The Strikeout Comes Back To Bite Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks And Miguel Montero Could Open Contract Negotiations During Season

One of the biggest potential losses in free agency that could happen for the Arizona Diamondbacks could be catcher Miguel Montero. He signed a one-year contract in the offseason and the team attempted to negotiate a log-term deal. However, talks were stopped and the team decided to table the issue until after the season.

However, this may be changing, according to CBS Sports writer Jon Heyman, who tweeted:

hearing negotiations with miguel montero and the #dbacks may start up again soon. he's sought v-mart $ ($52M, 4 yrs)

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) May 9, 2012

Montero has been solid this season. He is hitting .277 and has batted in 16 runs. Defensively, he has made huge strides. When in the past, he struggled with throwing the ball accurately, he is gunning down over 57 percent of potential base-stealers.

According to an article on the team site, Montero had not heard that it was going to happen, but general manger Kevin Towers said it was a possibility, although he did not wish for it to be a distraction to the catcher.

The move to negotiate really would be wise. Arizona is in no place to lose Montero. They do not have a replacement in the farm system that could clearly take over. He would leave a huge hole in the lineup and defensively.

That being said, with his production keeping with the highest paid catchers in the league, he will not come cheaply. But sometimes to have to pay for what you need.

Montero is one of those needs.

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

For the latest AZ sports, follow us on Twitter @SBNArizona and "Like" us on Facebook.

Cardinals Complete Sweep, Putz Implodes In Ninth

An off day might be just what the Arizona Diamondbacks need to regroup, after they were swept in a three-game series at Chase Field by the St. Louis Cardinals. The D-backs lost the series finale 7-2 Wednesday night and dropped their fifth straight game overall, falling to a lowly 6-10 at home.

Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter ripped a double past the diving Jason Kubel in left field in the top of the sixth with two out and two runners on, driving in both runners to break a 1-1 tie. The hit also chased starting pitcher Wade Miley, who got through 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs on 10 hits.

"Just trying to go down and away and he just did a good job of going with the pitch," Miley said of the fateful hit by Carpenter.

Arizona couldn't come all the way back, though the D-backs did score once in their half of the sixth. Miguel Montero singled and scored on Aaron Hill's double with one out, but the Dbacks couldn't get Hill in to score.

The Diamondbacks were swept at Chase Field for the first time since Aug. 17-19 of 2010 and have lost five straight for the second time this season already.

Three singles by Lyle Overbay, Ryan Roberts and Miley, who drove in Overbay from second base with his base hit, gave the D-backs their first lead in the series. Miley raised his batting average to .417 (5 of 12) giving him the lead in hits among NL pitchers this season.

In the top of the third, the Diamondbacks got some help from home plate umpire Laz Diaz, who called the Cardinals' Rafael Furcal out at home plate trying to score from first on a double by Matt Holliday. Gerardo Parra threw to the cutoff man Willie Bloomquist, who fired home to Miguel Montero for the tag, though it looked like Furcal beat the throw and touched home plate just before the tag,

In any case, it was a great play all the way around for the D-backs to preserve their lead for the time being.

Arizona had a chance to go up by two, but Overbay was thrown out at home plate on a single by Roberts in the fourth. Shane Robinson made the peg from center field and Tony Cruz applied the tag to Overbay, who for some reason did not slide and went in standing.

"It's a miscommunication," manager Kirk Gibson said of Miley not motioning for Overbay to get down and slide.

"I got back there a little late and I went more verbal than motioning...It's my fault," Miley said. "I need to get down and let him know to get down and slide and what direction."

The Cardinals tied it in the fifth on a single by pitcher Kyle Lohse, who somehow made it to third base on a single by Furcal. Lohse went in standing and grabbed the back of his leg, but walked off the discomfort and scored when Carlos Beltran reached on an error.

Beltran hit a hard ground ball to Roberts, and the bad hop struck Roberts under his chin. The Cardinals loaded the bases, but Miley got Allen Craig to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Lohse left after five innings, his hamstring perhaps giving him problems. Furcal finished 4-for-5 on the night and the Cardinals had 15 hits as a team.

The Diamondbacks did get some good work out of their bullpen, that is, until J.J. Putz came on in the top of the ninth. Three relievers -- Bryan Shaw, Brad Ziegler and David Hernandez -- held the Cardinals scoreless over 2 1/3 innings. But Putz, after retiring the first two batters he faced, gave up five straight hits, the third one a towering double off the center-field wall by Holliday to drive in two runs and the fourth a line drive home run by Craig.

Putz put his hands on his hips as he watched Craig circle the bases. Putz was lifted for Craig Breslow, unable to make it out of the ninth. He saw his ERA soar to 9.00 after allowing four runs on five hits in 2/3 of an inning.

Gibson said location was Putz's problem, plus the Cardinals' aggressive approach on offense.

"They just keep coming at you," Gibson said. "If you don't locate the ball they pound you. They scored 23 (actually 22 in the series) runs, we scored nine. They outhit us, they outpitched us, they out-defended us."

Arizona (14-18) gets an off day at home, then welcomes in the San Francisco Giants for three games over the weekend.

Daniel Hudson Injury: D-backs Starter Throws First Bullpen Session

According to a report form NBC Hardball Talk's Aaron Gleeman, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Hudson threw a bullpen session of a mound on Tuesday, the first time doing so since being place on the DL back on April 21.

Hudson told reporters that he "felt good" and "wanted to keep going."

The 25-year old righty will likely need to get a few more bullpen sessions and live batting practice under his belt before the Diamondbacks are comfortable putting Hudson in a minor-league rehab assignment. A return to Arizona's starting rotation by the end of the month is looking right on track barring any setbacks.

Hudson was solid in 2011, tossing 222 innings for Arizona with a 3.49 ERA and 169/50 K/BB ratio last season, working his way to a 16-12 record en route to the D-backs NL West title.

For more on the Arizona Diamondbacks, please head over to AZ Snake Pit and SB Nation Arizona.

Finding True Love At Chase Field: The Legend Of The First Date

Justin Upton Found His Way To The Bench On Monday Night

D-backs vs. Cardinals Score: Carlos Beltran Homers St. Louis To 6-1 Victory

For the second night in a row it seemed like the game was over before it even began for the Arizona Diamondbacks. After falling by a score of 9-6 on Monday, the D-backs surrendered two early home runs to Carlos Beltran as the St. Louis Cardinals went on to win by a score of 6-1. The loss drops Arizona to 14-17 thus far in 2012, with the team losing six of their last ten games.

Ian Kennedy made the start and pitched well after surrendering six early runs. The ace righty allowed six hits and two walks against a tough Cardinals lineup, striking out six in the process. Brad Ziegler and Mike Zagurski both worked scoreless innings once the game reached garbage time.

Jake Westbrook was phenomenal once again for the Cardinals, working seven shutout innings. He allowed just four hits and two walks, striking out eight in the process.

Beltran hit his first home run of the evening in the first inning, a two-run shot that scored Jon Jay after previously tripling to lead off the game. Beltran then hit a two-out grand slam off Kennedy to give St. Louis a commanding 6-0 lead.

Miguel Montero drove in the lone run of the game for the D-backs with an RBI-double in the ninth inning.

Arizona will look to salvage one game from the series on Wednesday evening. Wade Miley will take the mound for the Diamondbacks and will be opposed by Kyle Lohse. First pitch is set of 6:40 p.m. from Chase Field.

For more on the club, check out AZ Snake Pit.

Diamondbacks Collapse To Cardinals, 9-6

They say in sports that the first game back after a long road trip is the most difficult. That may or may not be true, but it certainly is how the Arizona Diamondbacks played on Monday night....for five innings. It started with Joe Saunders giving up a home run to his first batter faced and three runs in the first innings to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The ugliness continued in the bottom of the first when Justin Upton, Miguel Montero and Cody Ransom were all struck out by Lance Lynn, stranding Gerardo Parra on third where he sat after a lead-off triple. Lynn earned the win and is now 6-0 on the season.

Manager Kirk Gibson cited the inability to score that run as a major turning point in the game along with the bullpen giving up two runs in the seventh after the D-backs have cut the lead to one.

"We'll come back tomorrow regardless. They're a good team, we know that," Gibson said. "We have to play better, we haven't played as well as we're capable of recently. If we want to beat this team we're going to have to play much better."

The damage continued as Saunders gave up two more runs off back-to-back solo home runs in the third and then was lifted in the fourth after giving up another run and loading the bases. Brad Ziegler came in and walked in a run to end Saunders night with seven runs (six earned) off nine hits and one walk in just 3.1 innings of "work". His ERA on the season dropped to 2.50 with his worst performance of the summer.

The Fightin' Snakes fought back, however, with a sixth inning for the record books. They dropped six runs on Cardinals relievers J.C. Romero and Fernando Salas to cut the lead to just one run.

The big inning featured a 452 foot BLAST by Cody Ranson that went into the Friday's Front Row porch high over left field. Montero had two singles in the inning which featured seven-consecutive hits before the St. Louis bullpen was able to strike out the side.

Ransom now has four home runs on the season which ties a career-high for him. He's been the hottest D-backs hitter of late. "He's on a roll. We need to get more people on a roll here," Gibby said.

Unfortunately, with the game at 7-6, Bryan Shaw came in and gave up the games second paid of back-to-back solo bombs to Cardinals sluggers Allen Craig and David Freese. The offense had no more juice left in the bats and the game ended with a 9-6 loss.

The good news, if you're looking for some, is that the D-backs rally forced the Cardinals to use five pitchers out of their pen and they were able to force Lynn from the game early. Maybe that will pay off as the series goes on.

Tuesday, it will be up to Ian Kennedy to try and get a home win. The D-backs are now 2-8 at home over their last ten games. The season is plenty early, but at some point these losses will be difficult to overcome for a team vying for another NL West Division Title.

Notes:

-- Willie Bloomquist was lifted from the game to start the Cardinals fifth inning. He reportedly jammed his knee on a throw. The D-backs already have five guys from their 25-man team on the DL. They have infield depth but really can't afford to keep losing players to injury.

-- Justin Upton was pulled as part of a double switch in the sixth inning. There was nothing reportedly wrong. Gibson said it just made the most sense to replace him based on the way they thought the game might play out.

-- Gibson said that Lynn didn't have great command and that the D-backs let him off the hook.

For more on the D-backs, visit AZ Snake Pit.

Updated Timelines For Injured Diamondbacks Drew, Hudson, Young and Saito

The Arizona Diamondbacks face a tall task in their quest to get a much-needed home series win. The defending World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals are 17-11 and showing no signs of slowing down after letting Albert Pujols walks.

For the D-backs, the watch word right now is to "keep pushing" according to manager Kirk Gibson and to keep an eye firmly planted on the training room calendar to see what four key players might be available to return to the field. Here's an update on the injury status of the walking wounded.

-- Daniel Hudson (shoulder) is feeling feeling good and will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday. From there he is scheduled to go on a rotation that includes simulated games every five days starting at 50 pitches and then progressing to 75 with bullpen sessions in between. If all goes well, he could be back at the end of the month of May.

-- Chris Young (shoulder) is hitting and throwing but according to Gibby, he's "come a long way, but has a long way to go." If everything goes well with him, he might start playing in rehab games next week. So at best, if seems like he's two weeks away barring setbacks.

-- Stephen Drew is slowing progressing and "making progress" with his games in extended spring training. He's up to four innings but he's yet to slide (despite previous reports) and is experiencing stiffness and soreness in his repaired ankle. He's working on his defense and hitting so he can start seeing the release point on the ball after having not played for 10 months.

"I've came a long way, I've worked hard at it. It's good just to see, finally, some bounce back out there working hard and seeing some payback for it," Drew said.

There was no timeline given for his return, but it's hard to think he's closer than a month away. He'll need to progress to full games on a daily basis with all baseball activities (including sliding) before he would start a process of rehab games to get up to game speed.

-- Takashi Saito (calf) is still only throwing from flat ground. No timetable was given but there certainly doesn't seem to be any rush to bring him back. It's almost as if at his age, 42, the team is "saving" him for late in the season and the playoffs.

Other Notes:

The D-backs used the opportunity of being back home to refresh on a five-man infield defensive alignment that could be used in some late-game bunt, or running on third situations.

Paul Goldschmidt is hitting better and has seen his bat speed increase during the run. He's out of the lineup Monday due to a "bad head cold".

Cody Ranson will continue to get playing time since the team needs his bat right now and he's hitting well. Ryan Roberts will play, but Gibby wouldn't say how much. They are trying to get Roberts back to where he's been in the past.

Monday's Lineup

1. Gerardo Parra (CF)
2. Justin Upton (RF)
3. Jason Kubel (LF)
4. Miguel Montero (C)
5. Cody Ransom (3B)
6. Lyle Overbay (1B)
7. Aaron Hill (2B)
8. Willie Bloomquist (SS)
9. Joe Saunders (LHP)
   

For more on the D-backs, visit AZ Snake Pit.

Diamondbacks Vs. Cardinals: Series Preview, Pitching Matchups and More

The Diamondbacks host the St. Louis Cardinals for a three game series beginning Monday. The team is 7-9 at home and will look for strong pitching performances to help them turn things around.

Arizona D-backs Schedule: Cardinals, Giants Travel To Chase Field

The Cardinals have been among the best teams in baseball this year. The Giants? Not so much.