The Arizona Diamondbacks exploded with a flurry of hits and finally nailed Shaun Marcum's night shut with a grand slam in the fifth inning off the bat of rookie first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The Brewers could only manage two hits and one run off the other rookie star, Josh Collmenter who flummoxed Milwaukee hitters for the third time this season.
Arizona put away the Brewers by an impressive 8-1 margin. With the win, the D-backs are now down 1-2 in the series with Game 4 scheduled for a 6:37 p.m. local time start on Wednesday.
"He was very composed tonight and threw strikes," Manager Kirk Gibson said about Collmenter. "He kept them off-balance and it's what we needed. He deserves a lot of credit for the way he threw and the way he was composed tonight."
Goldschmidt's five RBI is only the second time a D-back hitter has reached that mark and his grand slam was only the second in Arizona's postseason history. The Brewer's tempted fate by walking Miguel Montero to get to the young first baseman but Miggy already had two hits with runners in scoring position by that time giving Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke no good options.
"I've been in that situation plenty of times and failed more than I've succeeded," Goldschmidt said. "And luckily (Tuesday) was a good night to come through."
Collmenter went seven full innings, allowing just two hits, two walks and a solo home run to Corey Hart. He punched out six Brewers hitters and help Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder hitless. David Hernandez and J.J. Putz came in for the eighth and ninth inning and shut the door.
While Goldschmidt was the big hero, the D-backs were already up 3-1 before his opposite field blast. Willie Bloomquist had three hits and two runs and the team racked up 11 hits against Brewers pitching.
Go to AZ Snake Pit to talk to fans of the D-Backs, and go to Brew Crew Ball to talk to fans of the Brewers.
Just for fun, here's video of Paul Goldschmidt before Game 1 of the series: