Diamondbacks’ week in review

This team continues to amaze. They looked down and out after dropping the first game of the Padres series last Monday, to drop out of the NL West lead for the first time since July. Facing the two pitchers with the lowest ERAs in the league, things looked tough. But Arizona beat both Chris Young and Jake Peavy, then rolled to three straight comeback wins over St. Louis. With three weeks to go, they’re three games clear of San Diego in their division.

AZ 2, Padres 10 The week started badly, the Padres leaping all over Micah Owings. They homered four times in the first three innings to chase our starter and pull away to a 5-0 lead. Arizona never got closer than four the rest of the way, and the only pitcher to escape unscathed was Jailen Peguero, who got the last out of the Padres’ ninth inning.

Meanwhile, Greg Maddux proved he still has it, in his 22nd season, pitching into the seventh inning and restricting the D-backs to only two runs. Eric Byrnes did swat his 20th homer, and was the only Arizona player to get two hits, as the team managed only six in total. Maddux also allowed no walks, and at time of writing has made eight consecutive starts without a free pass.

AZ 9, Padres 1 Just when things looked bleak, Arizona came back with their biggest margin of victory since May 25, pounding Padres starter Chris Young for the second time in less than a week. Tony Clark had a two-run homer in the first, and Eric Byrnes added a three-run shot in the third. Orlando Hudson also reached base safely all five times he was up, on three hits and two walks.

Meanwhile, Arizona got the start it needed from Doug Davis, who pitched seven innings, and gave up only one run, despite allowing six hits and walking five. He only really hit trouble once, loading the bases with nobody out in the Padres’ fifth. However, he bore down, and San Diego only scored once. Brandon Lyon and Tony Peña completed things, retiring the last six hitters in two perfect innings.

AZ 9, Padres 6 Things looked no easier the next day, as San Diego played their ace, Jake Peavy, on short rest. However, this game showed that two jacks will beat an ace: Conor Jackson homered in the first to give Arizona a 2-0 lead, and after San Diego had tied it, Miguel Montero went deep to reclaim the lead. That wasn’t it, however: the Padres came back, and led 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth.

But Arizona came back in this slugfest once more: an RBI triple by Hudson evened the score, and two walks later, Chris Young had arguably the biggest hit of the year, a three-run double. Livan Hernandez got the win, despite a five inning, five earned run performance, and the bullpen was solid, with only a solo homer, off Brandon Lyon, to spoil four good innings.

AZ 4, Cardinals 2 Having reclaimed the lead in the NL West, Arizona turned to their own ace to open the series against St. Louis. And, despite not having his best stuff, he prevailed, with six innings of two-run ball, in which he walked four and gave up four hits. He even helped out at the plate, reaching on an error which allowed Augie Ojeda to score all the way from first, with a gymnastic leap over the catcher to reach home-plate (left).

The D-backs struggled against Wainwright, and were 2-1 down in the sixth. However, an RBI double by Byrnes brought us level, and we got another gift later that inning, when the Cardinals’ second-baseman slipped going to the bag, so couldn’t turn a double-play. That allowed the go-ahead run to score, and our relievers added three scoreless innings, Jose Valverde getting his 43rd save.

AZ 9, Cardinals 8 One of the wildest games of the year, saw the Diamondbacks blow a three-run lead, and the Cardinals a four-run lead, with the home-team eventually squeaking out the win. This started well for Arizona, who scored three in the first inning on Jackson’s homer, but Micah Owings fell apart in the third, his own error helping the Cardinals to a seven-run outburst. This one looked over for Arizona.

On the other hand, never underestimate the D-backs. We chipped one away in the bottom of the third, then a Drew three-run homer tied the game again in the fourth: a Montero sac. fly and a Quentin RBI single completed a five-run inning. Micah Owings had another poor outing, failing to end the third, but the bullpen gave up one run in the remaining 6.1 innings. Byrnes had two hits and scored three times.

AZ 6, Cardinals 5 The Diamondbacks completed the sweep, once again coming from behind to take victory. As on Saturday, they got ahead early, with Chris Young’s 29th homer of the year giving them a 2-0 lead. But again, the Cardinals had a big third, scoring four times to take the lead, and kept it until the bottom of the seventh. There, another two-run homer, this one by Justin Upton, tied the game, and Clark added a two-run double.

Doug Davis was gone after four frames, leaving the bullpen, including new reliever Bob Wickman, to give Arizona four shutout innings and the chance to fight back. Valverde got the first two outs in the ninth, protecting a 6-4 lead, but then let the next five hitters reach, to make it 6-5 with the tying run at third. Luckily, he got the final out at the sixth attempt, for his 45th save, and the D-backs 32nd win by one run this season.

News and Notes
Soaring: Eric Byrnes (8-for-20, 5 RBI); Chris Young (6-for-21, 6 RBI); Brandon Webb (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER); Tony Peña (4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER). Falling: Stephen Drew (3-for-24, 6 K); Chris Snyder (2-for-12); Micah Owings (5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 HR, 7 ER); Bill Murphy (1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER).

Roster Report Orlando Hudson looks done for the season, as a sprained thumb is going to need surgery. Alberto ‘No Charges Filed’ Callaspo looks set to get the bulk of the starts down the stretch. Arizona added another arm to the bullpen in the shape of veteran reliever, Bob Wickman. He has 267 saves, but Valverde remains the closer, though on days like today (Jose having pitched three straight), Wickman might get a chance.

The Week Ahead Arizona travel to the Bay Area, taking on the Giants in a three-game series. They then get Thursday off, and come back down the Pacific coast to face the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine. A split of those six games would be adequate, and should keep us in control, as the chasing pack steadily run out of time.

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