Diamondbacks’ week in review

A change is as good as a rest, they say. The D-backs had both over the All-Star break - even two of the three players they sent to San Francisco for the game didn’t see any action. And the team also fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzter, who was nominated as the cause of the club’s hitting failures, which have been all too obvious to anyone who’s been watching them of late. A scapegoat? Possibly. But we really couldn’t afford take the risk of waiting any longer to see what happened. And so, out went Scheitzer [sic.] and in came Rick Schu, who’d been as the team’s hitting co-ordinator in the minor leagues. He has history with a lot of our young players, though was also the hitting coach for the D-backs in 2004. We all remember how that ended…

Still, the results of the first two contests under his charge have been very satisfactory. The team won both, breaking a five-game losing streak, and went 9-for-19 with runners in scoring position, matching our clutch output for the entire last month before the All-Star break. Okay, maybe it only seems that way. But it was just the tonic the team needed to start the second half of the season and keeps Arizona in the division race, just 2.5 games back of the Dodgers, albeit in third place.

AZ 4, Reds 5 Arizona had a decent comeback thwarted: they scored three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game at four, until Tony Peña immediately gave the Reds back the lead, allowing three hits and a walk in two-third of an inning. Brandon Webb pitched seven innings, allowing only five hits and two walks, but both free passes came round to score, as the Reds built a 4-1 lead, after a second-inning double from Jeff Salazar had given Arizona the lead.

Eric Byrnes drove in all three runs in the eighth with his fourteenth homer of the year; he and Salazar were the only Arizona hitters to reach safely twice, each having a hit an a walk. As has happened with disturbing frequency this year, we took a mediocre opposing pitcher, and made them look terrific: the Reds’ Homer Bailey, with five previous starts and an 8.10 ERA, allowed only two hits in his five innings of work against the Diamondbacks.

AZ 3, Reds 4 Another late-inning loss for the D-backs, as we finished the first half of the season, not with a bang, instead whimpering our way to a fifth straight defeat. As in the previous game, we came back late to tie the game - the end result was the same, though it took Cincinnati eleven innings to prevail this time. Yusmeiro Petit allowed a homer to the first batter he faced, and another solo shot in the second, then only one other run in five innings, striking out a career-high eight batters.

Arizona struggled again, only scoring one run in eight innings from Harang, until three consecutive hits off closer Weathers with two outs in the ninth brought us level. The teams traded zeroes in the tenth, but a two-out single off Jose Valverde in the bottom of the eleventh gave the Reds their first sweep of any team in almost an entire year. Salazar, Augie Ojeda and Miguel Montero had two hits each for Arizona, though our K:BB ratio was a poor 10:2.

AZ 8, Padres 3 After the All-Star break, Arizona came back strong, continuing their apparent jinx on future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux - he’s 1-10 lifetime against the D-backs, and is now winless in ten career starts at Chase Field. We jumped on him for three runs in the first inning, and never trailed from there on. Though it was probably a closer and tenser game than the score suggests, at least until Arizona blew open a one-run game by scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh.

Doug Davis got the win, allowing two earned runs in six innings, but should certainly thank Salazar, who had three hits and made what’s certainly among the best plays seen in a Diamondbacks uniform (left). He leapt above and beyond the right-field wall to rob the Padres of a homer that would have brought them within one run. Byrnes also had three hits, while Orlando Hudson and new father Chad ‘the Dad’ Tracy added a pair each.

AZ 5, Padres 4 Arizona had to fight hard for this one, clawing their way back from a four-run deficit in the fifth. Indeed, Padres’ starter Young had kept them hitless to that point, until Tony Clark ended the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout with a solo homer. The Diamondbacks then scored three runs in the seventh against the much-touted San Diego bullpen, on five singles and a pair of sacrifice flies, to tie the game: an RBI single from Tracy gave Arizona the lead, which Valverde nailed down in the ninth.

Hernandez wasn’t at his sharpest, allowing three homers to the Padres, even if two of them were solo shots. He’s now third in the NL for four-baggers allowed this year. But his outing proved adequate enough to keep the team in the game, until they got past Young. Tony Clark, in a rare recent start, got three hits while Tracy got two hits for the second consecutive game. No walks for Arizona, and nine strikeouts, though Tracy deserves credit, seeing 25 pitches in his four at-bats.

News and Notes
Soaring: Jeff Salazar (6-for-12, play of the year); Chad Tracy (5-for-12); Doug Davis (6 IP, 2 ER); Brandon Lyon (3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER). Falling: Chris Young (2-for-12); Stephen Drew (4-for-17); Livan Hernandez (6 IP, 4 ER, 3 HR); Tony Peña (3.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER).

Injury Report: Though Randy Johnson is eligible to come off the DL this week, he looks unlikely to do so. This rehabilitation is being taken more slowly than his previous return, and so Petit will continue to occupy Johnson’s place in the rotation. Jeff DaVanon is looking close to a possible return, with his rehab stint due to run out on Monday. That could make things difficult for manager Melvin, with replacement Jeff Salazar batting .412 since being called up and, as shown above, providing great defense too.

The Week Ahead: Arizona finish off a series against the Padres today, then hit the road, taking on the NL Central. They face Milwaukee in four games, before moving on to face the surging Cubs next weekend. They may catch a break, however, as Brewers ace Ben Sheets injured his finger on Saturday, making his next start doubtful.

Hey, now, you’re an All-Star: Three D-backs went to the All-Star game - if you don’t count Eric Byrnes’ abortive kayaking in McCovey Cove. And believe me, I certainly don’t. However, only Hudson got to play, first striking out, then walki in the ninth to load the bases. Unlike a certain petulant first-baseman in St. Louis, however, neither of them appeared to mind very much, both reporting enthusiastically on the experience.

By the time I get to Tucson…: Carlos Quentin has started his rehab down in Tucson, and it didn’t take him long to get his hitting stroke back. He had three hits and three RBI in his first game, and is now 7-for-15, smacking his first homer yesterday. He might yet make it back up to Chase in time for Quentin Bobblehead night at the end of this month.

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