It took a late comeback, but Arizona won the series finale
Recaps
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks, Brandon Pfaadt salvage finale, avoid sweep vs. Mariners – With so many important players out, the Diamondbacks have no choice but to acknowledge the breadth and scope of their injuries, something they are trying to do without knocking their depth and without seeming content with mediocrity. But the reality is there is an element of survival at play at a time when they are without their veteran closer, their everyday shortstop and center fielder and three-fifths of their season-opening starting rotation. “That’s my goal: Yes, we need to keep the train on the tracks,” General Manager Mike Hazen said. “Which we should be plenty capable of doing. We have plenty talented players.”
[SI] Brandon Pfaadt Strikes Out 11 in Clutch Diamondbacks Victory – [Pfaadt] allowed a leadoff triple to Leo Rivas in his first major league at bat. A catcher’s interference error on Tucker Barnhart and a bloop single by Julio Rodriguez plated a run and gave the Mariners 1st and second with nobody out. Jorge Polanco hit a chopper to Eugenio Suarez and the throw to first was not in time. Suddenly the Mariners had the bases loaded with nobody out and looked about to blow the game open. A sinking liner by Ty France out to left was caught on a tremendous play by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. however and then Mitch Garver hit into a 5-4-3 double play. The Mariners would not get another man on base for the rest of the game.
[Arizona Sports] Pfaadt records career-high 11 strikeouts in win over Mariners – The Diamondbacks struggled to put up runs early against the Mariners on Sunday, but the bats came alive late to propel Arizona to a victory. The Diamondbacks trailed the Mariners 1-2 in the top of the seventh inning, but a pair of doubles from Joc Pederson and Eugenio Suarez tied the game up at 2-2. In the next inning, Jake McCarthy put down a sacrifice bunt to advance Kevin Newman to second base. Ketel Marte ripped an RBI double to the right field wall to score Newman and give the D-backs the 3-2 lead.
Team news
[SI] The D-backs Must Rely on Young Starters to Carry Them Through – As a group the D-backs young starters give up more hits and homers, and strike out fewer batters than the average young starter, but they are also walking a third less batters, resulting in a strong 3.6 SO/W ratio. This is a positive sign for the maturation of this group. Another positive sign is that the last three fill-in starts, two by Cecconi, and one by Tommy Henry have all been quality starts. Filling in for a late scratch Merrill Kelly, Cecconi went six innings giving up two runs in a win against the Giants on April 21st.
[Dbacks.com] 3 road trip takeaways as D-backs take happy flight home – Since leaving Phoenix on April 17, the D-backs have placed four pitchers — starters Merrill Kelly and Ryne Nelson along with relievers Kyle Nelson and Miguel Castro — on the injured list. “We had a lot of tough news that we’ve been dealing with since we started this road trip 11 days ago,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “And we’ve just taken it in stride. Yes, of course, there were some things we didn’t do well, we could have won some baseball games, but the bottom line was we fought to win our last game of the series and we’re heading home and we’re looking forward to that.”
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks head home to take on star-studded rivals in six-game homestand – Wednesday night against the Dodgers is Japanese Heritage Night and Friday is the final scheduled postgame fireworks show of the year. Because the Chase Field roof cannot be opened and closed with fans in attendance, fireworks shows are currently limited to temperate spring days, when the roof can be open all game. The highlight of the week from a fan perspective, though, is on Saturday. The Diamondbacks are having their second bobblehead giveaway of the year: A bobblehead commemorating Gabriel Moreno’s Gold Glove award from last season.
[PHNX Sports] Diamondbacks prospect report: Lin’s scary moment, Del Castillo surging, Jones scuffling – Del Castillo has also made strides defensively. His framing numbers have “significantly improved,” Diamondbacks farm director Shaun Larkin said. Next, the team would like to see Del Castillo make further strides in controlling the run game — opposing base stealers have gone 26-of-29 against him in just 11 games with him behind the dish — while also taking the next steps in his game calling and overall leadership on the field. Overall, it’s been an encouraging start for the 24-year-old.
And, elsewhere…
[ESPN] MLB to address uniforms after player complaints, per memo – Major League Baseball plans to address its uniform fiasco after changes this spring to the standard jerseys and pants led to widespread complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday night by ESPN… The union informed players of the coming changes in a letter that placed the blame on Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior performance but remains disliked by players. “This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
[CBS Sports] Rockies make miserable history thanks to first-inning runs by Astros – The Colorado Rockies made the wrong kind of history on Sunday afternoon, becoming the second team in Major League Baseball’s existence to trail in each of their first 28 games. The Rockies achieved that dubious honor early thanks to two first-inning runs from the Houston Astros… The 1910 St. Louis Browns were the other team to trail in each of their first 28 contests. They opened with a 5-21 record through those 28 games, notching several ties along the way. Those Browns finished the season with a 47-107-4 record.
Elsewhere, the Marlins now have the worst record in baseball, at 6-23. They’re on pace for 34 wins. Has a team previously gone from the postseason to worst the next year? Well, apart from the 1998 Marlins, anyway. And they were only 38 games worse than the previous season. The current squad would be 50 wins worse at current rate. Meanwhile, the White Sox swept the Rays to drop to #2 in Tankapalooza 2024, a game up on those Rockies. Of the six AL postseason teams last year, three have losing records and two are just one game above .500.