Despite the Diamondbacks loss to the Giants, Kirk Gibson was pleased with the game overall. He cited three great plays including Gerardo Parra's diving catch in the ninth inning to prevent the go-ahead run; Stephen Drew's fantastic backhand grab and throw to first from deep short in the sixth; and Miguel Montero picking off a runner to end an inning in the seventh.
"As I sat there late in this game after we made those plays I said that I really wanted this team to feel the reward for the way they played. Unfortunately, we didn't but again like I said this is what we want to experience every day. This is what it's all about. I was very proud of them today. They did a heck of a job," Gibby said.
Notes
- The decision to take Ian Kennedy out and not let him pitch the ninth inning was mostly from the pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, Jr.
- Ian doubled to lead off the eighth inning and instead of following the 80 percent rule for pitchers effort running the bases, Kennedy said he went full speed on the tag-up that moved him over to third. He didn't have a problem with the decision to not let him start the ninth.
- It was an interesting decision in the first place to let Kennedy hit to lead off the eighth inning in a scoreless game with 91 pitches but his double (the only D-backs extra base hit of the game) made that decision seem brilliant.
- In the seventh inning, Montero got hit on the arm by a pitch. Gibby said he went and argued the call by the umpire which was that Miggy didn't make an effort to get out of the way of the pitch and therefore didn't award him the base.
- "If you're a hitter, you're trained to stay in there especially if you have two strikes on you. If you bail and it's a breaking ball then you're out. So you just train yourself to hold your ground," Gibby said.
- In fact, not only was that call questionable, the umpire (Bruce Dreckman) didn't award Montero a ball on the play which according to the rules he should have. It was a 2-2 pitch and he called neither a ball or a strike. The next pitch was a ball which made the count 3-2 but would have been ball four had Dreckman called the play correctly.
- Gibby said he made a mistake by not arguing that point and didn't realize until later.
- Fox Sports Arizona's Jack McGruder attempted to talk to Dreckman or the crew chief Gary Darling but both refused to comment.
- Gibby made a point to mention Mark Reynolds being "one tough SOB." He pinch hit in the 10th and struck out after getting a ball thrown in on his hands and then went out in the 11th and made a good defensive play.
- Reynolds had the day to rest his thumb. "I'm not sure you quite understand what his hand feels like," Gibby said.
- Gibby said he not only felt Enright was the best bunter he had available in the 10th inning after Parra walked to leadoff the inning but said he wanted Barry to have that experience of having to handle the bat in a crucial situation. Enright struck out.
- Aaron Heilman was the goat today, giving up the two game-winning runs in the 11th. He got the first two batters out then gave up two singles before hanging a change-up to Nate Schierholtz who pounded it for a triple.
- "I felt a lot better today. I felt like I made some really good pitches, a couple of them (hits) fell in and I left one pitch up and it hurt me," Heilman said. That's the game of baseball. One mistake can kill you but at the same time hitter don't hit mistake pitches all the time.
- Justin Upton said his shoulder is improving. He's trying to strengthen it and get the soreness out. He is frustrated and wants to be on the field but with the way the team is playing he wants to be 100 percent when he comes back.
- Ian Kennedy talked about the improved communication he has with his catcher, Miguel Montero. They are more able to discuss game plans before the game and Kennedy is comfortable making sure his point of view is heard. The results can't be argued with. Kennedy has pitched 23 solid innings over this last three started giving up just three earned runs over that stretch.
- Ian credited better command of his off-speed pitches and being more aggressive and willing to throw strikes and not be afraid of throwing to contact.
- Ian's thrown 173 innings this season which is approaching the 185 limit the team set for him this season. He's not been told anything about the limit recently and will keep pitching until they tell him not to.
- Kennedy said that he thinks the nets should extend all the way to the dugouts to protect fans from hard hit balls. In today's game a 13-year-old boy sitting about four rows up just outside the net was hit in the head by a bat from Buster Posey.
- The boy was taken off on a stretcher and went to Phoenix Children's Hospital. In this game there was also a 2-year-old girl in the upper deck that got hit in the head by a foul ball and also was taken to PCH. Be careful when you bring your kids to the game, folks.
Postgame audio: