Something, something baseball
Record: 38-47. Pace: 72-90. Change on 2021: +15.
Last week’s recap was a fun affair: up in the pines, with friends and with craft cocktails.
This week is a more sobering recap, for as I type this my grandfather has reached the endgame of his epic life.
So raise a glass to the legend I lovingly called Pops.
Inning 1:
- Seems like clock work when it comes to the dependability of the Rockies hitting a homer off of any of our pitchers, and Kris Bryant does just that off of MadBum in the first to make for an early Rockies lead.
- Lucky for us the D-backs got on their hitting pants today as they start off the bottom of the frame with a CKelly double, Rojas single and a KMarte walk to juice the bases for CWalk. We were all hoping for a dramatic homer, but I’ll take the sac fly to tie things up followed by a Luplow and Kennedy singles to make this a 3-1 D-backs lead.
Inning 2:
- MadBum cruises in the 2nd with a 1-2-3 with a comfortable 12 pitch outing. He’s still not earning his massive contract, but MadBum’s growing on me this year.
- No further fireworks for our bats in the 2nd, so we soldier on in to the 3rd still up 3-1.
Inning 3:
- Connor Joe’s 1out double followed by Blackmon’s 2 out single cuts our lead to 1. Still, MadBum sounds great (Bally Sports app not cooperating today) or at least better than the 2020 or 2021 version of him. That’s the kind of multi million dollar pitcher I can get behind. 3-2 D-backs going in to the bottom of the 3rd.
- Whelp, that’s now two innings in a row where either Freeland has figured us out or our batters just decided to take a break. Bad news either way for us, but I have faith and good ale. Both shall carry the day. 3-2 D-backs going in to the 4th.
Inning 4:
- Chill inning for our MadBum here in the 4th as our young hero Alek Thomas makes the final out in center. I really do feel like we’re witnessing the dawn of some truly special Dbacks, and Thomas is one of those.
- Once more our batters take a break. Come on guys! I’m bored and grieving, some kind of action would be very nice at this time. Thanks.
Inning 5:
- A lead off double looks like trouble for MadBum here in the 5th, but the Rocks can’t capitalize as we go in to the bottom of the frame.
- Bleh…another 1-2-3 inning for the D-backs. Still holding on to a lead, but it feels like we should be padding that lead.
Inning 6:
- That’s 6 very solid innings of pitching for MadBum folks. Good to see, but frustrating to see how such efforts have been relatively unsupported by our bats.
- FINALLY! RUNS! Luplow’s 2 out homer gives me hope we might actually pull this one out. Hell yea! 4-2 D-backs.
Inning 7:
- Wow. SEVEN very solid MadBum innings. That’s my kind of party. 1-2-3 go the Rockies being struck out in order as well. Cheers!
- Alek and Perdomo are aboard, which forces the Rockies hand to end Freeland’s day, which allows Rojas to crush a clutch double off Estevez to bring them both home and add some much needed padding to this game. Let’s go! 6-2 D-backs!
Inning 8:
- Noe Ramirez is now up on the mound in place of the heroic MadBum. He doesn’t exactly instill confidence as he throws a leadoff walk, but he cruises through the next 3 Rockies and thus we’re off to the bottom of the 8th still very much in charge.
- Another productive D-back inning with Perdomo driving in 2runs to make this game a bit of a laugher: 8-2 Dbacks. Make that 9-2 with a Rojas ground rule double; nice.
Inning 9:
- LoL Rockies. Caleb Smith comes in to close this one out and we got ourselves a very positive W. Have a fun night all, and don’t forget to raise a glass to Pops.
Bells and whistles, by Jim
Click for details at Fangraphs.com
Tarzan: Madison Bumgarner, +24.5%
Jane: Luplow, +17.2%; Rojas, +13.6%
Colonel Von Reichart: Christian Walker, -4.5%
Comment of the Thread to Jack, for his accurate depiction of Arizona’s struggles today:
The win pushes the D-backs back above the Rockies in the battle for the basement of the NL West. The finale of this series is tomorrow at Chase Field, with a 1:10 pm first pitch. Tyler Gilbert will be getting the start in that one!