AZ Snake Pit - Game #66: 6/18, Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Los Angeles Angels 7An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2015-06-18T20:30:31-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/85708802015-06-18T20:30:31-04:002015-06-18T20:30:31-04:00D-backs 1, Angels 7: Clever promo title
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<figcaption>Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>I'd like to pretend one bad inning sunk the Diamondbacks, but they were behind nearly the whole game and couldn't string together hits against CJ Wilson.</p> <p>Chase Field hosted a non-televised day game today, and it was nearly an all-Angels affair. The game was close halfway through, but Allen Webster ran into trouble in the 6th to put the game out of reach.</p>
<p>The Angels struck first with 2 runs in the third. Taylor Featherston got the fun started with a long homer to center field. Johnny Giavotella thought that like so much fun he did the same thing two batters later for a quick 2-0 lead,.</p>
<p>Arizona responded in the 5th by linking two doubles by David Peralta and Nick Ahmed to cut the lead to 2-1. It was Ahmed's second hit of the game, and he ended with a good 2-3 day. No one would mistake him for Derek Jeter, but he's turned around at the plate a little in recent weeks, giving him a little more danger than a slick glove.</p>
<p>As mentioned above Webster was able to keep the Angels pretty quiet for much of the game, until the 5th inning. That was when the proverbial wheels fell off.</p>
<p>Giavotella led the inning off with a single, and was quickly brought him with a long triple by Mike Trout. Chip Hale tried to play the numbers by intentionally walking Albert Pujols, but this was followed David Freese being unintentionally walked to load the bases. At this point Collmenter came into relieve Webster, and lit the fuse to the also proverbial dynamite.</p>
<p>Efren Navarro slapped a single to right to bring home Trout and Pujols and give the Angels a 5-1 lead. Then Carlos Perez immediately followed this with a bases clearing double to extend the lead to 7-1, and cause Webster to be tagged with 6 total runs for the day. Collmenter himself only earned 1, which seems like a cosmic injustice.</p>
<p>The game slid along from there without much note, or at least that's what I gather from reading the rest of the play-by-play in ESPN's boxscore.</p>
<p>CJ Wilson started for the Angels and had himself a day. He ended up going 8 innings and only gave up 1 run on 8 hits and 9 strikeouts.</p>
<p>Allen Webster didn't fare quite as well, only lasting 5.1 innings, giving up 6 (with Collmenter's assist) runs on 5 hits and a whopping 5 walks.</p>
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<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-06-18&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid black;" frameborder="0" height="450" width="450"></iframe><br><span>Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-06-18&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>
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<b>Great: </b>Nick Ahmed (16.7%)</center>
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<b>Bad: </b>Josh Collmenter (-18.7%)<br>
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<p>So there you have it, a split of a split home/home series. For a mid-week day game participation in the Gameday Thread was lively, with James Attwood leading the way with nearly 100 comments. He was joined by: AzRattler, BIGredmc, Britback, DbacksSkins, DeadmanG, Fangdango, GuruB, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, JoelPre, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, Muu, SongBird, Steven Burt, Turambar, Xerostomia, catbat, freeland1787, gamepass, hotclaws, noblevillain, onedotfive, piratedan7, preston.salisbury, ryeandi, and xmet</p>
<p>The Diamondbacks home stand continues tomorrow night with the Padres in town. Game time is at the usual 6:40pm Arizona time, so tune in, won'tcha?</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/6/18/8810187/diamondbacks-1-angels-7-d-backs-go-down-in-the-6thsoco2015-06-18T18:23:23-04:002015-06-18T18:23:23-04:00Diamondbacks 1, Angels 7
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<figcaption>Dan Kitwood/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Greek myth is full of appropriate metaphors for our struggle towards .500. Sisyphus, rolling that rock. Tantalus, the fruit forever eluding his grasp. Or Prometheus, perpetually having his liver pecked out by eagles. </p> <p>Yeah, we lost again today: the eighth consecutive time the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> have tasted defeat, when they have had a chance to get back to an even record. Today wasn't even close, particularly after the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.halosheaven.com/">Angels</a> blew things open with a five-run sixth inning, in which <span>Allen Webster</span> struggled with his control, and <span>Josh Collmenter</span> then allowed all three runners he inherited to score, plus one of his own for good measure. Webster was charged with six runs in 5.1 innings, on five hits and five walks, with four strikeouts. Collmenter got into his first game since leaving the rotation, and allowed one run in 2.2 innings, on three hits and walk, before <span>David Hernandez</span> tossed a scoreless ninth.</p>
<p>The Diamondbacks' offense managed the same number of hits as the Angels, but their impact was a good deal less, <span>Aaron Hill</span>, <span>David Peralta</span> and <span>Nick Ahmed</span> each had a pair of hits, but Paul Goldschmidt's streak of reaching base ended, as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. <span>Chris Owings</span> matched the latter day of futility. soco will be along with the full recap later in the day, and we now await the arrival of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>, for what may well bring another opportunity to reach .500. Or perhaps we should just get our livers ready for some more gnawing.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/6/18/8809863/diamondbacks-angels-scoreJim McLennan2015-06-18T14:00:06-04:002015-06-18T14:00:06-04:00Game #66 Preview: 6/18, Diamondbacks vs. Angels
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<figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Look: <strong>eighth</strong> time's the charm?</p>
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<span>C.J. Wilson</span><br>LHP, 4-5, 3.60</h5>
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<span>Allen Webster</span><br>RHP, 1-0, 3.18</h5>
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<span>Johnny Giavotella</span> - 2B</td>
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<span>A.J. Pollock</span> - CF</td>
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<span>Kole Calhoun</span> - RF</td>
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<span>Aaron Hill</span> - 3B</td>
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<span>Mike Trout</span> - CF</td>
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<span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> - 1B</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> - 3B</td>
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<span>Chris Owings</span> - 2B</td>
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<span>Efren Navarro</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Jarrod Saltalamacchia</span> - C</td>
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<span>Carlos Perez</span> - C</td>
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<span>David Peralta</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Taylor Featherston</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Nick Ahmed</span> - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">C.J. Wilson - LHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Allen Webster - RHP</td>
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<p>Seeing how it's not that long since our last attempt to reach .500 was repelled, the same way as the six before that, I'm not going to rehash their history. You know the deal. However, it has still been a good month for the D-backs so far. As we reach the half-way point in June, we have a 9-7 record, which is actually the best in the division for the month. This may not sound all that great, but the last time the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> were even two games over .500 for a complete calendar month was more than two years ago, in May 2013, when we went 15-12. Looking at the schedule, I'm optimistic we should be able to beat that.</p>
<p>For of the dozen games we have remaining in June, nine of them are against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.purplerow.com/">Rockies</a> (there is also today's against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.halosheaven.com/">Angels</a>, and two at the end of the month versus the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>). A winning record the rest of the way seems eminently plausible, given how both San Diego and Colorado have been struggling of late. That would put us at 16-12 or better, which would be our best mark in at least three years, since June 2012, when the Diamondbacks were 16-10. That would certainly be nice to see, but it does likely hinge significantly on whether the rotation can maintain their generally good form.</p>
<p>One knock-on effect of the starters going deeper into games has been a significantly lower workload on the bullpen. In June, they have thrown 47 innings, which is seventh in the National League, and works out at less than three per game. When you have fresh arms, it leaves the manager better able to select the best pitchers for a specific match-up or situation, rather than being limited because half his bullpen is whimpering in the corner, clutching its elbow and cringing when they hear the phone ring. We saw this last night in the crucial seventh, where Hale was able to use three relievers in an inning, because other arms were available.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/6/18/8805419/arizona-diamondbacks-los-angeles-angels-previewJim McLennan