Dickey, Mets Beat Diamondbacks In Finale 5-1 To Earn Series Split

The Arizona Diamondbacks could not distance themselves from .500 as R.A. Dickey pitched seven innings of four-hit ball. New York scored twice in the top of the first and Dickey earned his 14th win of the season with a 5-1 over the D-backs on Sunday.

AZSnakepit has the coverage:

Joe Saunders was on the mound and like many Diamondbacks pitchers seemed to think the approach was to let the other team score first, creating an exciting sense of uncertainty laced with despair. David Murphy singled after Ruben Tejada grounded out, then David Wright bounced one off the wall to get him home. Scott Hairston doubled and Wright scored. This was getting a little monotonous, so Ike Davis popped up, one of his few outs of the series. Saunders then walked Jason Bay, pitching a little too cautiously. Fortunately, Andres Torres popped up leaving the team two runs down after the first. Stephen Drew, Aaron Hill and Willie Bloomquist then went down meekly, never looking like scoring.

Again at .500, the Diamondbacks take to the road for 10 games.

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

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

Chris Johnson Not A Substantial Upgrade For Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks-Astros Trade: Arizona Acquires Chris Johnson From Houston

Montero, Kennedy Overcome Ike Davis' 3 HR In 6-3 Win Over Mets

On Saturday night, Ian Kennedy pitched six and one third strong innings. However, Ike Davis of the New York Mets hit three home runs. Fortunately, that is all the offense New York got as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Mets 6-3 behind a two-run homer by Arizona catcher Miguel Montero.

AZSnakepit had the coverage:

Whoa, what a wild one. A game that I actually forgot about (what happened to the 7:10 start times?) and only flipped in a little bit into the game turned into an extremely tense one, even if the score doesn't necessarily scream "intense". Ike Davis was the story of the day for New York and will likely remain the only real memory of the game for Mets fans. For us Diamondback folk, though, we'll remember it for that ninth inning, one that pitted JJ Putz against one of the best hitters in baseball, standing as the tying run. Hit the jump for what essentially amounts to a run-of-the-mill eight innings (with some history and web gemmage sprinkled in) and a heart-pounding ninth.

The game started off reasonably well, and pretty much continued on that way throughout the contest. All of the Mets blows were more or less responses to runs that we added in the previous inning, so at no point -- save for one two-out situation and the ninth inning -- did the game feel like it was going poorly. Actually, it was anything but. Ian Kennedy sailed until he was forced out in the seventh, only looking off against one Isaac Benjamin Davis.

The win was the second in a row for Arizona, who will seek for a series win on Sunday to close out the homestand.

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

Josh Collmenter With Olympic Tribute

Josh Collmenter Turns Around What Was Becoming 'One Of Those Nights'

The Arizona Diamondbacks put six runs on the board in the second inning to take a 6-2 lead over the New York Mets, and the game had a feeling that Arizona was in control. Considering the struggles that the Mets have had, it seemed like it would be just enough as long as starter Josh Collmenter came out in the third inning and posted a scoreless inning.

"After we scored the six-spot, I wanted to back out and put up a zero," said Collmenter after the game. "It's a big momentum swing and couple of bloops and a blast and it's back to a one-run game, and I knew from there on I had to make sure I executed and made pitches to keep us in the game."

After that, he allowed only two more baserunners in the final three innings he pitched and struck out the last four batter he saw.

Willie Bloomquist and Chris Young both commented how Collmenter "strapped things down" and "settled down nice." Bloomquist said, "it looked like it was going to be one of those nights actually...but Josh was able to stop the bleeding right there and put up some zeroes for a few innings."

Young also thought "it was going to be a long night the way things were going."

Manager Kirk Gibson raved about his starter's composure. "A lot of guys would have lost their composure there and felt a lot of pressure," said Gibby. "The guy's got ice in his veins and he's just very calm and on-task, regardless of the circumstances."

Dating back to the second half of last season, Collmenter has been a bounce back guy. When it was said he should be moved to the bullpen a season ago, he came up huge with some of his best starts. This season he struggled and was sent to the bullpen. What did he do? He pitched fabulously and earned a spot in the starting rotation again, and has pitched well.

He once again on Friday showed that resilience, and it gave his team a win.

It is nights like this that makes me think personally that he is going to stay in the rotation the rest of the season and will be a big player for the team down the stretch.

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

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

6-Run Inning Propels Diamondbacks To 11-5 Win Over Mets

After looking bad against rookie Matt Harvey, the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for six innings in the second inning, three runs scoring on an infield hit by Willie Bloomquist and throwing error by Jonathan Niese. Arizona starter Josh Collmenter gave up two homers, but pitched six innings and the D-backs returned to .500 with a 11-5 win over the Mets on Friday night in front of 23,150 fans at Chase Field.

After going down in order in the first inning, Ike Davis homered to right to lead off the second inning and Andres Torres hit an RBI single to give New York a 2-0 lead.

But the Diamondbacks exploded for six runs in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Justin Upton, Chris Young and Stephen Drew hit singles to load the bases. Henry Blanco was walked, forcing a run home. Josh Collmenter singled home another and then things got messy for Mets starter Jonathan Niese. Willie Bloomquist hit a dribbler up the left side of the infield. Niese fielded the ball and instead of holding on to it, he threw it away. All three runners scored and Bloomquist made it to third. Aaron Hill hit a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.

Collmenter could not keep the momentum in his favor. In the next half inning, David Wright hit a three-run homer to bring New York back within one.

But he would throw three straight scoreless frames to keep the Mets at bay, allowing the offense to give him some space again.

Arizona tacked on a run in the fourth, when Bloomquist singled home Drew, who led off the inning with his second single of the night.

They got another in the six on a double by Jason Kubel and a single by Paul Goldschmidt.

Collmenter's night was done at that point, having thrown six innings, allowing seven hits and five runs. He struck out five.

The D-backs added another three runs in the seventh when Justin Upton singled for the second time, driving in Aaron Hill and Chris Young doubled home Upton and Paul Goldschmidt.

Brad Ziegler and Craig Breslow combined to close out the game.

Everyone in the starting lineup got a hit except for Henry Blanco, and even he reached base and drove in a run with his bases loaded walk in the second. Five different players (Bloomquist, Goldschmidt, Upton, Young and Drew) each had a pair of hits. The team banged out 13 for the game.

Collmenter improved to 3-2 with the win and Niese fell to 7-5 with the loss.

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

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

Trevor Bauer, Pitching Prospect And...Rapper? [Video]

Matt Harvey Could Have Been On Arizona Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks saw how good Matt Harvey could be when they faced him Thursday night in his major league debut for the New York Mets. Harvey is a big guy, at 6-4, 225 pounds, and he throws hard. He was throwing his fastball around 97 mile per hour, a good slider and a good breaking ball. The consensus among Arizona hitter is that he had "great stuff." And had things gone a little bit differently a couple of years ago, he actually could be a member of the D-backs today.

In the 2010 MLB draft, the Diamondbacks took pitcher Barret Loux, whom they did not end up signing because of concerns about his shoulder. Who was picked at number seven? That would be Harvey.

Now, the resulting move of not signing Loux ended up with the D-backs drafting pitcher Archie Bradley in 2011, who is a very talented prospect. However, he is nowhere near ready to join the big leagues, as he is having control issues. Nick Piecoro tweeted that he is currently averaging 5.7 walks per nine innings.

That's not to say that Bradley won't be a fantastic pitcher in the big leagues at some point, but Arizona got nothing at the top of the 2010 draft. They viably could have had Harvey, who might or might not already be in the starting rotation. What is certain is that he has the talent to make it, as was evidenced by his start on Thursday in which he struck out 11 and allowed only three hits.

Every year teams pass on players that end up being very, very good. One of Piecoro's followers even raised the question about how Arizona passed on Mike Trout, who is arguably the best player in the entire game as a rookie for the Angels. But Arizona wasn't the only one to pass on him.

Harvey went one pick after the D-backs made theirs, and Arizona got nothing out of that year's draft in the first round.

It is fair to say that Arizona botched that one. They may recover, depending on how Bradley develops, but if Harvey does in fact become something special, this could truly be one of those "what could have been" scenarios.

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

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

Mets Rookie Matt Harvey Strikes Out 11 MLB Debut, D-backs Fall 3-1 In Series Opener

The Arizona Diamondbacks got to face the New York Mets' highly touted pitching prospect Matt Harvey on Friday night in his major league debut. He was up to the task as he fanned 11 hitters and former D-back Scott Hairston collected three hits and drove in two runs in a 3-1 victory for the Mets.

New York had lost their previous six games before coming to Phoenix.

The Mets got on the board early, picking up a pair of runs on when Scott Hairston, a former D-back, hit a two-run double with one out in the first inning.

They later added a run in the fourth inning when Andres Torres hit a one-out triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rob Johnson.

New York starter Matt Harvey gave the Arizona lineup trouble at the start, as he struck out at least two batters in four of the innings he pitched. He left after five innings and a third, after he walked Jason Kubel and Justin Upton. He gave up three hits, but no runs crossed the plate.

The Diamondbacks struggled offensively all night until the seventh. When former D-backs reliever Jon Rauch came in the game, Jason Kubel walked, Paul Goldschmidt doubled and Justin Upton hit a sacrifice fly to pull Arizona within two runs. Miguel Montero reached base when he was hit by a pitch, but pinch hitter Lyle Overbay struck out to end the inning.

Miley allowed his three runs in only five and one-third innings. He gave up nine hits and struck out three. He took the loss, falling to 11-6 with only his second loss of the year at home.

Bobby Parnell pitched the ninth to pick up his third save of the season, striking out the side.

Harvey picked up his first major league win and also collected hits in his first two at-bats. All in all, not a bad way to start off a career.

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

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

Diamondbacks Vs. Mets, Series Preview: Arizona Looking To Make Ground Against Struggling Mets

Can the D-backs keep the Mets in the cellar? For more, head over to AZ Snake Pit.