Grit Index: D-backs swept by Dodgers
Jul 11, 2013, 7:58 AM | Updated: 2:41 pm
The Diamondbacks suffered a series sweep at the hands of the Dodgers after Wednesday night’s marathon 14-inning game at Chase Field. It may have been the worst loss of the three against Los Angeles because Arizona was one out from walking away with a victory.
Once again, blown saves are the focus as Heath Bell came in to pitch the ninth and allowed one earned run on two hits in one inning of work with a strikeout and two walks. It’s the 19th blown save for Arizona’s bullpen this season and they lead the Major Leagues in that category. Bell, David Hernandez and J.J. Putz each have five blown saves, tied for second in baseball.
As for starter Tyler Skaggs, he wasn’t nearly as sharp as his previous outing against the Rockies, but that was a tough one to beat. On Wednesday, he gave up eight hits, three earned runs, walked three and struck out three in 4.1 innings.
A slightly bright spot for the D-backs came in the form of the offense. They’ve struggled the previous two games against L.A. but on Wednesday they got to Hyun-Jin Ryu early with a solo shot from Aaron Hill in the first. They tacked on another run in the third before adding three more in the fifth. The D-backs recorded a total of nine hits in 14 innings, the most they had in any game in the series. Aside from nine hits, the D-backs were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight stranded on base.
The Good:
The D-backs continue their streak of consecutive games with an extra-base hit. They’ve now gone 75 games, that’s tied for the fifth-longest streak in team history.
Paul Goldschmidt currently has a seven-game hitting streak and has recorded 14 RBIs in 12 games against the Dodgers this season.
Aaron Hill recorded his first home run at Chase Field since October 2, 2012 against the Rockies.
Reliever Will Harris has not allowed a run in 12 of his last 13 appearances.
Reliever Josh Collmenter is the first National League reliever with four appearances of at least four innings in a single season since 2006.
The Bad:
The Diamondbacks were limited to just two hits in their final 28 at-bats on Wednesday. It was Arizona’s 24th loss after leading the game.
The Ugly:
The 19 blown saves by the D-backs bullpen is the most in Major League Baseball.
If the D-backs had converted eight of those 19 blown saves, they’d be leading the NL West by 10 games.
Noted:
• 14 extra inning games are the most the team has played since they had 15 extra innings contests in 2009.
• The last time the D-backs were swept at home this season was April 20-May 1 by the San Francisco Giants.
He Said It:
“Our bullpen just threw 9.2 innings so right now my focus is on [Thursday]’s game and how do I get through that and do I have enough arms to do so,” D-backs’ manager Kirk Gibson said. “We have to be much better to continue to stay in the race than we have in the first half. I mean that’s record setting and we try and put guys in situations and it hasn’t worked. So we’ll certainly look at different options.”
Up Next:
The Diamondbacks start a four-game series with Ryan Braun and the Brewers on Thursday at Chase Field. Lefty Wade Miley will be on the mound for Arizona. He’s 1-0 with a 0.66 ERA in his last two starts. He earned a win in his last start against the Rockies on July 6th, allowing just one earned run in eight innings of work. Against Milwaukee, he’s 2-1 with a 6.89 ERA in three career starts. Righty Yovani Gallardo will be on the mound for the Brewers. He’s 7-8 on the season with a 4.85 ERA. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. and can be heard on Arizona Sports 620.
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