AZ Snake Pit - Game #83: 7/7, Arizona Diamondbacks 4, Texas Rangers 2An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2015-07-08T00:18:02-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/86737262015-07-08T00:18:02-04:002015-07-08T00:18:02-04:00Dbacks 4, Rangers 2: Robbie Ray was Really Rad
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<figcaption>Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>He didn't allow a hit until the fifth, and in the end, only gave up two unearned runs and four hits, over seven and two thirds innings.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> put together threats in the first and second innings, but nothing came of either of them. In the first, <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> (shockingly) took a two out walk, and <span>Yasmany Tomas</span> followed that up with a single, sending Goldy to second. However, <span>Jake Lamb</span> struck out to end the inning. It was similar in the second inning. Wellington Castillo lead things off with a single, and <span>Jarrod Saltalamacchia</span> walked, still with no outs. <span>Chris Owings</span>, bunted into a double play. Owings was out on the pop up, and Salty was out at first.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <span>Robbie Ray</span> was dealing. He gave up a two out walk to Prince "Are We Still Bitter About the Home Run Derby Thing?" Fielder in the first. After that, he kept sitting the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> down in order through the fourth inning. As the radio crew put it, he wasn't really fooling anyone, but he kept hitting his locations, and all the Rangers lineup could do was ground out to the infield for most of the night.</p>
<p>The offense continued to put pressure on the Rangers in the fourth. Lamb walked, Castillo singled, Salty struck out, and Owings walked to load the bases, with just the one out. <span>Nick Ahmed</span> ended the inning by hitting the first pitch he saw into an inning-ending double play, preventing any damage from being done.</p>
<p>That would't be the case in fifth, though. <span>David Peralta</span> hit a one out triple, and then Goldy walked to put runners on the corners with one out. Tomas struck out, but Goldschmidt stole second to get into scoring position. Next up was Jake Lamb. He singled, scoring both Peralta and Goldy, to give the Dbacks the lead. 2-0 Dbacks</p>
<p>The no hitter ended in the fifth, when <span>Elvis Andrus</span> hit a two out single. After that, the Rangers were quiet until the eighth inning.</p>
<p>In the sixth, the Diamondbacks added an insurance run off Gallardo, thanks to an A. J. Pollock RBI single. Goldy added a fourth run in the eighth, giving the Dbacks their final tally</p>
<p>Those runs would look a lot more important by the end of the eighth, though. Robbie Ray was still pitching, having cruised through the first seven innings. Elvis Andrus lead off, and hit a ball that clanked off the glove of Tomas, allowing Andrus to get to third. He scored on a Sin Soo Choo sac fly, to put the Rangers on the board for the first time that night. <span>Robinson Chirinos</span> poppped up to Wellington Castillo in foul territory. He had to make an acrobatic play to get there in time, but two outs. <span>Delino DeShields</span> hit a double, and was immediately brought home by a <span>Rougned Odor</span> single. 4-2 Dbacks. That was the end of the road for Robbie Ray. Chip Hale brought in Oliver Perez, and he got Prince Fielder to ground out and end the inning.</p>
<p>That was basically the ball game. The Dbacks got a single in the ninth, but nothing else. Brad Ziegler came on to close it out. He got two ground outs, and and a strike out. Final score 4-2, Diamondbacks.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span><iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-07-07&team=Rangers&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-07-07&team=Rangers&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Master of his Domain: Robbie Ray, 31.6%</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Serf: Nick Ahmed, -22.5%</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">A very busy GDT tonight, with 834 comments on the night. AzDbacksFanInDC lead the way with... holy crap 231 comments. Guru B was a distant second with 60. All present were:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, BIGredmc, BenSharp, Clefo, DbacksSkins, DeadmanG, GuruB, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Makakilo, SenSurround, SongBird, asteroid, bbtng, cardshuffle, freeland1787, gamepass, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, noblevillain, nolanriley13, onedotfive, piratedan7, preston.salisbury, shoewizard, soco, thunderpumpkin87, xmet</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">No comment of the night tonight, because I didn't see any that I found worthy. Anyway, join us again tomorrow, at the same time as the same two teams face off in the second game of this two game series.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/7/8/8910345/diamondbacks-4-rangers-2-robbie-ray-was-really-rad-tonightImstillhungry952015-07-07T23:11:29-04:002015-07-07T23:11:29-04:00Dbacks 4, Rangers 2
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<p>Robbie Ray was the star of the show tonight. He gave up a walk in the first, but didn't allow a hit until the fifth. He shut the Rangers down all night, getting them to hit easy pop up, after easy ground out for the first seven innings. The eight wasn't quite so good. A Tomas three base error, a sac fly, a double, and an RBI single ended Ray's night, but Oliver Perez ended the inning, and kept the Rangers behind by two runs. There they would stay for the rest of the game.</p>
<p>The offense put the pressure on Yovanni Gallardo all game. Despite having two or more runners on in the first, second, and fourth innings, they didn't score until fifth, when Peralta got a triple, Goldy walked and stole second, and then were brought home by a Jake Lamb two out single. They added runs in the sixth and eighth to give them their final score of 4-2 on the night. Full, happy recap to follow shortly!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/7/7/8910473/dbacks-4-rangers-2Imstillhungry952015-07-07T18:31:57-04:002015-07-07T18:31:57-04:00Game #83 Preview: 7/7, Diamondbacks @ Rangers
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<figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Into the land of the DH goes the D-backs. </p>
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<td valign="middle" width="10%"><img src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/2572695/ari.png"></td>
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<span>Robbie Ray</span><br>LHP, 2-4, 2.55<br>
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<td valign="middle" width="10%"><img src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/2994553/tex.png"></td>
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<span>Yovani Gallardo</span><br>RHP, 7-6, 2.56</h5>
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<td class="td-last td-name" width="50%">
<span>A.J. Pollock</span> - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Delino DeShields Jr. - CF</td>
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<span>David Peralta</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Rougned Odor</span> - 2B</td>
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<span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> - 1B</td>
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<span>Prince Fielder</span> - DH</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Yasmany Tomas</span> - RF</td>
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<span>Adrian Beltre</span> - 3B</td>
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<span>Jake Lamb</span> - 3B</td>
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<span>Mitch Moreland</span> - 1B</td>
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<span>Welington Castillo</span> - C</td>
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<span>Josh Hamilton</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Jarrod Saltalamacchia</span> - DH</td>
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<span>Elvis Andrus</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Chris Owings</span> - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Shin-Soo Choo - RF</td>
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<span>Nick Ahmed</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Robinson Chirinos</span> - C</td>
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<p>I trust you all had an acceptable off-day. It went quite well for the D-backs with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a> both losing. The latter result takes San Francisco back to the .500 mark, so if they lose their eighth straight game tonight, and Arizona prevail in Arlington, we will be tied with them for second in the National League West. Unfortunately, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> won, and the Cubs have also taken the first of their double-header against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> this afternoon, so it wasn't unmitigated joy for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> since they last took the field. The best thing to do is, as ever, only worry about our own results.</p>
<p>I know someone who had a good off-day was lead-off man Pollock, who can now add "All-Star outfielder" to his resume. He has actually been pretty good for a while, this just happens to have been the first time that anyone has noticed. Since becoming a full-time player at the beginning of 2013, he has put up 11.1 bWAR, making A.J. more valuable - and in fewer games - than <span>Bryce Harper</span>, <span>Justin Upton</span> and <span>Matt Holliday</span>, It will be interesting to see if the Diamondbacks look to lock Pollock up for the long term going forward, as he will be eligible to go to arbitration for the first time after this season.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in today's line-up we see the switch-hitting Saltalamacchia as DH. I imagine this is a case of trying to stack the line-up with as many left-handed bats as possible, and it's certainly the case that Salty hits much better, to the tune of 175 career OPS points, from that side of the plate. I always find it out watching the D-backs play in American League parks, with the lack of a pitcher hitting adjusting the whole mentality, both when we pitch and hit. In the NL, you can relax somewhat when there's a near-automatic out coming up, and it's a lot harder to score given only two outs rather than three. Instinct says to take the over on runs tonight!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/7/7/8909513/arizona-diamondbacks-texas-rangers-previewJim McLennan