AZ Snake Pit - Game #64: 6/16, Arizona Diamondbacks 1 @ Los Angeles Angels 4An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2015-06-17T02:00:02-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/85575642015-06-17T02:00:02-04:002015-06-17T02:00:02-04:00Dbacks 1, Angels 4: Mount .500, Killer of Dreams
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<figcaption>Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Jeremy Hellickson was coming off a bad start, following a streak of quality starts. Would we get the quality start Hellickson, or not so great Hellickson? Would the offense continue to be productive, or would they get shut down? Would they make it to .500? Am I just asking rhetorical questions for the fun of it? </p> <p>It started off with a major wasted opportunity. Danny Dorn started where he left off when he was demoted and got a one out single to get things going in the first for the Diamondbacks. Goldschmidt reached first and moved Dorn to second on a fielding error by Taylor Featherston, and then David Peralta singled to load the bases with only one out. And then no runs scored. Tomas struck out, and Lamb grounded out to end the inning, stranding all three runners on base.</p>
<p>Jeremy Hellickson started off the game well. His curve ball was sharp, and he put it to good use. Other than allowing a two-out hit to Mike Trout, he got three easy outs in the first to put the Angels away.</p>
<p>Things went a bit better for the Dbacks in the top of the second, though perhaps not as well as it could have. Chris Owings hit the first pitch he saw from Garrett Richards for a single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined out to left for the first out. Up next was Nick Ahmed. During his at bat, Owings advanced on a passed ball and then advanced to third again on another passed ball.The second passed ball was the fourth ball for Ahmed, and so he went to third. Runners on the corners, one out. A. J. Pollock hit a sac fly to score Owings from third, but that was all they managed. That and other wasted opportunities would come back to ahunt them later. 1-0 Dbacks.</p>
<p>After that, both pitchers shut the offense down. Hellickson got 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth innings and only allowed a single in the fifth. Richards walked Paul Goldschmidt to lead off the third, but erased him on a force out at second, and then ended the inning with a double play. The Dbacks got another two on, one out opportunity in the fourth, but squandered it as well, then were sat down in order in the sixth.</p>
<p>In the GDT, it was joked that the Angels lineup was Trout, Pujols, and seven hobos. In the sixth inning, they proved just how accurate that statement is. With two outs, Hellickson walked Trout. Albert Pujols then did what he did best and smashed a fastball over the fence to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.</p>
<p>In the eighth inning, the Angels struck again, but were assisted by a... tight strike zone against Randell Delgado. The home plate umpire was giving out strike calls like they were made of solid gold, and he was a miserly dragon. David Freese took advantage and hit the Angels second two-run home run of the night. That ended up being the final score, Diamondbacks 1, Angels 4.</p>
<p>If my notes are correct, this is the ninth time the Diamondbacks have had the opportunity to reach .500 again, and the ninth time they ended up falling short. While it's probably a coincidence, it is disheartening. Hopefully, next time they have the chance, they make the most of it.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span><iframe style="border:1px solid black;" width="450" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-06-16&team=Angels&dh=0"></iframe><br><span>Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-06-16&team=Angels&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">As of writing, FanGraphs is stuck in the top of the eighth inning. I personally believe that the umpire's bad strike zone was so atrocious it caused the algorithm to gain sentience, and it can't bring itself to assign any fault to Randell Delgado. It is probably also plotting to overthrow corrupt human society and replace it with a socio-economic system we haven't even thought of yet. I, for one, welcome our new FanGraphs overlords,</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">A busy GDT, with 763 comments on the night, though I'm pretty sure over half of those were either discussing generic politics and some other sports game. I dunno, I guess the game had some significance. AzDbacksFanInDc lead the way with 162 comments, 99 more than second place Xipooo. All present were:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, BIGredmc, Clefo, DeadmanG, Diamondhacks, GuruB, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, JoelPre, Makakilo, Robert Merrill, Sprankton, Xerostomia, Xipooo, asteroid, bbtng, circa4, ford.williams.10, freeland1787, gamepass, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, noblevillain, onedotfive, piratedan7, preston.salisbury, shoewizard, xmet, yutzamin</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Comment of the day goes to GuruB, for his "breaking" news alert</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">Breaking Sorta News: AJ Pollock requests trade to Kansas City Royals so he can start the All Star Game :blush:</p>
<p>Reformed Lurker...once I started posting I couldn't stop!</p>
<p>by GuruB on Jun 16, 2015 | 8:05 PM reply unrec (4) actions</p>
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<p>Same two teams tomorrow, but this time in Arizona instead of L. A./Anahiem/Orange County/California/Wherever they actually play. 6:40 PM start time. See you then!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/6/17/8794401/diamondbacks-1-angels-2-mount-500-killer-of-dreamsImstillhungry952015-06-17T00:49:42-04:002015-06-17T00:49:42-04:00Dbacks 1, Angels 4
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<p>Jeremy Hellickson had a great game tonight. Six innings, only four hits, six strikeouts, and only one walk. In the end, he ended up just being beat by two of the best in the game. He walked Mike Trout, hardly something you can fault him for, and gave up a home run to Albert Pujols. As one person put it in the GDT, if you do that, you can just add your name to the list.</p>
<p>It was really the offense that killed the team's chances tonight. They left the bases loaded in the first inning. They only scored one run with runners on the corners in the second inning. They left runners on first and second with one out in the fourth inning. If you're going to do that, you aren't going to win many ballgames.</p>
<p>Also not helping was the strikezone in the later parts of the game. Randell Delgado couldn't get a strike call to save his life in the eighth, and David Freese made him pay, hitting a two-run home run to give the Angels their final score of 4-2. Full recap to follow.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/6/17/8794763/dbacks-1-angels-4Imstillhungry952015-06-16T20:01:03-04:002015-06-16T20:01:03-04:00Game #64 Preview: 6/16, Diamondbacks @ Angels
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<figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Diamondbacks attempt to prove that .500 is not an asymptote for our record. Pay attention at this back, this will be on the end of semester test. ..</p>
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<td valign="middle" width="10%"><img src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/355/ari.gif"></td>
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<span>Jeremy Hellickson</span><br>RHP, 4-3, 5.29</h5>
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<span>Garrett Richards</span><br>RHP, 6-4, 3.97<br>
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<span>A.J. Pollock</span> - CF</td>
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<span>Erick Aybar</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Danny Dorn</span> - 1B</td>
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<span>Kole Calhoun</span> - RF</td>
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<span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> - DH</td>
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<span>Mike Trout</span> - CF</td>
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<span>David Peralta</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Albert Pujols</span> - 1B</td>
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<span>Yasmany Tomas</span> - RF</td>
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<span>David Freese</span> - DH</td>
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<span>Jake Lamb</span> - 3B</td>
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<span>Matt Joyce</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Chris Owings</span> - 2B</td>
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<span>Carlos Perez</span> - C</td>
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<span>Jarrod Saltalamacchia</span> - C</td>
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<span>Kyle Kubitza</span> - 3B</td>
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<span>Nick Ahmed</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Taylor Featherston</span> - 2B</td>
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<p>For a team which ended both 2012 and 2013 exactly at the .500 mark, getting back to it has proven extremely problematic for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> of late. They were at 8-8 after the game of April 24, but since then, the results every time they have had a chance to even their record have not been positive</p>
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<li>April 26 (8-9): Diamondbacks 0, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> 8<br> </li>
<li>May 1 (10-11): Diamondbacks 0, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> 8</li>
<li>May 8 (13-14). Diamondbacks 5, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a> 6</li>
<li>May 23 (20-21). Diamondbacks 6, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> 9</li>
<li>May 25 (21-22). Diamondbacks 2, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> 3</li>
<li>June 7 (27-28). Diamondbacks 3, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">Mets</a> 6</li>
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<p>We've come close - particularly, say, the Cardinals game, which ended up going into extra innings - but that's six straight losses when we had the chance to get back to .500, and Arizona has been outscored 40-16 in those games. However, there's no doubt our starting pitching has been on an epic role of late, and if Jeremy Hellickson can follow in the footsteps of everyone else in the rotation, it would only require a morsel of productive offense to get ourselves back up to .500, and widen the gap over the teams behind us (both the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.purplerow.com/">Rockies</a> and Padres having already lost today).</p>
<p>After close to a thousand professional appearances - 968 in the minors, and 12 off the bench in his previous stint here - Danny Dorn will make his first major-league start this evening. He plays first-base so that Goldie can get a bit of a break, though understandably we still want him to get his swings in, so Paul is our DH for the evening. Maybe Dorn will end up Wally Pipp'ing Goldschmidt, as the apocryphal tale goes of the player whose headache-related absence from the line-up opened the door for Lou Gehrig to start his 2,130 consecutive game streak. Goldie will seek to extend his streak of 25 games reaching base, the longest since... his streak of 32 games last year.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/6/16/8793377/arizona-diamondbacks-los-angeles-angels-previewJim McLennan