Fallout from Arizona Diamondbacks’ 14-inning marathon win over Indians
Jun 26, 2014, 12:54 AM | Updated: 12:54 am
PHOENIX — The first domino to fall was batting practice. It was canceled, though the Arizona Diamondbacks did hold pregame infield work.
The second to tumble was infielder Jordan Pacheco. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis, opening up a roster spot to get a fresh arm in the bullpen, which was exhausted the night before due to the 5-hour, 32-minute game against Cleveland that tied for the longest game in Chase Field history.
That roster spot was filled by right-hander Zeke Spruill, who was recalled from Triple-A Reno on Wednesday.
“Actually (the move) does two things: It allows (Pacheco) not to have to press and continue to irritate his shoulder and we had a pretty long game last night, in case you guys forgot,” manager Kirk Gibson said with a grin. “So, we thought bringing Spruill in would help protect us from getting in a real bad situation tonight.”
Spruill begins his second stint with the Diamondbacks. In his only previous appearance this season, he started the second game of a doubleheader in New York against the Mets on May 25 and took the loss after allowing three earned runs over 5.1 innings.
Pacheco, meanwhile, has been dealing with a sore shoulder that’s prevented Gibson from using him other than as a pinch hitter. He’s made eight pinch-hit appearances, batting .375 (3-for-8) with a double and two runs scored, since being claimed off waivers from the Rockies on June 12.
The third domino to fall was the starting rotation. A slight tweak was made after Josh Collmenter was pressed into duty. He pitched and secured the win with a scoreless 14th inning Tuesday night.
Collmenter was scheduled to start Friday in San Diego. Instead, he’ll be given an extra day and pitch Saturday with Brandon McCarthy being moved up to throw the opener against the Padres.
As far as the events of Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, Gibson said he enjoyed every minute (all 332 of them) of action and roster strategy.
“Thought it was a fun game. It was a real testing game in that we started out so poorly. It’s one of the really good signs about this team is the way we regrouped and came back and didn’t lay down,” Gibson said. “It was good and challenging. It was a good test for us. It was a good sign that the outcome we hung in there and did what we did.”
