SB Nation Arizona - Seriously, The Arizona Diamondbacks Are in First Place https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46593/arizona-fave.png2011-05-29T17:02:05-07:00http://arizona.sbnation.com/rss/stream/19558622011-05-29T17:02:05-07:002011-05-29T17:02:05-07:00Sizzling Diamondbacks Slither Into First Place In NL West
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<p>Who could have predicted this?</p>
<p>On May 29, the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> moved into first place in the NL West with their come-from-behind 4-2 win over the <a href="https://www.crawfishboxes.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Houston Astros</a> and the San Francisco GIants' 6-0 loss at Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Arizona (29-24) has a half-game lead over the slumping <a href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Giants</a> and is on its way home to Phoenix for a seven-game homestand starting Monday. The D-backs have won six in a row and and astonishing 14 of their last 16 games, surging from fourth place to the top of the division in the process. </p>
<p>It should be interesting to see how many folks show up at Chase Field tomorrow, if not to rejoice and pay tribute to this team.</p>
<p>On Sunday, the Diamondbacks had a chance for a big inning right away when Astros starter <span>J.A. Happ</span> walked the bases loaded with one out. But Happ recovered to strike out the next two hitters to retire the side.</p>
<p>Houston scored first on a balk called by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn in the fourth inning. That brought in <span>Jeff Keppinger</span> from third base, and brought manager Kirk Gibson out of the dugout. Reyburn was very quick to eject Gibson for arguing the call.</p>
<p>In the bottom of the fifth, Arizona's <span>Xavier Nady</span> made a fine diving catch, but Happ muscled up for a solo home run off D-backs starter <span>Josh Collmenter</span> for a 2-0 lead.</p>
<p>Arizona responded with a leadoff triple by <span>Justin Upton</span> in the sixth and Chris Young's sacrifice fly to make it 2-1. </p>
<p>The game's key inning was the top of the eighth. With two outs and <span>Ryan Roberts</span> on second, reliever <span>Jeff Fulchino</span> intentionally walked Houston native Chris Young. Xavier Nady made the Astros pay for the ploy, ripping a double to right field to drive in Roberts and a hustling Young, who beat the relay throw home.</p>
<p>Nady took second on the throw and scored on <span>Juan Miranda</span>'s single to give the D-backs a two-run lead.</p>
<p>Reliever <span>David Hernandez</span> put runners on second and third with two out in the Houston eighth but escaped the jam. <span>J.J. Putz</span> pitched the ninth for his 16th save, and Arizona celebrated another successful day.</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/29/2196436/sizzling-diamondbacks-slither-into-first-place-in-nl-westJose Romero2011-05-29T06:38:35-07:002011-05-29T06:38:35-07:00Zach Duke Explodes Into Rotation, Diamondbacks 11-3 Over Astros
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<p>It couldn't have been easy for <span>Zach Duke</span> to take the mound the very first time in a regular season game wearing the uniform of his new team. Duke broke his hand during spring training and has been sitting on the sidelines watching the gritty <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> put themselves within striking distance of first place in the NL West. </p>
<p>Duke gave us a glimpse of what his left arm can bring to a rotation that could desperately use another solid starter. He gave up just three hits and one walk in his seven scoreless inning debut. To make matters even more interesting, in the fourth inning with his team up 3-0 and two outs, Duke made the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.crawfishboxes.com/">Astros</a> pay for walking <span>Gerardo Parra</span> to get to him. With an 0-2 count, he hit a long fly ball to left field that didn't stop until it was over the fence.</p>
<p>From there, the D-backs were in cruise control with only <span>Zach Kroenke</span> giving up three runs in late mop up duty. We can't confirm that this is the first time in major league history that a game was pitched entirely by two "Zachs" but we want to believe that's the case.</p>
<p>The D-backs go for the sweep on Sunday with <span>Josh Collmenter</span> (3-1, 1.99) facing <span>J.A. Happ</span> (3-6, 4.99). The Snakes are just a half game out of first and can come home as the top team in the NL West with a win today and a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a> loss.</p>
<p>Game time on Sunday is 11:05 a.m. PT on Fox Sports Arizona with the live game thread at <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com" target="_blank">AZ Snake Pit</a>.</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/28/2195381/diamondbacks-11-astros-3-zach-duke-return-first-career-home-run">Diamondbacks 11, Astros 3: Duke Nukes 'Em Forever - AZ Snake Pit</a><br>All we really wanted was a nice start, something to show us that Duke could hold his own as a fifth starter. Saying he did that would be an understatement. Heck, even saying he did that and a little more would be understating Duke's performance today. His awesomeness knew no bounds; in fact, it even carried over to the plate</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/28/2195315/armando-galarraga-and-the-jewel-of-denial">Armando Galarraga and the Jewel of Denial - AZ Snake Pit</a><br>Well now. That's certainly a horse of a different color than the <span>Armando Galarraga</span> who was so calm and gracious after the blown call during his perfect game last June. Let's take a look at Galarraga's performance with the Diamondbacks, why Kevin Towers traded for him and why in the world we'd want to keep him after those statements. (Hint: we don't...)</p>
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https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/29/2195939/zach-duke-explodes-into-rotation-diamondbacks-11-3-over-astrosSeth Pollack2011-05-27T20:43:30-07:002011-05-27T20:43:30-07:00Juan Miranda Powers Comeback Over Astros, 7-6
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> were down early and looked very much out of this game. <span>Daniel Hudson</span> was shaky early as he gave up five runs in the first two innings but came back and at least gave his manager a couple more innings before needing to go to the bullpen. Offensively, young first baseman <span>Juan Miranda</span> got the fire started with a two-run dinger in the fifth and then incredibly did it again in the sixth.</p>
<p>In the seventh inning with the D-backs still down 6-4, <span>Willie Bloomquist</span>, <span>Ryan Roberts</span>, <span>Kelly Johnson</span>, and Chris Young all singled and in the end plated three runs and put Arizona up 7-6 which would be the final score in the game.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, as part of the parade of runs, Ryan Roberts charged into Astro's catcher <span>Humberto Quintero</span> who had slipped while trying to block the plate. In a play eerily similar the devastating injury suffered by <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a> catcher <span>Buster Posey</span>, Quintero was bent backwards and injured his ankle. Preliminary reports were a sprain but the final verdict isn't yet in. </p>
<p>For more on this wonderful D-backs win, visit <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com" target="_blank">AZ Snake Pit</a>.</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-diamondbacks/2011/5/27/2194340/arizona-diamondbacks-juan-miranda-comeback-houston-astrosSeth Pollack2011-05-27T10:11:38-07:002011-05-27T10:11:38-07:00Diamondbacks Put Hot Play Up Against Houston Astros
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<p>The NL West second place <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> take their hot play to Houston to face the 19-31 <a href="https://www.crawfishboxes.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Astros</a>. The D-backs have struggled at times against teams with poor records and especially on the road can be very shaky. As exciting as their current streak of 11-of-13 wins on the line in a three-game weekend series.</p>
<p>The D-backs will start things off with Dan Hudson who has seemingly solved his first inning struggles with an adjustments to his pregame routine. Huddy is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in his last five starts. He faces Astros' righty Bret Meyers (1-4, 5.00).</p>
<p><span>Zach Duke</span> will get his first start of the season. He broke his hand during spring training and will finally get to take the mound for the club after a couple of rehab starts in the minors. Duke will take on <span>Wandy Rodriguez</span><span style="line-height: 9px;"> (</span>3-3, 3.41) in Game 2. Game 3 will feature <span>Josh Collmenter</span> (3-1, 1.19) and <span>Bud Norris</span> (2-3, 3.77). It will be interesting to see how Collmenter bounces back from his first bad outing of the season in his last start.</p>
<p>The game starts Friday at 5:05 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/2011/5/27/2192774/series-preview-18-arizona-diamondbacks-vs-houston-astros">Series Preview #18: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Houston Astros - AZ Snake Pit</a><br>In a way, the Astros sort of resemble the D-Backs' weird, kinda cool cousin to the East. You know, the cousin who you go on a family vacation to visit once a year, realize "Hey, we actually have a lot in common, we should hang out more" before you leave and promptly forget about them for another year? The family resemblance between the Diamondbacks and Astros is uncanny. Both teams are from major Sunbelt cities with red uniforms and a stadium with a retractable roof.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/27/2192748/diamondbacks-farm-round-up-may-26th">Diamondbacks Farm Round-Up: May 26th - AZ Snake Pit</a></p>
<p>Just about every fifth day on the farm this year, we've treated to seeing the awesome prospect triumvirate of <span>Jarrod Parker</span>, <span>Tyler Skaggs</span>, and J.R. Bradley throwing on the same day. Clearly, this is some sort of sinister plot by the organization to kill precisely 1/5 of my social life by having me obsessively following minor-league Gameday and box scores for five hours (due to the time delay from Visalia to South Bend). </p>
<p> Snakelet of the Day: Tyler Skaggs (Hi-A): 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 11:1 K:BB, 1 HR, 7:2 GO:FO</p>
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https://arizona.sbnation.com/2011/5/27/2335748/diamondbacks-put-hot-play-up-against-houston-astrosSeth Pollack