As the Diamondbacks finish up their 2012 campaign, they hope to do so by ending it with a winning record. In order for the 80-80 club to do that, they needed to win their final two games against the visiting Colorado Rockies. With Patrick Corbin on the mound for Arizona, keeping some of the fast flying Rockies off base would be key.
Corbin managed to do just that. Through the first six innings, he only gave up five hits and a total of one earned run. A total of 72 pitches through that time showed that he was managing the game and keeping his pitch count down. If allowed, it seems that he could have gone for a complete game. He ended up going 7 innings, giving up 6 hits with an earned run and tallying up 6 strikeouts. He only gave up one walk, which was intentional in his 91 pitches.
Corbin's counterpart, Jhoulys Chacin, was even more effective from the mound. In 5 innings pitched for the Rockies, Chacin gave up just 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4 on 75 pitches. The Diamondbacks simply could not handle his stuff, but luckily for them, manager Jim Tracy always has his pitchers on a low count.
The game truly started in the second inning when Gerardo Parra made a critical error in center field. Bobbling the ball allowed DJ LeMahieu to go from first to third and then to home after Charlie Blackmon grounded out into a double play with no outs.
The Diamondbacks were getting hits on the board, but only had three hits through the fifth inning and had left four runners on base. In the bottom of the sixth, they had Aaron Hill and Justin Upton on first and second before Miguel Montero hit into a 6-4-3 double play. With Hill moving to third on the play, Paul Goldschmidt failed to plate him after flying out to second baseman Josh Rutledge.
Jason Kubel's leadoff double to begin the seventh was another good sign for the D-Backs and this time, it came with better results. John McDonald hit a two run homer, his sixth of the year, with Kubel on second base to give Arizona the lead, 2-1.
David Hernandez came on in relief after Corbin and immediately allowed runners to reach second and third with no outs. Jordan Pacheco's double down the left field line untied the game once again, making it 3-2 in favor of the Rockies.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the fate turned for Arizona. Aaron Hill drilled a three run walkoff home run to end the game with the D-Backs winning 5-3.