Diamondbacks Rally For 12th Inning Win Over Giants, 6-5

The Arizona Diamondbacks were facing the prospect for losing their fourth-straight game and getting swept in a series for the first time this season. Instead they rallied late and pushed over the walk-off run in the 12th inning to take the game and end the homestand on a high note.

Things were looking positive early behind a very solid start to Barry Enright's start. He was carrying a perfect game and a three-run lead into the fourth inning before notorious D-backs killer, Aubrey Huff, smacked a curve ball over the right field fence.

Justin Upton struck back in the fifth with a solo homer of his own (another deep blast to left center) and the D-backs looked in control with a 4-1 lead. Then things fell off the rails for Big Red Enright.

Enright's fast ball didn't seem to have enough life today and while his breaking stuff was fantastic early and got him the lead, he eventually hung a couple of off-speed pitches and then his straight low-90's heat wasn't enough to get him out of trouble. The Giants tagged him for three runs capped by Buster Posey's two-run homer off the fourth-straight inside pitch Miguel Montero called for.

Esmerling Vasquez came for Enright with the game tied at four and promptly gave up a home run to the Kong-Fu Mini-Panda, Pablo Sandoval. Boy, does that guy look dangerous this year minus about 50 extra pounds.

Juan Gutierrez looked like his mechanics had been cleaned up as he pitched a solid seventh and David Hernandez continued his streak of lights out relief in the eighth. But holding serve with the Giant's pen down 5-4 wasn't enough.

Ryan Roberts stepped up to fix that by driving in Xavier Nady who had got on with a walk and advanced to second on a steal and third on a Montero ground out. Small ball in action. With the tying run successfully manufactured, it was time for free baseball.

Rested closer J.J. Putz pitched two innings of three strikeout, no-hit ball. He was followed by newly recalled Josh Collmenter who unleashed his funky overhand delivery on the Giants for another two innings of perfect work.

For those counting at home, that's a total of 6.2 innings from the pen with only two hits and one run allowed. Solid.

It was the Giants pen that faltered first. They gave up walks to Justin Upton and Chris Young which gave Stephen Drew the opportunity to be the quiet hero. Drew continued to show his ability to hit left-handed pitching as he singled to right and gave Upton just enough time to beat the throw at home and win the game. 

The D-backs fly out of Phoenix tonight to start a road trip against the Reds on Tuesday followed by the Mets over the weekend.

For more on this game visit Diamondbacks blog, AZ Snake Pit.    

Arizona Diamondbacks Schedule: D-Backs Look To Snap Season-High Three-Game Losing Streak Against Giants

The Diamondbacks will try to snap a season-high three-game losing steak today against the San Francisco Giants in Game 3 of the series.

Arizona will start Barry Enright (0-1, 6.00), a second-year player who closed his rookie season by losing his last five starts. Enright has continued to struggle in the early part of this season, allowing nine hits in an 8-2 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

The Giants, on the other hand, will look to match their season-high win streak from last year with their fifth consecutive victory today. They will start Madison Bumgarner (0-2, 9.00 ERA), an important cog in their championship run last season when he went 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA.

The Diamondbacks are 5-8 on the season while the Giants are 8-6.

Game 3 starts at 1:10 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on Fox Sports Arizona. AZ Snakepit will have a lively game thread for online viewers.

Saunders Solid But Not Good Enough In Diamondbacks Loss To Giants, 5-3

Uh oh. Don't look now, but the gritty Diamondbacks have dropped three straight and fallen to 5-8 on the season. The loss to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night threatens to deflate some of the optimism Arizona had built with the series win over the Reds. 

Gone are the big hitting nights and solid bullpen performances. The D-backs managed just three runs tonight against Barry Zito and the Giant's arms.

Zito gave up two runs before he left the game after hurting his foot making a play on a bunted ball in the second inning. Normally, you would be happy to get into a team's pen so early in the game but in this case the World Champs might have been better off with the four innings they got from Guillermo Mota in long relief.

Mota gave up one run and three hits with four strikeouts and no walks to bridge the gap from Zito to the normal late inning relief. 

Joe Saunders gave a solid outing and deserved better than the five earned runs he was tagged with. After giving up a two-run shot to Buster Posey in the first, he was solid into the seventh inning.

Joe took a line drive off the foot from Pat Burrell to lead things off but stayed in the game and proceed to pick off the pinch runner, Darren Ford, to clear the bases. Unfortunately, Saunders gave up a two more singles and a walk to load the bases with two outs. Kirk Gibson came and got his veteran lefty who had tossed 97 pitches (56 for strikes) and gave the ball to Sam Demel.

Saunders finished with 12 hits allowed but survived that by inducing a franchise-tying five double-plays.

If Demel bails out his starter and gets the one out, the game stays tied at three. Instead, Freddy Sanchez punched a ball between second and third that drove in two runs. Joe Paterson came in to get the final out of the inning and the D-bats were unable to make any progress against the Giant's pen.

The Giants, obviously, are a very good team but you hate to lose a game like this. Getting timely hits is important but it's just as important for the bullpen to come into a pressure situation and get a big out. Demel didn't deliver and this game is on him.

The D-backs finish the series and try and avoid the sweep on Sunday against the Giants. Barry Enright will face Madison Bumgarner in a 1:10 p.m. start at Chase.

For more on this game visit Diamondbacks blog, AZ Snake Pit.

Diamondbacks 3, Giants 5: Saunders shaky, offense quiet, and double plays plentiful - AZ Snake Pit
In an absolutely shocking turn of events, we did not get to witness the highly-expected pitchers' duel between Barry Zito and Joe Saunders, two pitchers with ERA+ of 101 and 93 (respectively) since 2009. Zito fell victim to the whole injured-opposing-pitchers virus that seems to take hold of nearly every starter that goes up against Arizona. Ok, so maybe saying nearly every starter is a slight exaggeration, but it's certainly a fun little tidbit of information. 

Arizona Diamondbacks Schedule: D-Backs Eye Revenge In Tonight's Game 2 Against Defending World Champion Giants

The Diamondbacks will look to bounce back from Friday's 5-2 loss to the defending champion San Francisco Giants with a win in tonight's Game 2. 

Arizona will start Joe Saunders, who is 0-1 this season and has a 6.00 ERA. He will pitch against the Giants' Barry Zito, who has very similar stats thus far this season (also 0-1 with an ERA of 5.56).

The Diamondbacks are 5-7 on the season while the Giants are 7-6.

Game 2 starts at 5:10 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on Fox Sports Arizona. AZ Snakepit will have a lively game thread for online viewers.

Recap from Friday night's beating at the hands of the Giants and a full D-backs Farm Report from AZ Snakepit:

Giants 5, Diamondbacks 2 - Cain Masters Diamondbacks as Offense Deserts Arizona - AZ Snake Pit
Daniel Hudson gave up a 3-run home run to Pablo Sandoval in the 1st inning, and that was all Matt Cain needed for his second victory of the year. Arizona's Tale of Woe continues after the jump.

 

Diamondbacks Farm Round-Up: April 15th - AZ Snake Pit
The loss of Josh Collmenter left a hole in the Reno Aces rotation, and the opposing pitcher tonight was a former Diamondback. We have details of that, and the other minor-league action.

Aaron Heilman To The DL With Shoulder Problems, Collmenter Recalled

Well, hopefully some time on the disabled list with help Aaron Heilman get back to form. They need him to pitch well this season.

Here's the full press release from the team:

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today they have placed right-handed pitcher Aaron Heilman on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis (retroactive to April 14) and recalled right-handed pitcher Josh Collmenter from Triple-A Reno, according to D-backs' Executive Vice President and General Manager Kevin Towers.

Heilman, 32, posted a 12.15 ERA (9 ER in 6.2 IP) with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in 4 games with the D-backs. He was charged with 6 runs on 7 hits and a walk with 2 strikeouts over 1.2 innings in his most recent appearance on April 13 vs. Cardinals. Over parts of 9 Major League seasons with the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and D-backs, Heilman is 32-45 with a 4.34 ERA (190 ER in 601.1 IP) with 247 walks and 522 strikeouts in 449 games (25 starts). Since 2006, he is the lone reliever to post five straight seasons of at least 70 relief appearances after making the transition to the bullpen in May 2005. This is the first time in his career Heilman has been placed on the disabled list.

Collmenter, 25, allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts over 6.0 innings in his lone start with the Aces on April 10 at Salt Lake City. Over parts of five seasons in the D-backs organization, Collmenter owns a 41-27 record and 3.50 ERA (200 ER in 515.0 IP) with 176 walks and 472 strikeouts in 94 games (92 starts). His 35 wins since the start of 2008 are tops among all minor league pitchers. This is Collmenter's first stint in the Major Leagues.

Diamondbacks' College Night At the Ballpark, $5 Tickets For Students

The Arizona Diamondbacks are anxious to get people in the seats. Attendance so far this season has been disappointing but it should pick up now that the Suns' season is over and then get another boost when the Coyotes playoff run ends.

The team playing near-.500 ball and being competitive and gritty will help the most though. As Kirk Gibson said, ultimately it's up to the players to give the fans a reason to come out and watch.

Helping things along until that all catches up is a few special events this weekend:

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE DAY

JACKIE ROBINSON DAY
¨ All players will wear No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson
¨ Pre-game recognition for three local Jackie Robinson Scholar Graduates
¨ Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation 50/50 Raffle to benefit Jackie Robinson Foundation

COLLEGE NIGHT
¨ College students can score a ticket to the D-backs game for just $5!

POST-GAME FIREWORKS
Presented By Gila River Casinos

Arizona Diamondbacks Avoid SF Giants Aces In Weekend Series

There's a reason this weekend's series against the San Francisco Giants has earned the highest tier in the new Arizona Diamondbacks' variable ticket pricing plan. They are not only the reigning World Champions, but they also feature one of the top pitch rotations in all of baseball (Philly be damned). Fortunately, the Diamondbacks won't see their freaky ace, Tim Lincecum (1-1, 1.86) or Mr. Two, Jonathan Sanchez (1-1, 3.24). 

Avoiding Lincecum and Sanchez doesn't let the D-backs off the hook by any means. They get Matt Cain in the series opener at Chase on Friday and all he's done is throw 13 innings of two-run baseball this season (1.38). After that though, things could get a bit easier.

Former stud, turned high-priced pitching enigma Barry Zito (0-1, 5.56) goes on Saturday. Sunday the Giants will roll out behind one of last summer's surprise stories, Madison Bumgarner. Bummy is off to a rocky start this season with an 0-2 record and ERA of 9.0. Bummer.

The D-backs counter the Giants three through five pitchers with their two through four guys. Seems like a fair handicap for the NL West's worst team in 2010. 

Daniel Hudson will take the mound on Friday (0-2, 3.46), followed by Joe Saunders (0-1, 6.00) and Barry Enright (0-1, 6.00). 

For more on this fun series, check out AZ Snakepit's fine preview:

Series Preview #5: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Francisco Giants - AZ Snake Pit
The 2010 Giants were a nice story. There, I said it. 

Even though they're our division rivals, it was kinda cool to see them catch fire from out of nowhere partway through the season, make the playoffs and win the World Series for the first time since the team moved to San Francisco.  The fact that they did it without a ton of stars, and with a team filled with zany "characters" (baseball code for white guys with weird facial hair who dance and spit and rub dirt in weird places while playing) instead just made the whole thing more fun. 

Overall, it caused a lot of people to take West-Coast baseball in general (and the NL West in particular) a lot more seriously than they did before, which is a good thing.  And hey, at least it wasn't the Yankees again.

The series opener starts at 6:40 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on Fox Sports Arizona. AZ Snakepit will have a lively game thread for those online viewers.

I Am 42. Diamondbacks, MLB Honor Jackie Robinson