AZ Snake Pit - Game #145: 9/15, Arizona Diamondbacks 6, San Diego Padres 4An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2015-09-16T02:00:02-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/90988422015-09-16T02:00:02-04:002015-09-16T02:00:02-04:00Dbacks 6, Padres 4: A Rollercoaster of a Game
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<figcaption>Christian Petersen/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Dbacks are on a pretty good skid right now. They had a terrible game last night in a long stretch of bad games. They looked to rebound tonight. Eventually they did, but not before putting together six and a half innings of some of the most boring baseball this year...</p> <p>Both teams were quiet in the first inning, with the <a href="https://www.gaslampball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Padres</a> going down in order in their half, and the Dbacks not doing much, despite <span>A.J. Pollock</span> making it to second on a walk and a reviewed stolen base with no one out. In the second, the Padres took the lead, though, thanks to a <span>Justin Upton</span> solo home run, which was his fifth of the year against his old team. In response, the Dbacks then wasted another runner in scoring position, this time Wellington Castillo at second with one out in the second.</p>
<p>Things almost got really out of hand in the third, but <span>Jhoulys Chacin</span> was able to limit the damage. Singles to <span>Tyson Ross</span> and <span>Travis Jankowski</span> and a walk <span>Wil Myers</span> loaded the bases without a single out recorded. Yangervis Solante grounded into 6-3 double play to get the first two outs, but at the expense of a run, extending the Padres lead. That was all, though. <span>Matt Kemp</span> flew out to <span>David Peralta</span> to get the third out, and limit the damage to only one run. 2-0 Padres.</p>
<p>And that was all the action that Chacin allowed on the night. He didn't bring his A-game, but he brought A-Good-Enough-game. He went five innings, only allowing the two runs, on four hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. It wasn't a fantastic outing. However, he kept his team in the game, and that's all you can ask for.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the offense wasn't holding up their end of the deal. Tyson Ross was shutting them down hard. Through the first five innings, he didn't allow them to score and only gave up two hits and two walks total. It wasn't until the sixth inning that the Dbacks were able to get anything off of him. A one out walk to <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> started things off. That was followed by back-to-back singles by David Peralta and Castillo to score Goldy. However, that was all they managed, as the very next batter, <span>Brandon Drury</span>, grounded into a double play, ending the inning.</p>
<p>The Padres got the run back in the seventh. <span>Austin Hedges</span> hit a one out single. <span>Zack Godley</span>, who had replaced Chacin, was then pulled from the game in favor of Matt Reynolds. He let <span>Cody Decker</span> move the runner to second with a soft groundball to Goldschmidt and then allowed him to score thanks to Jankowski single. Chip Hale had seen enough from Reynolds and pulled him in favor of Randel Delgado, who ended the inning by getting Meyers to strike out swining. 3-1 Padres.</p>
<p>The Dbacks weren't going to go down without a fight though. They put together a threat of their own in the bottom of the seventh, and it all started with a lead off <span>Chris Owings</span> walk. He was immediately brought home by a triple off the bat of <span>Nick Ahmed</span>, and <span>Aaron Hill</span> kept the ball rolling with a walk, knocking Padres reliever <span>Bud Norris</span> out of the game. <span>Kevin Quackenbush</span> came in to face Pollock. Norris threw one pitch, and Pollock hit one three run home run. Boom. 5-3 Dbacks. They weren't done yet. <span>Ender Inciarte</span> singled and then stole second. Goldy walked. That knocked out Quackenbush and <span>Marc Rzepczynski</span> came on for the Padres, who seem to be believe that ridiculously hard to spell names are the new market inefficiency. He got Peralta to strike out, and then was removed for Nick Vincent. He induced a Castillo fly out for the second out, but then gave up an RBI single to Drury. Chris Owings then resumed normal baseball activities and struck out, ending the inning. 6-3 Dbacks.</p>
<p>That was it for the game. Hudson came in for the eighth and struck out Solarte and Kemp for the first two outs, but gave up a infield hit to Justin Upton. Upton moved to second on a Jed Gyorko single. Hudson walked Cory Spangenberg, loading the bases. That was enough for Hale, and he pulled Hudson to put Brad Zielger in position for the four out save. It didn't quite go as planned, though. Zeigler let all the runners advance with a wild pitch, scoring Upton and bringing the Padres within two runs. That was all, though, as Ziegler got Brett Wallace to strike out, ending the inning.</p>
<p>Ziegler finished it off with an... interesting ninth inning. He got the first out, and then Jankowski reached on a Nick Ahmed error. Wil Meyers grounded out, sending Jaknowski to second. A Solarte single put the tying run on first. However, Matt Kemp grounded out to end the game and preserve the Arizona victory. Tonight also marked Zeigler's 24th straight save. Not too shabby.</p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-09-15&team=Diamondbacks&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=2015-09-15&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span></p>
<p align="center">Not Boring: Pollock, 28.9%</p>
<p align="center">Boring: Drury, -13.7%</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p>Comment of the night goes to onedotfive for the comment that, honestly even in retrospect, she'll probably stand by:</p>
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<p>Maybe the Dbacks will stage a big comeback but</p>
<p>I don't care any more tonight.</p>
<p>G'night all.</p>
<p><br>Not one shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.</p>
<p>by onedotfive on Sep 15, 2015 | 9:01 PM ↩reply ⋆ unrec (1) ⚙actions</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the slowest GDT's in the time I've been active here, with it only reaching 173 comments at time of writing. Freeland1787 lead with just 35 comments, JoeCB1991 was right behind with 31, and GuruB was a distant third with 17. All present were:</p>
<p>Clefo, DbacksSkins, GuruB, JHendrix89, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, NumberOneIanKennedyFan31, SongBird, freeland1787, gamepass, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, onedotfive, piratedan7, shoewizard</p>
<p>Join us and the same two teams again tomorrow at 6:40 Arizona time for the rubber game of this series. See you then!</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/9/16/9335367/dbacks-6-padres-4-a-rollercoast-of-a-gameImstillhungry952015-09-16T01:12:46-04:002015-09-16T01:12:46-04:00Dbacks 6, Padres 4
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<p>It really took a while for the Diamondbacks to get going in this one. The pitching kept the team in the game for the most part, keeping them down by only two going into the bottom of the seventh. After finally getting Tyson Ross out of the game, the Dbacks pounced on a menagerie of Padres relievers. They put a five spot on the board, giving the Dbacks their first lead of the game. That was basically all the offense they had on the night, but it was enough in the end.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the pitching was something of a mixed bag. Jhoulys Chacin started and delivered a good, not great five inning start. The bullpen was equally meh, with Hudson being the worst performer, loading the bases before being removed for Zeigler, who himself got the four out save. Overall, a fairly boring game, with most of the action coming in the later half of the game. Full recap to follow.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/9/16/9335973/dbacks-6-padres-4Imstillhungry952015-09-15T20:00:03-04:002015-09-15T20:00:03-04:00Game #145 Preview: 9/15, Diamondbacks vs. Padres
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<img alt="Hitting into triple plays like this is, I dare to suggest, not a good thing. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y-DfmpUqBSYK2B2Z6OK_7m2pSzQ=/0x0:4797x3198/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47195972/GettyImages-486192318.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Hitting into triple plays like this is, I dare to suggest, not a good thing. | Doug Pensinger/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Diamondbacks have, for the second season running, gone into a bit of a late tailspin. </p> <h4 align="center">The La Russa Heartbreakometer</h4>
<p align="center"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/8/21/9189161/arizona-diamondbacks-cincinatti-reds-preview/in/8953700">What is this?</a></p>
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<td><img alt="Heart Left" style="height: 200px;" src="https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989046/heartl.0.png"></td>
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<img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png"><img alt="W" src="https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989118/w.0.png">
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<td><img style="height: 200px;" alt="Heart right" src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3989044/heartr.0.png"></td>
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<td valign="middle" width="10%"><img src="https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/2793905/sdg.png"></td>
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<span>Tyson Ross</span><br>RHP, 10-10, 3.24</h5>
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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>Jhoulys Chacin</span><br>RHP, 0-1, 2.70</h5>
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<span>Wil Myers</span> - 1B</td>
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<span>A.J. Pollock</span> - CF</td>
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<span>Yangervis Solarte</span> - 3B</td>
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<span>Ender Inciarte</span> - RF</td>
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<span>Matt Kemp</span> - RF</td>
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<span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> - 1B</td>
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<span>Justin Upton</span> - LF</td>
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<span>David Peralta</span> - LF</td>
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<span>Jedd Gyorko</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Welington Castillo</span> - C</td>
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<span>Cory Spangenberg</span> - 2B</td>
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<span>Brandon Drury</span> - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">
<span>Austin Hedges</span> - C</td>
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<span>Chris Owings</span> - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Tyson Ross - RHP</td>
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<span>Nick Ahmed</span> - SS</td>
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<span>Travis Jankowski</span> - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Jhoulys Chacin - RHP</td>
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<p>Since the end of the Cincinnati series, when we briefly poked our noses above .500, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> are 6-15, the second worst record in the majors, ahead of only the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Braves</a>. It has been a disappointing collapse: while we are already assured of more wins than in 2014, recent form suggests it won't be as many as was once hoped. If we play the final 18 games like we have the last 18, we'll go 6-12, and end up at just 74 wins. If still a ten-game improvement over last year, that will be well short of what we were hoping after we played the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.redreporter.com/">Reds</a>, and leave Tony La Russa's heart shattered into a million tiny pieces.</p>
<p>On the surface, it has not been the offense that's to blame for the current run. When we finished the Cincinnati series, our team batting line for the year was .265/.325/.410, for a .735 OPS. Over the 21 games since, our team list has been .264/.317/.422, so the OPS is actually a little higher, at .739. However, that just hasn't translated into more runs: quite the opposite, in fact. Despite that slight uptick in OPS, the average has <i>dropped</i> from 4.59 runs per game to 3.86. I don't have easy access to the numbers, but if I'd to guess, I suspect our average with runners in scoring position has cratered over the past four or so weeks. Things like hitting into double/triple plays don't help!</p>
<p>This is not at all to say that our pitching is immune from criticism. Our team ERA was fractionally below four after the Reds series, at 3.99; it has been more than half a run worse, a5 4.58. And that excludes horrendous blow-ups in which errors led to unearned runs (hello, <span>A.J. Schugel</span>). All told, the runs per games has spiked by over a run, from 4.26 to 5.42. And It's the starting pitching which has been responsible for a lot of that, with a collective ERA over the past 21 games of 4.94. <span>Patrick Corbin</span> is the sole starter with more than a single win It would be really nice to finish the season strong, and go into the winter with momentum; current performance on either side isn't going to do it.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/9/15/9334273/arizona-diamondbacks-san-diego-padres-previewJim McLennan