">8</td>
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<td>Maikel Cleto</td>
<td align="right">0</td>
<td><span>Josh Collmenter</span></td>
<td align="right">68</td>
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<td>Joe Kelly</td>
<td align="right">N/A</td>
<td><span>Heath Bell</span></td>
<td align="right">12</td>
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<p>The good news is that Harris is the only one of our current relievers who worked the series opener on Monday, throwing ten pitches - the other two innings were mopped up by <span>Randall Delgado</span>, now back with Reno. The Cards used Rosenthal (13 pitches) and Mujica (14), so one imagines those two and Maness will be largely off the board for them. I'd imagine we would prefer Miley going seven innings, to avoid using too many, and probably not send out Harris three days in a row. But I suspect Collmenter is likely the only one of our relievers <i>entirely</i> out of action today. Definitely be good to seize the advantage this afternoon, and guarantee ourselves at least a series split.</p>
<p>The win would be particularly helpful, as the Giants have already been beaten by the Blue Jays in San Francisco this afternoon (R.A. Dickey one-hitting them into the ninth inning!), so a victory for the D-backs would put us three games ahead of them. The Rockies, currently 2.5 games back, get under way against Cincinnati in a few minutes, so we'll keep an eye on that one too, the rest of the way. But it's most important for Miley to get back on track this afternoon, and give the bullpen a bit of a breather, especially considering the important series against the Giants which starts the day after tomorrow.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/5/4399920/diamondbacks-cardinals-previewJim McLennan