SB Nation Arizona - Hudson Helps Diamondbacks To 6-1 Win Over Padreshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46593/arizona-fave.png2011-05-18T08:39:38-07:00http://arizona.sbnation.com/rss/stream/19377682011-05-18T08:39:38-07:002011-05-18T08:39:38-07:00Aramando Galarraga Done In AZ, Next Up Is...?
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<p>He's a fiery guy with a lot of heart but unfortunately, <span>Armando Galarraga</span>'s stuff just hasn't been getting it done this season. He's simply not been able to keep the ball in the park and when you mix in a high walk rate with a lot of home runs allowed you are not going to last very long, even on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> staff.</p>
<p>Galarraga was designated for assignment which means the team has 10 day to release him, trade him, or send him to the minors. It's hard to imagine another team wanting him right now despite his high-character and famous near-perfect game.</p>
<p>AZ Snake Pit breaks down Galarraga's break down in AZ:</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/18/2176956/armando-galarraga-designated-for-assignment-wanted-5th-starter">Armando Galarraga Designated For Assignment; Wanted: 5th Starter - AZ Snake Pit</a><br>Galarraga struggled mightily this year with Arizona. He got lucky in his first three starts, accumulating an ERA of 6.00 and allowing six home runs, yet winning all three games. His ERA only barely improved - it currently sits at 5.91 - as his home run and walk totals continued to climb. In only three of his eight starts did he go six innings or longer. He leaves Arizona with a 3-5 record, 5.91 ERA, and 13 home runs allowed.</p>
<p>He also leaves with a bitter taste in the media's mouths and probably the fans' as well. After his frustrating outing last night (5 IP, 8 R), <a href="http://www.foxsportsarizona.com/pages/video?PID=Rk7uDp5aXfXSxyiq6FS6lXoht2AAbiyQ" target="_blank">Galarraga had an outburst with a radio reporter that was caught on tape</a> and made the rounds on all the major sports networks. He said he wasn't worried about keeping his job. Well, perhaps he should have been?</p>
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<p>The Diamondbacks have until Saturday to find another starter. So far, GM Kevin Towers doesn't have an answer. Options include <span>Aaron Heilman</span> (in the pen), <span>Zach Duke</span> (if he's ready), <span>Barry Enright</span> (Reno), <span>Micah Owings</span> (Reno) or perhaps Towers has a surprise in store for us.</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/18/2177513/aramando-galarraga-arizona-diamondbacksSeth Pollack2011-05-17T21:39:27-07:002011-05-17T21:39:27-07:00Hudson Pitches Strong Again, D-backs Beat Pads 6-1
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<p>There are not likely to be any post-game pitcher meltdowns after this one. On Tuesday night, Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Daniel Hudson provided a nice contrast to Armando Galarraga's Monday night eight-run disaster. Hudson went seven innings against the San Diego Padres, allowing only one run, and nabbed his fourth win in five games after starting the year 0-4.</p>
<p>Keeping with an unusual trend for this year's Snakes, the bullpen was solid once again, though it was Aaron Heilman and Sam Demel doing the damage this time rather than usual suspects David Hernandez and J.J. Putz. Arizona's bullpen currently has a collective ERA of 2.83, good for sixth in the Majors and fourth in the National League.</p>
<p>After a handful of anemic offensive performances, the D-backs put a few more runs on the scoreboard this time, despite having no home runs. Arizona is third in the National League in team homers, so a win without one is an impressive feat that hopefully bodes well for future performances. The RBI madness was led by Miguel Montero and Gerardo Parra, who both had two hits and drive in two runs.</p>
<p>Hudson and Arizona broke San Diego's three-game winning streak. Pitcher Tim Stauffer gave up four runs in his five-and-a-third innings of work. The Padres sole run came two hitters into the game, with a sacrifice fly from Jason Bartlett that scored Chris Denorfia.</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/17/2176883/arizona-diamondbacks-vs-san-diego-padres-daniel-hudsonJustin Burning2011-05-17T13:41:08-07:002011-05-17T13:41:08-07:00Diamondbacks Hope To Stop Slide, Game 2 Vs. Padres
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<p>The <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> got off to a fairly impressive start to the season. The team was 8-8 on April 20th and had put together some impressive series wins over the Cincinnati Reds and the <a href="https://www.redreporter.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Cincinnati Reds</a>.</p>
<p>Then there was a slightly less impressive sweep by the <a href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Mets</a>, a split with the <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Cubs</a> and series wins over the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phillies</a> and <a href="https://www.purplerow.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Rockies</a>. 14-16 on May 5 before heading out on the California road trip and coming home in a not-so-nice place. After dropping Game 1 to the <a href="https://www.gaslampball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Padres</a> behind Armanda Galarraga's home run derby pitching, the team can now tie a season-worst seven games under .500.</p>
<p>It will be up to <span>Daniel Hudson</span> (3-5, 4.41 ERA) to restore the honor of the beleaguered pitching staff. He faces <span>Tim Stauffer</span> (0-1, 3.47 ERA) who's had his own issues recently. He gave up six runs to the <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Brewers</a> in his last start.</p>
<p>In other D-backs news, Kirk Gibson will be a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/17/2175788/kirk-gibson-to-coach-2011-nl-all-star-team">coach on the NL All-Star team</a> and our old friend Bob Melvin is<a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/17/2175739/bob-melvin-rejoins-diamondbacks"> rejoining the organization as a Special Baseball Advisor</a><a target="_blank" href="http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20110517&content_id=19181132&vkey=pr_ari&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari">.</a> Unlike the title implies, Melvin will not be advising the team on baseballs but will be working with the minor league coaching staffs and do some scouting.</p>
<p>Game 2 vs. the Padres starts at 6:40 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona with the live game thread on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com">AZ Snake Pit</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/17/2175178/the-diamondbacks-and-saves-a-blast-from-the-past" target="_blank">The Diamondbacks and Saves: A Blast From the Past - AZ Snake Pit</a><br>So I got bored again and started to think about how awesome <span>J.J. Putz</span> is. He's already a perfect 9/9 in save opportunities and, barring an injury, will probably be our first full-time closer in over three years. Thinking about that, I decided to investigate into just how well our "closers" have fared up to the leagues best throughout our franchise's history. Needless to say, we're very lucky to have J.J. Putz right now...</p>
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https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/17/2176077/diamondbacks-hope-to-stop-slide-game-2-vs-padresSeth Pollack2011-05-16T21:53:56-07:002011-05-16T21:53:56-07:00Mistakes Do In D-backs in Loss To Last-Place Padres
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<p>OK, maybe you weren't ready. But maybe, after a series win in Los Angeles and the scuffling, bottom-dwelling <a href="https://www.gaslampball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">San Diego Padres</a> in town for a quick two-game set, you were ready to start believing that Arizona can actually make a run at this NL West.</p>
<p>It's early enough where the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Diamondbacks</a> still can, but Monday's game might have given some wistful hopefuls a reality check: the D-backs still have the propensity to look ugly in a bad loss, as was the case in Monday's 8-4 loss.</p>
<p><span>Armando Galarraga</span> (3-4) got his pitches up in yet another inconsistent outing, but it was his defense that truly let the team and crowd down. The Diamondbacks made enough mistakes after two innings that made it so not even the last-place Padres could lose the game.</p>
<p>San Diego was up 1-0 in the first when a routine fly ball caused some sort of miscommunication between center fielder Chris Young and left fielder <span>Gerardo Parra</span>. Both went for the ball, which Young caught, but the stumble and delay in getting off a throw allowed San Diego's <span>Chase Headley</span> to score much easier than what should have been. It was Young's ball to catch -- Parra stepped in front to try for it. Young would have had a much better shot to throw out Headley at the plate with no interference.</p>
<p>In the second, fielding errors by second baseman <span>Ryan Roberts</span> and shortstop <span>Stephen Drew</span> led to <span>Jason Bartlett</span>'s two-run double, and on a single by the next hitter, Headley, Young overthrew the cutoff man to allow Headley to take second. </p>
<p>After an inning and a half, it was 5-0 Padres, and the Diamondbacks couldn't come back.</p>
<p><span>Henry Blanco</span> did his best to try, giving the D-backs some offense with a pair of solo home runs off Padres starter <span>Clayton Richard</span>. It was Blanco's fourth career two-home run game. <span>Melvin Mora</span> drove in a run with a single in the fifth.</p>
<p><span>Justin Upton</span> hit a solo home run in the eight, another majestic drive to left field. </p>
<p>The Diamondbacks, 10-10 at home, failed to pick up a game on first-place San Francisco, which lost to Colorado Monday. Now Arizona is last in the NL West at 17-23 while San Diego moved ahead at 18-23.</p>
<p>Galarraga has to be a concern for manager Kirk Gibson and company. After winning his first three starts of the season, he's taken the loss in four of his last five including Monday. Galarraga was shelled for eight runs (five earned) on eight hits in five innings and gave up a two-run home run to <span>Ryan Ludwick</span> on an 0-2 pitch in the fifth. That's 13 homers Galarraga has given up in eight starts, the most in the majors.</p>
<p>"He didn't pitch very well at all. Didn't set a real good tone for us," Gibson said of Galarraga. "We didn't play well at all. Two errors in an inning, a couple of mental errors. We'll have to talk about that some more."</p>
<p>Two things of interest that happened: <span>Juan Miranda</span> was hit with a pitch in the fifth, and reliever <span>Sam Demel</span> plunked <span>Kyle Phillips</span> in the eighth in the leg. Coincidental? Maybe, but the Padres got the last beaning with <span>Ernesto Frieri</span> hitting <span>Xavier Nady</span> in the back with a pitch in the eighth. Also, <span>Chad Qualls</span> was used in relief for the Padres and got a few boos from the crowd. It was Qualls who struggled so mightily as Diamondbacks' closer early last season and who will be remembered by some, well, me, for his Rage Against The Machine intro song. </p>
<p>Alas, Qualls retired all four batters he faced. </p>
<p>Some good news for Arizona: <span>Willie Bloomquist</span>, who got off to such a good start at the plate this season before going down with a hamstring injury, could play in an extended spring game Tuesday after taking ground balls Monday. He seems to be only a few days at the most from returning. </p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/16/2174692/mistakes-do-in-d-backs-in-loss-to-last-place-padresJose Romero2011-05-16T10:48:29-07:002011-05-16T10:48:29-07:00Diamondbacks Return Home Where Baseball Is Easier, Two Game Padres Series
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<p>The <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> are a pretty good baseball team when they play baseball in Arizona. By "pretty good", we mean 10-9, one game over .500. On the road, like the 2010 team, the record is a miserable 7-13. We'll see if that continues as the Snakes open a seven game home stand starting with two against the <a href="https://www.gaslampball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">San Diego Padres</a>.</p>
<p><span>Armando Galarraga</span> (3-3, 5.50 ERA) gets things going with Monday's game against <span>Clayton Richard</span> (1-4, 4.79 ERA). Looks like a real <strike>pitcher's</strike> long ball duel on tap for Chase Field.</p>
<p>On Tuesday the up-and-down <span>Daniel Hudson</span> (3-5, 4.41 ERA) goes against the up-and-down <span>Tim Stauffer</span> (0-1, 3.47 ERA). Hopefully, Hudson is up and the D-backs bats set Stauffer down.</p>
<p>Monday's game starts at 6:40 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona with the live game thread at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com">AZ Snake Pit</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/16/2173163/series-preview-14-arizona-diamondbacks-vs-san-diego-padres#storyjump" target="_blank">Series Preview #14: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres - AZ Snake Pit</a><br>After a week and a half of watching fly-balls die on the warning track of sea-level baseball parks, our beloved Diamondbacks return to their dry, 1,117-feet-above-sea-level home to host the San Diego Padres. Hopefully, a return to the Mountain Time Zone means a return to the Diamondbacks' offensive ways of the past. </p>
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https://arizona.sbnation.com/2011/5/16/2335233/diamondbacks-return-home-where-baseball-is-easier-two-game-padresSeth Pollack