Pretty good day for the Arizona Diamondbacks and their fifth starter, Armando Galarraga. The last guy in the rotation took the ball and had some very good stuff going. His slider was devastating as he racked up five strikeouts in seven innings of four-run work. Galarraga did give up two homeruns but neither were particularly painful.
Offensively, Willie Bloomquist had another great game with two hits, an RBI and a steal. He's now hit safely in every game of the season and leads the majors with five steals. Stephen Drew might be ready to come back soon and take his job at short, but there's now way Gibson doesn't pencil in Bloomquist at third to keep that hot bat in the order. Right?
Chris Young was fantastic in center field. He made two great plays on balls coming in and grabbed one out of the still-dead ivy off the brick wall. Two hits, two runs, two RBI for CY.
The bullpen gave up one run in the eighth but closer J.J. Putz made mincemeat of the Cubs in the ninth. It sure is nice to see what a closer can do and boy is it comforting to have that guy waiting to put games to bed. 2 saves so far for Putz.
The D-backs return from their road trip with an acceptable 2-3 record. None of the losses were of the "stomach turning" variety and two road wins for this team is solid. The Snakes are off on Thursday and then hosts the Reds on Friday for the Home Opener.
Roger Clyne, the frontman for the independent rock group Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, will sing "The Star Spangled Banner" for the game.
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