D-backs’ Matt Peacock in debut records a 1st that’s nearly 76 years old
Apr 7, 2021, 8:53 AM
Two weeks short of 76 years ago, Marino Pieretti succeeded in doing what Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Matt Peacock achieved against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
Between them, nobody else had recorded a win and a hit while making their major league debut in extra innings. The Bally Sports Arizona broadcast laid down that fun fact as the D-backs wrapped up a 10-8 win over the Rockies at Coors Field.
“Uh, that’s cool and all,” Peacock said after the game. “I’m glad I got the hit. They didn’t let me hit in college.”
The game took 13 innings, and with that, we can discuss the differences in Peacock’s performance compared to that of Pieretti’s for the Washington Senators on April 19, 1945.
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While Pieretti had a single that went nowhere in his five at-bats way back when, Peacock recorded a bloop hit in the decisive 13th frame. The two-out, first-pitch single that followed a hit by catcher Stephen Vogt led to two runs scoring when center fielder Ketel Marte doubled, giving Arizona a 9-7 lead.
“The pitch before [Marte’s hit], Hammer [interim first-base coach Robby Hammock] told me, ‘Hey, base hit, you’re scoring,'” Peacock said.
“It’s like, golly, I haven’t run this much since preschool, so I Forrest Gump’d all around those bases. The helmet was a little big so I’m sure that’s pretty funny.”
As for the pitching comparisons between Peacock and Pieretti, there aren’t many, either.
Pieretti allowed 14 hits in his debut, but batters went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
For the D-backs on Tuesday, Peacock displayed his unique stuff well, battering the strike zone with low-90-mph sinkers (orange pitches in the chart to the right).
Peacock only threw 30 pitches over 3.0 innings.
He allowed a hit and a walk, plus two runs, both of which were unearned with the runners on second base scoring in the 12th and 13th frames.
And to cap the evening, the 27-year-old rookie called up from the taxi squad earlier Tuesday threw a sinker in the heart of the zone to Sam Hilliard, who found himself looking to end the game, giving the Diamondbacks their second win in five games to start the season.
