The Diamondbacks are facing elimination in the NLDS at the hands of the scrappy Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke threw reporters for a loop in his postgame news conference following his team's 8-1 loss to the Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NL Division Series Tuesday night.
He asked if they thought walking Miguel Montero, who had two hits prior to that at-bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, was the wrong move or the right move.
The D-backs had runners on first and second with two out at the time. Roenicke decided he'd rather have pitcher Shaun Marcum face Paul Goldschmidt than Montero, and the Brewers paid dearly for the mistake.
Goldschmidt went deep. Grand slam deep, to the opposite field, and the Diamondbacks took a 7-1 lead and effectively put the game out of reach for Milwaukee.
"That's the dilemma that a manager has, and you guys know that I don't like walking people," Roenicke said. "It bites us because we make bad pitches... I think that was the right move. But do I like it? No. I don't like it.
"I just thought (Tuesday) Montero (2-for-3, 2 RBI) looked pretty good against Shaun."
Roenicke admitted Montero "scares me."
"There's not a whole lot of places you can go with him," he said. "Even when you make good pitches he's got a chance to hit. "
Roenicke said he was aware of Goldschmidt's penchant for big hits. He said Goldschmidt is not missing mistakes, as in bad pitches.
"If I knew he (Goldschmidt) was going to hit a home run, we wouldn't have walked him (Montero)," Roenicke said.
"The biggest thing is just helping us win the game," Goldschmidt (in photo below) said. "I had two strikes, and just trying to battle, I can't really sit on just one pitch. He ended up throwing a fastball and I'm sure he missed his spot. It ended up down the middle and I was able to get a good part of the bat on it."
Marcum was beside himself immediately after he threw the fateful pitch. With the contact off of Goldschmidt's bat, Marcum tossed his glove in the air in frustration.
The Arizona Diamondbacks exploded with a flurry of hits and finally nailed Shaun Marcum's night shut with a grand slam in the fifth inning off the bat of rookie first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The Brewers could only manage two hits and one run off the other rookie star, Josh Collmenter who flummoxed Milwaukee hitters for the third time this season.
Arizona put away the Brewers by an impressive 8-1 margin. With the win, the D-backs are now down 1-2 in the series with Game 4 scheduled for a 6:37 p.m. local time start on Wednesday.
"He was very composed tonight and threw strikes," Manager Kirk Gibson said about Collmenter. "He kept them off-balance and it's what we needed. He deserves a lot of credit for the way he threw and the way he was composed tonight."
Goldschmidt's five RBI is only the second time a D-back hitter has reached that mark and his grand slam was only the second in Arizona's postseason history. The Brewer's tempted fate by walking Miguel Montero to get to the young first baseman but Miggy already had two hits with runners in scoring position by that time giving Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke no good options.
"I've been in that situation plenty of times and failed more than I've succeeded," Goldschmidt said. "And luckily (Tuesday) was a good night to come through."
Collmenter went seven full innings, allowing just two hits, two walks and a solo home run to Corey Hart. He punched out six Brewers hitters and help Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder hitless. David Hernandez and J.J. Putz came in for the eighth and ninth inning and shut the door.
While Goldschmidt was the big hero, the D-backs were already up 3-1 before his opposite field blast. Willie Bloomquist had three hits and two runs and the team racked up 11 hits against Brewers pitching.
Go to AZ Snake Pit to talk to fans of the D-Backs, and go to Brew Crew Ball to talk to fans of the Brewers.
Just for fun, here's video of Paul Goldschmidt before Game 1 of the series:
When one throws an object in the air, it is typically in celebration of a big event. Whether it be candy at a birthday party, a cap at a graduation ceremony, or Larry Fitzgerald throwing his millions in the air after receiving a pay check, a person typically finds joy in tossing an item around.
That wasn't the case for Shaun Marcum against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
With the bases loaded and Paul Goldschmidt at the plate, the rookie first baseman belted a ball over the right field wall to make the score 7-1. While the crowd of nearly 50,000 at Chase Field celebrated, Marcum responded in his own special way.
We have his priceless reaction after the jump...
Paul Goldschmidt must have heard those "Goldschmidt! Goldschmidt!" chants. He must have been motivated by the Milwaukee Brewers' decision to intentionally walk the hitter before him, Miguel Montero, in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Goldschmidt ripped an opposite-field grand slam to right field with two out, breaking open a close game and giving Arizona 7-1 lead. It was the first grand slam in Diamondbacks' postseason history.
The blast sent Chase Field into a frenzy. Brewers' starting pitcher Shaun Marcum, who threw his glove in the air in exasperation right after the pitch, was chased from the game after going 4 2/3 innings. The Diamondbacks went ahead 8-1 in the same inning after a single by Chris Young, who took second on a throwing error and stole third base, followed by Ryan Roberts' RBI single.
Goldschmidt was just the second rookie to hit a grand slam in a postseason game since 1998, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
And so it was that the Diamondbacks powered their way right back into their NL Division Series with the Brewers.
Defense helped the Diamondbacks maintain a 3-1 lead through 4 1/2 innings in Game 3 of the NLDS.
The top of the fourth inning featured a foul ball off the bat of the Brewers' Rickie Weeks that D-backs third baseman Roberts caught along the short wall that separates the field and the stands. A fan in a Brewers' shirt reached up Steve-Bartman style to try to catch the ball with his bare hands, but Roberts took it away from him.
Roberts also snagged a hard, sinking line drive off the bat of Corey "Sunglasses at Night" Hart in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, D-backs starter Josh Collmenter and leadoff man Willie Bloomquist singled. With two out, Montero, who had two hits in his previous at-bats, was walked, and Goldschmidt was next.
The Arizona Diamondbacks drew first blood from the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of their NLDS series. Down 0-2 the D-backs were facing elimination but were also confident and loose going into the game. Rookie Josh Collmenter started for Snakes while Shaun Marcum took the ball for Milwaukee.
The D-backs struck in their first at-bat with Willie Bloomquist leading off with a hit and then a steal. Aaron Hill and Justin Upton both got the bat on the ball but hit into outs which brought up Miguel Montero. Miggy bounced a double off the center field wall to drive in Bloomquist and then scored from second when Paul Goldschmidt hit an outside pitch sharply to right field.
Getting on the board early with two runs in the first certainly couldn't have hurt the confidence of young Collmenter. "The Tomahawk" walked Ryan Braun with two outs in the first inning and was a tad amped up causing a 86 mph fast ball to find the big bulky arm of Prince Fielder. "The Ferris Wheel" got out of the two-out jame by striking out Rickie Weeks.
Big Corey Hart put the Brewers on the map with a lead-off home run to start the third inning. Collmenter struck out Braun and got Fielder to hit a lazy ball to center to prevent any more damage.
In the bottom of the third, Aaron Hill and Justin Upton walked with one out in front of Miguel Montero. Miggy drove in Hill with a single. Then with runners on the corners and one out and Goldy at the plate the D-backs did something very D-back like. Hill tried to steal second and on the throw, Upton broke for home. The play fooled no one and Upton was easily tagged out on the 2-4-2 caught stealing. It was...aggressive?
Arizona leads 3-1 going into the fourth inning.
For some perspective on the Arizona Diamondbacks — and with the prospect of Tuesday night being their final game of the season — we take you back to March 29 at Chase Field, in a small office across from the clubhouse at Chase Field.
There sat general manager Kevin Towers, looking forlorn and despondent as he did his best to answer reporters’ questions about a Diamondbacks team that, with mere days until the regular season began, still had more questions surrounding it than answers
The D-backs were 12-25 in spring training, tied for the worst record in the majors. SB Nation Arizona told fans to brace themselves for another long year.
The Diamondbacks struggled with the fundamentals. They had questions about the back end of their starting rotation and they had yet to name a starting shortstop with Stephen Drew hurt and a starting first baseman.
Towers was even talking about parting ways with players who weren’t on board with what he and manager Kirk Gibson expected.
Well, look at the D-backs now. It al worked out surprisingly well. The pitching staff was fantastic. There were clutch hits spread among so many players. Players overachieved. And here are the D-backs in the playoffs.
"You lay out a vision or a philosophy of what you want to accomplish, certain goals and then you need everybody to pull together. We were able to do that," Gibson said before Tuesday’s NL Division Series Game 3.
"We’re well prepared for where we’re at and it is what it is. We’re down by two games and we’ve had magic all year, been able to overcome," he added.
Gibson said the mood in the clubhouse was "normal" before the game. Which is to say business as usual, that the D-backs are retaining the approach they’ve had to games all season long.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers are set to play Game 3 of the NLDS series. The Brewers can advance to the NLCS with a win while the D-backs are fighting for their playoff lives. Somewhere on the visitors side of the Chase Field underworld is a box with T-shirts and hats for the Brewers and hidden away in a cooler are bottles of champagne for a Milwaukee celebration that hopefully won't come.
The D-backs have called for a "Red Out" for the home town fans and have announced a sell out. It's worth noting that in 2001 the Diamondbacks didn't sell out any of their home playoff games until the World Series.
Josh Collmenter will take the ball for the D-backs while Shaun Marcum goes for Milwaukee.
Both teams have set their lineups and order for the game and they should look very familiar as they the same both teams used in Game 2, with the exception of the pitchers of course:
Diamondbacks lineup:
Willie Bloomquist SS
Aaron Hill 2B
Justin Upton RF
Miguel Montero C
Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Chris Young CF
Ryan Roberts 3B
Gerardo Parra LF
Josh Collmenter P
Brewers Lineup:
Corey Hart RF
Nyjer Morgan CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Rickie Weeks 2B
Jerry Hairston 3B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Jonathan Lucroy C
Shaun Marcum P
Game time is 6:37 with the broadcast on TNT.
For more on this NLDS series, visit AZ Snake Pit and Brew Crew Ball.
Rookie pitcher Josh Collmenter will take the ball for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night. He'll be pitching in the biggest game of the season for the team that had faith in his funky delivery and hairy face. Many will wonder if he can locate his fastball ("fastball") or fool Milwaukee Brewers with his change-up.
We, on the other hand, wonder what to call him. Throughout the season we've now heard three different nicknames for Josh "XXX" Collmenter and we're confused.
The first nickname was "Tomahawk". That comes from the obvious connection between his extreme over the top deliver and throwing hatchets in the woods of Michigan as a kid.
"That's the only thing that could ever really explain it to me," The Tomahawk said Monday when asked about the connection between chucking axes and throwing deceptive darts from the mound.
We've also heard Collmenter affectionately called "The Caveman" by his teammates. The source of this one is pretty obvious. Just look at him.
That's two nicknames...but we're not done.
Kirk Gibson, always full of surprises, dropped a third on us.
"We're still competing. We're still in the middle of the middle of the series...and we have the "Ferris Wheel," Josh Collmenter, going tomorrow.
Ferris Wheel? OK, Gibby, if you say so.
Which is your favorite Josh Collmenter nickname?
It's do-or-die for the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team enters Tuesday's NLDS Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers. After dropping the first two games of the series in Milwaukee and falling to 0-2, the Diamondbacks will return home to Chase Field and attempt to put together a first-round comeback.
The game will feature a pitchers' match-up of Shaun Marcum and rookie Josh Collmenter. Marcum posted a 13-7 record during the regular season with a 3.54 ERA. He struggled towards the end of the season and was only 2-2 in September with a high 5.17 ERA. Despite this, Marcum gained his reputation in the clubhouse as a big road pitcher and was 8-3 away from home, sporting a 2.23 ERA along the way.
The Diamondbacks will counter with Collmenter, who posted a 10-10 record through the regular season and a 3.38 ERA. Like Marcum, he struggled down the stretch, going 1-2 in September and giving up 4.44 ERA. The rookie, though, played very well against the Brewers this season. Collmenter held Milwaukee to 14 scoreless innings and six hits in consecutive starts on the road back in July. The Diamondbacks will need Collmenter to keep up that dominance and contain a Brewers offense that has averaged 6.5 points over the first two games of the series.
Game 3 Lineup
Game 3 lineups should look very similar to the squads that both sides sported in Game 2.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has stated that Jerry Hairston will start at third base, resuming his position from Game 2. Yuniesky Betancourt should also retain his place at short stop over Craig Counsell.
The Diamondbacks should field the same players from Game 2 as well: Paul Goldschmidt at first, Willie Bloomquist at shortstop, Aaron Hill at second and Ryan Roberts at third. Bloomquist will likely lead off for Arizona.
We'll post the official lineups and batting order once they are announced later in the day.
NLDS Game 3 TV Schedule and Start Time
Game 3 of the NLDS is scheduled to start at 6:37 p.m. Arizona time (9:37 p.m. ET) and will be broadcast on TNT. For those who will be attending the game in person, the Diamondbacks are encouraging their fans to wear Sedona Red attire. The team will also give out Sedona Red and black pom-poms to fans at the game.
For more on this NLDS series, visit AZ Snake Pit and Brew Crew Ball.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been virtually written off in their 2011 MLB NLDS series with the Milwaukee Brewers, and for good reason. Not only did they fall 0-2 in a five-game series but they didn't look all that good in the process. The ace starting pitching was not postseason caliber, the offense non-existent in Game 1, and the relief pitching in Game 2 imploded.
On top of all that, there are plenty of questions to ask about the decisions of manager Kirk Gibson who's calling the shots for the first time in the postseason.
Needless to say, Gibson has no time for any of that. He knows the odds (which are pretty grim if you are interested) but has some numbers of his own that he shared with his team on Monday before they took the field for a light workout.
"We're behind by two games now, we need to win the next three," Gibson said, playing the role of math teacher / master motivator.
"We've won three games or more 12 times this season. We won nine games in a row after losing six in a row. We won seven in a row, twice. Six in a row, once. All those streaks came after bad, bad play."
What wasn't spoken but implied by his tone was a message to his doubters, "So, take those numbers and shove them up your abacus."
Don't start pointing the finger of blame either.
"We're going to focus on the positive things that we've accomplish and keep our good attitude. We prospered together and we've failed together and that's the way it will remain. We're not going to start blaming people. We understand people are going to have opinions on why things are happening -- it's not over yet so it's almost amusing."
For those that don't know, Gibson made it clear early in spring training that he doesn't have time for negative retroactive thinking. Here he is paraphrasing Peter Crone in February.
Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training 2011: Kirk Gibson Gets Philosophical..
"When you think about the past all the time, when you get to the present day you are thinking about the past so it becomes your future again. You understand? We're not thinking about that. We're thinking about the future. Stop asking me those questions. That's not how my mind works and you know that."
Another Gibson decision that hasn't yet been picked over much is starting Josh "Farris Wheel" Collmenter in Game 3 and Joe Saunders in Game 4.
Saunders was ahead of Collmenter in the rotation and is a veteran with playoff experience (5.40 ERA in 3 starts in the 2008 and 2009 ALDS against the Red Sox and Yankees) but got bumped for a guy who was in "fall ball" this time last year.
Collmenter's deceptive delivery flummoxed and frustrated the Brewers in two meetings this season (14 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and more importantly, Gibson likes the cut of his jib.
"There's just a look about people when they get in certain situations that we've watched him throughout the year that leads us to believe he'll be fine in this environment," Gibson said about his rookie pitcher starting an elimination playoff game.
Gibby understands that the critiques come with the job and accepts full responsibility for everything that happens.
"We're where we're at (down 0-2) and I'm responsible, I'm the manager of the team. I have no problem with that. I do find it amusing in that the series isn't over yet."
But, he'll respect you more if you "first guess" instead of "second guess", so get in line with your guesses now.
Gibson promised he would manage the game "tighter" than he did on Sunday and do what he can to prevent the Brewers from having another big inning like the one that doomed the D-backs in Game 2.
Regardless of the outcome, it's been a pleasure covering this team and especially Kirk Gibson who is a unique blend of old school hard ass and new age modern thinker. If you want to put Gibby in a box, it better be a big one and it better have strong walls.
We went into this season with Gibson being the face of the team and on the eve of what could be the last game nothing's changed.
For more on this NLDS series, visit AZ Snake Pit and Brew Crew Ball.
Arizona Diamondbacks Game 3 Postgame Video Interviews: Goldschmidt, Upton, Putz And Robert Discuss Win
The mood in the Arizona Diamondbacks clubhouse was jubilant but not excessively so after beating the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLDS. The MLB Playoffs have been exciting all across the nation with no sweeps so far. The Texas Rangers are the only team to advance with their 3-1 series win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees and Tigers are tied up 2-2 and the Phillie hold a 2-1 series lead over the Cardinals.
The D-backs and Brewers Game 4 will start on Wednesday night at 6:37 p.m. on TBS. It will be interesting to see if the excitement from Tuesday night's win builds momentum that carries over or if there's an emotional letdown by the young Arizona team.
Joe Saunders will face Randy Wolf in a battle of veterans.
But first, here's video from after Game 3 with Paul Goldschmidt talking about his big two-strike, two-out grand slam that busted the game open. Justin Upton and Ryan Roberts also talk about the game and J.J. Putz explains why it was important for him to pitch even though it wasn't a save situation.
Oct 05 7:52a by Seth Pollack