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.
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