Sedona Red Recap: Loss puts exclamation point on D-backs’ disappointing homestand
Aug 30, 2015, 6:20 PM | Updated: 6:21 pm
Oakland Athletics' Stephen Vogt reacts after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth inning during a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Perhaps a road trip would do the Arizona Diamondbacks some good right about now.
Seven days ago, the D-backs were returning home after completing a sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati. They were 62-61, playing good baseball and not all that far back of legitimate playoff consideration. With the way the Cardinals, Cubs and Pirates have stacked wins in the Central, a wild card spot may not have been the most realistic goal. But Arizona was well within striking distance of first in the NL West.
What a difference a week makes.
Chip Hale’s squad wrapped up a seven-game homestand with an 11-inning defeat at the hands of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, giving the Diamondbacks six losses in the last seven days. Suddenly, a playoff spot seems like a pretty outlandish thought.
Stephen Vogt did the damage again, going 3-for-6 with a homerun and two runs scored, as the A’s held off Arizona by a final of 7-4 in front of 29,576 fans at Chase Field. The D-backs managed 12 hits in the contest, but just couldn’t bring enough of those runners around to actually score – an issue that hampered them throughout this entire homestand.
On the bright side, Arizona begins a four-game series with the Rockies – a team they’ve already beaten eight times this season – on Monday.
THE GOOD
-Ender Inciarte remained red-hot, ripping a RBI single just over the outstretched glove of Eric Sogard and into right-center field to drive home the Diamondbacks’ first run of the game.
-He also had an impressive at-bat against Drew Pomeranz to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Three pitches from the Oakland lefty were up and inside on Inciarte, with the last one coming pretty close to his head. That prompted him to step out of the box and exchange some words with Pomeranz, forcing Hale to come out of the dugout to calm his player down. Inciarte then fouled off three straight pitches with a full count, before ripping a single back up the middle. He’d later come around to score the tying run with two outs.
-All things considered, Allen Webster was pretty effective for the D-backs. He allowed just one earned run over five innings, less than 24 hours after getting called up from Triple-A Reno.
THE BAD
-Webster seemed to have the Athletics retired in the third, before some Arizona miscues led to a pair of Oakland runs. With two outs, Mark Canha hit a chopper to third that Jake Lamb fielded cleanly before bouncing a throw to the right of Paul Goldschmidt. Billy Burns used his speed to score all the way from first and cut the D-backs’ lead to 2-1.
-Up next, Josh Reddick tripled over the head of Yasmany Tomas, who took a weird line towards the ball. In the end, he may not have been able to catch it even if he had gotten a better jump on it. Regardless, the A’s picked up their second unearned run of the inning.
STAT OF THE GAME
100: Number of walks issued to Goldschmidt this season, setting a new career high and tying Luis Gonzalez (2001) for the single-season club record. He now has 32 games left to try to break that record.
HE SAID IT
“It’s not fun when someone’s throwing at your head. If you can’t pitch inside, you shouldn’t throw it inside. That’s unacceptable in baseball. Hopefully we’ll get some new rules where, if that ball’s up around his head, he gets thrown out of the game automatically. But until then, we have to just focus on what he [Inciarte] can do to get on base. Just told him to relax, take it easy. But it’s no fun when a guy’s throwing the ball square at your melon. It’s not professional.” – Chip Hale
NOTED
-The D-backs are now 17-4 over the last 21 games in which they’ve homered.
-Silvino Bracho made his MLB debut in the ninth, becoming the 27th different pitcher Arizona has used this season. The franchise high is 28, set in 2010.
-Prior to the game, Addison Reed was dealt to the New York Mets for right-handed pitchers Matt Koch and Miller Diaz.
UP NEXT
The D-backs hit the road for a weeklong trip through Colorado and Chicago. They’ll start a four-game series with the Rockies in Coors Field on Monday, with Robbie Ray taking the mound. Colorado will counter with Chad Bettis. First pitch is slated for 5:40, with pregame coverage beginning at 5 on ESPN Phoenix 620.
Ray (3-10) was originally set to start Sunday’s game, but was given an extra day to rest after laboring through his last start on Aug. 25. That was arguably his worst outing of the year, as he surrendered six earned runs over just three innings against the Cardinals. He’s dropped his last six decisions though, to be fair, his overall record probably doesn’t indicate how well he’s actually pitched this season. His 3.86 ERA is second only to Patrick Corbin (3.78) among Arizona starters.
On the year, Ray is 1-0 against the Rockies, having tossed six innings while allowing just one run in a road victory back on May 6.
Bettis (6-4) has won his last two decisions, including a 5-1 victory in Atlanta on Aug. 25. In that game, he lasted five innings while yielding one run. Despite making just 14 appearances so far this season, his six wins are second only to Jorge De La Rosa (seven) among Colorado pitchers. Monday will mark the fourth time that Bettis has faced the D-backs in his career, but the first time he has ever gotten the start against them.
