AZ Snake Pit - Game #72, Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 1An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2013-06-19T20:06:59-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/42094352013-06-19T20:06:59-04:002013-06-19T20:06:59-04:00D-backs 3, Marlins 1: Ross You Like a Hurricane
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<p>A pitcher's duel gave way to late fireworks when the bullpens got involved, and another unsettling brush with the Heath Bell Experience turned out poorly for Miami.</p> <h4>Record: 39-33. Pace: 88-74. Change on 2012: +2.</h4>
<p>Wednesday's game didn't start off on the best foot for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>- well, the foot wasn't even the part of the leg that we were most worried about. The final out of the top of the first was scored as a 1-5-3 ground out, but <span>Trevor Cahill</span> got involved in less than ideal circumstances, with the ball lined off his upper thigh. He went to the dugout and spent the bottom of the inning pacing the dugout. As little league coaches everywhere applauded his attempt to walk it off, he took the mound in the second, but after getting a 2-1 count on <span>Derek Dietrich</span>, Cahill called the trainer out and headed for clubhouse. Word from the Diamondbacks gave it as a right hip contusion, so hopefully just a bruise and he'll be okay for his next start in Washington.</p>
<p>Looking to the bullpen, the Diamondbacks breathed a sigh of relief that they sent <span>Randall Delgado</span> out to start yesterday, and called on <span>Josh Collmenter</span>. And Josh Collmenter did what he's done so often this season, putting up some good, solid innings out of the bullpen.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Josh, the Diamondbacks offense was being thwarted by the mystery that is <span>Jose Fernandez</span>. Fernandez, who finished last season pitching for the High-A Jupiter Hammerheads and will legally be able to buy beer when he turns 21 at the end of next month, was doing his best to keep the Diamondbacks bats quiet. He gave up a single in each of the first three innings, but the Diamondbacks couldn't get a runner any further than first base. Including in the third inning, where <span>Gerardo Parra</span> tried to steal second after grounding into a fielder's choice, and was thrown down. That puts Parra at 6 for 15 in his stolen base attempts, which really makes one wonder why anyone ever gives him a green light.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, on the mound, Collmenter was dealing. And I mean dealing. After a two out walk in the second, Collmenter locked in. The Tomahawk went through the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> 1-2-3 in the third, and then decided he could do better than that by striking out the side in the fourth. It wasn't until Collmenter gave up a single to lead off the seventh inning that he allowed his first hit, and he finished the day with six innings of one hit ball. Out of the bullpen. If anyone wants to argue with me that wins are a valid way to judge a pitcher's performance, I'll just point them at the no-decision Collmenter earned today. That's quality work.</p>
<p>The problem is that Fernandez was just as good out there. He matched Collmenter in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings by going 1-2-3 on his own, and then added in another one in the seventh to keep the game tied at zero. David Hernandez came in for the eighth inning, giving up a lead off single that he erased with a double play, but Fernandez took the mound again in the bottom of the inning.</p>
<p>Arizona's luck turned, though, as Fernandez's control slipped. He lead off the inning by walking <span>Jason Kubel</span>, who was replaced by <span>Josh Wilson</span> as pinch runner. <span>A.J. Pollock's</span> sacrifice bunt attempt went horribly wrong as he popped out, but Fernandez gave us another walk, putting <span>Didi Gregorius</span> on. <span>Eric Hinske</span> came out to pinch hit for Hernandez, but as the Marlins went to the bullpen for <span>Mike Dunn</span>, Hinske was replaced by <span>Cody Ross</span>. A moment of nervous silence settled over the 'Pit, and onedotfive spoke for all of us:</p>
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<h2 class="title collapse_toggle" id="comment_title_168748705" 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_168748705" style="color: #222222;">Ross will save us....</a></h2>
<div id="comment_body_168748705" 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;">right?….</p>
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<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: #666666;">The universe tends to unfold as it should.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: #666666;"> </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/onedotfive" class="poster" style="color: #424242;">onedotfive</a> on <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/19/4445690/gameday-thread-72-6-19-vs-marlins#168748705" class="date" style="color: #424242; margin-right: 8px;">Jun 19, 2013 | 2:57 PM</a> <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/19/4445690/gameday-thread-72-6-19-vs-marlins#comment_tease" class="reply_link" title="reply to this comment" data-comment-id="168748705" id="comment_reply_168748705" style="color: #424242; display: inline-block; padding-right: 8px;">reply</a> <span class="cactions mod " style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><a id="rec_link_168748705" class="recommend rec-link user_recommended recommended" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/19/4445690/gameday-thread-72-6-19-vs-marlins#" style="color: #424242; display: inline-block; padding-right: 8px;">rec <span class="rec-count" id="comment_rec-count_168748705" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">(9)</span></a></span>
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<p>Good news, everyone, as the Dark Lord heard our plaintive cries, and hammered a pitch to left field to the echoing cheers of the assembled throngs and give Arizona a 3-0 lead.</p>
<p>Now, all we had to do was rely on <span>Heath Bell</span>. Now, Heath's definitely had his struggles lately, but he'll get it together, right? We don't have to always worry about... Damn.</p>
<p>Bell started off the inning in his own unholy, inimitable style, allowing a lead off home run to <span>Justin Ruggiano</span>. Then Bell let <span>Ed Lucas</span> single, bring <span>Giancarlo Stanton</span> to the plate as the tying run. In probably the best move we've seen from him, Bell wisely walked Stanton rather than let him add to his reputation as the Slayer of Diamondbacks. Bell decided he'd had enough toying with our hearts and ulcers, getting Dietrich to fly out, getting help from a good <span>Miguel Montero</span> slide on a foul ball for the second out, and striking out <span>Logan Morrison</span> for the final out. Whew. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, the Heath Bell Experience.</p>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;">Source: </span><a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-06-19&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0&season=2013" style="font-size: 9pt;">FanGraphs</a>
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<p><b> </b></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><b style="font-size: 9pt;">Collmenters Gonna Collment: Josh Collmenter (+40.7%)</b></b></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">With One Swing: Cody Ross (+29.5%)</span></div>
<p><i> </i></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><i style="font-size: 9pt;">Not Bringing His A.J. Game: A.J. Pollock (-11.6%)</i></i></div>
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<p>Not a terribly busy thread, stopping shy of 400 comments. An afternoon game not shown on TV will do that. onedotfive wins CotD honors for the above plea to the powers of darkness, and Rockkstarr12 takes the comment tally, ending up with nearly double Jim's count in second place. Also stopping by were AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, Circa4life, Clefo, Dallas D'Back Fan, Gildo, GuruB, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Majabe, Marc Fournier, PR151, SenSurround, The so-called Beautiful, TolkienBard, Turambar, Zavada's Moustache, azcougs, azshadowwalker, coldblueAZ, hotclaws, kishi, onedotfive, piratedan7, preston.salisbury, rd33, and rfffr.</p>
<p>Well, I'll admit, that went better than I'd worried. Losing Cahill that early on was worrying, but hopefully it's just a bruise, Collmenter once again proves his immense value out of the bullpen, and the Diamondbacks get just enough to win the game and the series. Off day tomorrow, and then the Diamondbacks are set to play the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.redreporter.com/">Cincinnati Reds</a> for a series starting Friday.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/19/4446632/diamondbacks-3-marlins-1-josh-collmenter-cody-ross-jose-fernandezDevin Jessup2013-06-19T18:27:35-04:002013-06-19T18:27:35-04:00Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 1
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<p>Those who could see today's game between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> were treated to a pitcher's duel, even if it wasn't the cast we expected at the outset. <span>Trevor Cahill</span> took the mound to start the game for Arizona and worked a quick first inning, though a line drive from <span>Marcell Ozuna</span> hit him in the hip and led to him being pulled in the second inning. <span>Josh Collmenter</span> was called in from the bullpen to relieve Cahill and was very effective, only allowing one walk and one hit over six innings.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, <span>Jose Fernandez</span> was just as effective on the mound for the Marlins. He gave up a few singles, but the Diamondbacks weren't able to string any hits together, and weren't helped by a caught-stealing from <span>Gerardo Parra</span> in the third inning.</p>
<p>The Diamondbacks luck changed in the eighth inning, when Fernandez finally began to suffer with finding his spot. He started the inning with his first walk of the game, and then ended his outing with another. Fernandez was replaed by <span>Mike Dunn</span>, who went up against <span>Cody Ross</span>, and Ross delivered a pinch hit home run to give Arizona a lead.</p>
<p><span>Heath Bell</span> took the mound for the save in the ninth inning, and immediately made things more interesting than necessary, giving up a leadoff home run to <span>Justin Ruggiano</span>. A single and a walk followed, but Bell settled in, getting the next three outs, and delivering the Diamondbacks a win.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/19/4446522/diamondbacks-3-marlins-1Devin Jessup2013-06-19T14:00:10-04:002013-06-19T14:00:10-04:00Preview: Momentum in our favor?
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<figcaption>Norm Hall</figcaption>
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<p>Rubber game of the Marlins series, and the Diamondbacks appear to have some momentum after last night's walk-off homer by Paul Goldschmidt. Or do they?</p> <p>
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<br>Jose Fernandez<br>RHP, 4-3, 3.11</h5>
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<br>Trevor Cahill<br>RHP, 3-8, 3.96</h5>
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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>Gerardo Parra</span>, RF</li>
<li> <span>Cliff Pennington</span>, 2B</li>
<li> <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span>, 1B <br>
</li>
<li> <span>Miguel Montero</span>, C</li>
<li> <span>Martin Prado</span>, 3B</li>
<li> <span>Jason Kubel</span>, LF</li>
<li> <span>A.J. Pollock</span>, CF</li>
<li> <span>Didi Gregorius</span>, SS</li>
<li>Trevor Cahill, P</li>
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<p>Kinda pleasing to see how, last night, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> didn't learn from <i>our</i> mistakes, in what was almost a mirror-image of the first game in the series. The team which would eventually lose jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but were reeled back in by a two-run homer, and the game was eventually won in the ninth, on a home-run from "the guy you don't let beat you". Oh, and both times, the decisive home-run came off a former closer for the other team. In other words, I'm pretty sure the Marlins fans this morning are as irritated as we were at this point yesterday. If they have any irritation left, that is, following a team currently on pace to go 51-111. Hey, we know what <i>that's</i> like.</p>
<p>On the other hand, hard to say if this will have any carry-over to this afternoon's game at Chase. This team seems pretty resilient, mentally, but my instinct is that momentum - both in-game and between games - is probably somewhat over-rated, created by the brain's desire to see patterns in the random distribution of runs and wins. I seem to remember plenty of times when the team has enjoyed a walk-off victory, and come out the next day and played flat, without any signs of a psychological boost from the victory. It's not dissimilar to the argument <span>Brandon McCarthy</span> and a certain ESPN pundit got into on Twitter last month</p>
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<p>What? Certain pundit being contrarian for the sake of it? I am shocked...<i>shocked</i> by this development! There's a full recap of the discussion <a target="_blank" href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2013/5/22/4354510/great-debates-do-hot-streaks-exist">over on <i>Athletics Nation</i></a>, with McCarthy's main point being that we don't fully understand the psychological impact, and to write it off simply because it can't be measured is wrong. Obviously, hot streaks, both for players and teams, do exist: but whether they <u>are</u> simply the random variations you'd expect from any discrete outcome like an at-bat or a game, or if there are other factors involved, remains uncertain. For the purposes of today's game, I'm hoping they do, and we enjoy the benefits!</p>
<p>One change from the line-up that started yesterday, Pennington replacing <span>Willie Bloomquist</span> at second-base. With Cahill on the mound, seems to be mostly for defensive purposes, so that we can have our best infield with the glove out there, ready to vacuum up what should be a steady diet of ground-balls. Cahill's has only one W to his name at Chase Field, in eight starts, with the last one here coming all the way back on April 25. But, as with Corbin, there likely won't be many better chances, going up against a line-up most appropriately described as Giancarlo and the Seven Dwarfs. Taking the series is still kinda important.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/6/19/4445292/diamondbacks-marlins-previewJim McLennan