Touch ‘Em All: Another split in Denver

Progress…

The Diamondbacks, for about 14 innings in this series,
played atrociously. They looked like they were going to be
swept by the Rockies.

And then, they showed a resiliency that I haven’t seen in
quite some time. They battled back from a 4-1 deficit
Thursday and hung on for a wild 9-7 win.

Even when David Hernandez had a terrible eighth inning,
the D-backs responded again, as Justin Upton hit a CLUTCH
two-run home run to the opposite field. Followed by J.J.
Putz coming about as close to a blown save as possible,
but eventually grabbing his 7th of the season.

Where has that team been all season?

I have no idea, but I have to say, I’d be nice to see them
stick around for a couple of days.

What I am wondering is if and when the struggles of the
lineup come back and continue to drag on, and the pitching
staff continues to have issues. When will all of it catch
up to Don Baylor and Charles Nagy, the hitting and
pitching coaches.

The offensive struggles of another team with high
expectations, the Angels, resulted in the firing of Mickey
Hatcher, their hitting coach of 13 years on Tuesday. The
similarities between the two situations are very numerous.
In Anaheim the lineup as a whole is struggling, and their
star (Albert Pujols), the man who is supposed to be
carrying the team, is struggling the most. The same
situation is underway in Arizona, but switch Justin Upton
and Albert Pujols.

One thing is for sure, the Diamondbacks cannot remain
stagnant; something has to be changed, and soon. If the
Diamondbacks fail to win a majority of their next six
games, three of which are against the division-leading
Dodgers, the season might be lost.

Series Report Card

Record: C
The D-backs were on the brink of being swept, but some
nice effort and a good amount of timely hitting gave the
team some life and allowed them to make the comeback on
Thursday.

Offense: C-
The Diamondbacks’ offense was shut down, again. However,
this time it was not by Clayton Kershaw, it was by 49-
year-old Jamie Moyer. More times than I could count on my
hands, the D-backs were swinging at pitches they had NO
business swinging at: fastballs in the dirt, sliders
several feet outside the zone, etc. You name a way to
strikeout; the Diamondbacks have checked it off this
season. The good news? The team looked good for a stretch
of Thursday’s game, in which a string of timely hitting
got them the win. Also, Stephen Drew played well in his
extended spring training game, and Chris Young should be
rejoining the team in Kansas City. At this point, any shot
in the arm will be an improvement.

Defense: B
The defense is the most consistent aspect of the team.
However, Ryan Roberts’ error in the eighth inning almost
cost the Diamondbacks the game on Thursday.

Pitching: D
Patrick Corbin is young, so I can’t get on his case too
much, as he’s trying to get adjusted to the majors.
However, the Diamondbacks traded big time prospect Jarrod
Parker to the Athletics to get Trevor Cahill. Cahill has
not performed anywhere close to expectations. Instead, he
has fit in with the rest of the average pitchers the
Diamondbacks have on their roster. And can someone please
tell me what is wrong with J.J. Putz?

Managing: A-
Kirk Gibson may very well need to pick up a bat in the
next few days. I don’t think there’s a whole lot more he
can do at this point. The players just have to start
hitting, and pitching for that matter.

Series Awards

Play of the Series:
The play of the series was Justin Upton’s two-run home run
in the top of the 9th on Thursday. J-Up’s fourth long ball
of the season gave to D-backs the much-needed win.

Player of the Series:
The player of this series was Ryan Roberts, he went 4-9
with two RBI in the series. Although those don’t see like
great numbers, they are way better than Tatman had in the
beginning of the year.

The UnBeelievable Award:
The swarm of bees that were in the first base camera well
during Thursday’s game gets this one-time (hopefully)
award. I would say I’ve never seen anything like that
before, but I did at Salt River Fields in spring training.

Best Moment of the Series:
The best moment of this series was seeing the Diamondbacks
fan in left field, who caught Jordan Pacheco’s solo home
run in the fifth, throw the ball back. However, there was
a down side to his action, it caused him to get thrown out
of the stadium. Nevertheless, kudos to you sir.

The Road Ahead:
The Diamondbacks continue their road trip with some
interleague play in Kansas City. The series against the
Royals is huge, because immediately following that series,
the D-backs have a three-game set with the division-
leading Dodgers at home. So they will need all the wins
they can get over the weekend.

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