Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3: ‘A' Bullpen Sighting!
Game Summary
This was an odd night in the Rocky Mountains. The runs were flowing generously all around in the first third of the game, in other words, perfectly normal. Then, the faucet was somehow turned off and never really came back on again.
Advertisement
The Diamondbacks offense got started against Carson Palmquist, the young Rockies starter who has been overmatched so far this year, by loading the bases with no one out in the first. The Snakes would only get one run out of that. Then in the second, they manufactured a second run when Tawa, who stole second base, came home on a ground rule double by Ketel Marte. The third inning? A third run was scored, of course, this time via home run number 301 for Geno. After that inning, the steady strikes of the offense dried up save for a Domo dinger in fifth which accounted for the winning runs of the ballgame. The Snakes were able to get runners on, sure, but they just couldn't get a big knock to give the team some breathing room for when the bullpen would inevitably have to come in and trade outs for hopefully as few runs as possible.
On the pitching side, Merrill started the game off just as wobbly as his counterpart, matching him 3-3 in runs allowed after the first 3 innings. Merrill was able to right the ship, though, and had his pitch count at 86 when it came time for him to step back out on the mound in the 7th inning. The GDT spidey-senses were tingling with his return to the mound in the 7th, and not without reason. Coming into tonight, Merrill has logged 3.1 innings pitched in 7th innings this year and he owns a 13.50 ERA in them! This 7th inning appeared to be going the same direction as those others when he let the first two Rockies reach and he was pulled in favor of Ryan Thompson. With that bit of news, I was more than prepared to be writing an obituary for tonight's recap, with time of death clocking in around the bottom of the 7th. I was pleasantly surprised then when Ryan Thompson recorded this first out with a stupendous pickoff move to second base! Now with only 2 outs to get and no runner in scoring position, Thompson set to work retiring the only 2 batters he needed to face to get out of the 7th inning and preserve our 2-run lead (and lower Merrill's 7th inning ERA, to boot). Jalen Beeks only needed 7 pitches for his 3 outs in the 8th and Shelby Miller struck out the side in absolutely dominant fashion after the first hitter reached second on an infield single and throwing error by Ildemaro Vargas.
Coors Field doesn't seem to be the place you'd expect to go for your bullpen to turn things around, but this is now two straight nights of excellent relief pitching at the hitter's haven in Denver. Hopefully, this is the start of a trend!
Thanks again to Dano for being willing to swap recap nights with me!
Win Probability and Box Score
Courtesy FanGraphs
Outside the Box Score
Geraldo Perdomo followed up Ketel's missile-like leadoff double with a rogue bunt that luckily resulted in no outs. He popped the bunt straight up, but by some miracle it landed just outside the glove webbing of the charging pitcher and stopped dead in the grass like an approach shot at the US Open. Better to be lucky than good in this case, Domo!
The Snakes first inning at bat left a bit to be desired. They did score a run, but after the first three hitters reached base, loading the bases for Mr. 300, I was expecting a bit more than a single run in that inning. Sac Fly, shallow fly out and ground out to third got the Rockies out of the inning with minimal damage.
Merrill Kelly only let the first two Colorado batters reach in the first before retiring the next 3 in a row, besting his Colorado counterpart, but Kelly's 2 hurt twice as bad Colorado's opening 3, as both runners came home to score on a bomb to the left field seats. Merrill needed 23 pitches to retire the side.
Tim Tawa had a big stolen base in the second inning that led to him scoring the tying run. With 1 out, he easily stole second. After Aramis Garcia struck out, Ketel launched another missile to the warning track, this time in left center instead of straight away center, and it one-hopped the wall for a ground rule double. If Tawa hadn't stole second, he would have been stuck at third.
Merrill came out for the bottom of the third with a 3-2 lead and that lead vanished on a trio of batted balls that touched infielder's gloves. First, a bunt to the third base side by the Rockies 9-hole hitter resulted in a runner on base after Merrill got to the ball in good shape but dropped it during the transfer. Then, Kelly gave up a rocket lined up the middle that Ketel deflected on it's way to center field, giving the runner the opportunity to advance all the way to third. With runners on the corners, Kelley got a groundball double play, but the runner from third was able to score and tie the game.
Big and not-so-fast Michael Toglia stole second easily off our new backstop, Aramis Garcia, for the Rockies second stolen base of the night with one out in the fourth. He then moved to third on a weak ground out to second, and the only thing that kept him from scoring was a sparkling play at third by Ildemaro Vargas where he charged in to the grass on a slow bouncer and rifled a strike to first while still hunched over and running. Superb play!
Advertisement
Ketel Marte got his third double of the night on a blooper to short left that I can't even say was no man's land. The third baseman never could find the ball in the air so he dropped away, but both the shortstop and left fielder could have made the play but the shortstop unexpectedly gave way to the outfielder and the outfielder couldn't recover in time to make the catch. That mental error turned Geraldo's following blast into the right field bleachers into a 2-run homer instead of a solo shot!
Tim Tawa got the first hit of the night for anyone in the bottom 5 of the lineup tonight during the 6th inning where he hit a sharp grounder to the hole between short and third. The shortstop made an excellent play to field it and then throw a dart to first, but Tawa was too quick up the line and he beat it out.
After a long first inning, Merrill settled down nicely and only needed 63 pitches to complete the next 5 innings, an average of 12.6 pitches per inning.
Ryan Thompson was called in to clean up Merrill's mess in the 7th inning, coming on with runners at first and second and nobody out. The batter squared around to bunt and Ryan made his outrageous pickoff move to second (if there's a better pickoff move to second base I'd love to see it) and caught the runner napping. Now, with only 2 outs to get and no runners in scoring position, Thompson was able to make the requisite outs without a run scoring. A rare bullpen shutdown!
Alek Thomas came on to pinch hit in the 8th for Randal Grichuk as a defensive/platoon replacement. He reached on a Fielder's Choice to first base, but he made up for it somewhat by making an excellent base running play to get himself to third with less than two outs on a single to left-center field by Vargas. For a guy who has as much speed and base running ability as Alek, I'm always surprised he doesn't steal more bases. Unfortunately, that smart base running went for naught as Pavin and Tawa both struck out to end the inning.
On a nearly identical play to his spectacular play earlier, Ildemaro Vargas had a chance to get a quick leadoff out for Shelby Miller in the ninth. A slow bouncer to the edge of the infield grass had Vargas charging and fielding and throwing all in one motion, but instead of a dart to first, he threw low and wide away from Pavin with the ball caroming up the baseline and allowing the leadoff man to reach second base.
Player of the Game
It would seem sacrilegious to not award Ketel Marte with the POTG after reaching 5 times and recording 3 doubles, but he actually didn't lead the team in Win Probability tonight. That honor belonged to Ryan Thompson who came in to a bit of a mess and was superb in cleaning it up. Everyone in the GDT, and probably everyone in the Diamondbacks dugout, was prepared for at least 1 run to score that inning, and very likely thought it would be worse than that. Thompson has lowered the bar for expectations with his blowups earlier this year, but this game should serve as a reminder that over the past month, he's posted a 0.90 ERA and a 1.77 FIP, both top marks in the bullpen over that span. He's had some ill-timed inherited runner's score, but he's also posted a strand rate of 82% in the past month, also the top mark in the bullpen during that time.
Comment of the Game
Another solid night in the GDT with a total of 292 comments at time of publishing. Plenty of Sedona red to choose from, but this one from The-Icon encapsulates the feelings of the entire fanbase, I'm sure:
Coming Up
The Diamondbacks face the Rockies in the final game of this mile-high series tomorrow at 12:10pm Arizona time. Brandon Pfaadt gets the ball for the good guys tomorrow and he'll be opposed by right-hander Antonio Senzatela who is 2-10 and has a 6.72 ERA. Sweep?
Advertisement
More from azsnakepit.com:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NBA Finals Game 7 history: Looking back at the last seven Game 7s
OKLAHOMA CITY — Sunday night we will witness the 20th Game 7 in NBA Finals history — one game with everything on the line. "One game. I mean, this is what it's all about," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "This is what you dream about growing up, this kind of opportunity." Advertisement It's a stage where the biggest, most legendary names in the game — as well as some role players with impeccable timing — have etched their name in NBA lore. "When I think of Game 7, at least in the Finals, I think of San Antonio and Miami, and I think of Lakers/Celtics," Alex Caruso said. On Sunday, people will be thinking of Pacers vs. Thunder. Either Indiana or Oklahoma City will win its first NBA championship (we're not counting the title the former Thunder won as the SuperSonics in Seattle, they will have an expansion team in that city that can count that title soon enough). In honor of Game 7, let's look back at the last seven Game 7s of the NBA Finals. 2016: Cavaliers at Warriors This is the Game 7 that sticks in many people's minds. Advertisement "I think that's probably one of the greatest games I've ever been able to watch as a basketball fan," Tyrese Haliburton said. "That's what makes Game 7 so fun." "2016, that was the Kyrie step back on the wing," the Pacers' Obi Toppin said when asked about his favorite Game 7 memory. "Yeah, that was probably the coldest one, for sure." We can only hope Sunday's Game 7 lives up to the drama of the last NBA Finals Game 7, when LeBron James put up a line of 27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocks — although we only remember one of them. LeBron's effort helped Cleveland cap a 3-1 series comeback and beat Golden State on its home court. Don't forget about Kevin Love's defense on Stephen Curry late in that game, either. 2013: Spurs at Heat This NBA Finals is remembered more for Game 6, when Ray Allen's corner 3 off a Chris Bosh offensive rebound forced a Game 7 just as it looked like San Antonio would be celebrating a title. After that, the Heat still had work to do. In Game 7, LeBron took charge with 37 points and 12 rebounds, while Dwyane Wade added 23 points and 10 rebounds in the 95-88 Miami win. 2010: Celtics vs. Lakers The Lakers had come from 3-2 down in the series to force a Game 7 (and don't ask Celtics fans "what if Kendrick Perkins had been healthy?"). Like a lot of Game 7s, this one wasn't pretty. Kobe Bryant stepped up with 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Pau Gasol added 19 points and 18 boards. However, with the Lakers up by just 3 and more than a minute left in the game, it was Ron Artest's 3-pointer that proved to be the biggest shot of the night, leading to the greatest postgame podium session in NBA history. 2005: Pistons at Spurs This was the peak defense NBA Finals — only one team broke 100 all series long — and San Antonio won Game 7 in an 81-74 slugfest. Tim Duncan did his thing with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but it was Manu Ginobili scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter that locked the title up for the Spurs. 1994: Knicks at Rockets New York had a 3-2 series lead, but under the old 3-2-3 format, had to go to Houston and seal the deal. Hakeem Olajuwon proved to be too much. In Game 7 he had 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. This was the first of back-to-back Rockets titles. 1988: Pistons at Lakers "Big Game" James Worthy lived up to that reputation in this one with a triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. Magic Johnson also stood out with 19 points and 14 assists to help the Lakers come back from a 3-2 deficit in the series and win. 1984: Lakers at Celtics Of course this classic 1980s Finals Game 7 featured a big game from Larry Bird — 20 points, 12 rebounds — but this game is remembered as the Cedric Maxwell game: 24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. The Celtics got to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy that year.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tom Thibodeau's ‘challenge' message to Knicks after tough Pacers ECF loss
The post Tom Thibodeau's 'challenge' message to Knicks after tough Pacers ECF loss appeared first on ClutchPoints. Once again, the New York Knicks have fallen in the NBA Playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. Only this time, losing a series to the Pacers stings more since the Knicks were on the doorstep of winning the Eastern Conference Finals and heading to the NBA Finals. Advertisement As the offseason begins earlier than New York had hoped, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is appreciative of his team for not giving up and fighting until the very end. However, Thibodeau is already looking ahead and challenging his team for not reaching their ultimate goals this season. 'There's disappointment because you fall short of what your goal is,' Thibodeau stated in his immediate postgame remarks on Saturday night, via SNY. 'In the end, there's only going to be one team that achieves the goal. And so I think the challenge for us is to look at it for what it is. We finished in the top three, but we're falling short of the ultimate goal. 'So for us, it's to use that for motivation and determination to work all summer to prepare ourselves to make the final step and keep improving so we can achieve our goal.' This is a tough series for the Knicks to lose, given all the roster changes they made last summer. Advertisement Aside from trading a handful of first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, Leon Rose and his front office also leveraged Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to acquire All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. In this championship series against Indiana, Towns averaged 24.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. The future is unknown in New York. Other than Jalen Brunson, any player could be on the move in yet another offseason move to try and pursue a championship. There are also some early questions being asked about Thibodeau's long-term outlook with the Knicks after falling short of their ultimate goals yet again. Thibodeau recognizes that changes are needed, which is why he is heading into the offseason ready to come up with an answer as to what his team needs. Advertisement 'You look at your team, and I think you analyze what the strengths and weaknesses of the team are, and then you're always thinking about improvement,' Thibodeau continued. 'How do we improve what we have? And I think you always start with the internal improvement. You have the order of the draft, free agency, and, of course, all the trade possibilities. Leon and his staff — there's always a lot of talk that goes on. 'They (will) analyze whether something makes sense and can improve our team. We aren't going to do something just to do something.' A lot of uncertainty faces the Eastern Conference entering the offseason due to Jayson Tatum's injury with the Boston Celtics and Giannis Antetokounmpo's future being unknown with the Milwaukee Bucks. There is still an opportunity for the Knicks to compete for a championship, but key decisions in the summer will dictate their future. As for now, the Knicks will head back home to New York City thinking that they squandered a key chance to make the NBA Finals.
New York Times
36 minutes ago
- New York Times
Suns trade Kevin Durant to Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, 1st-round pick: Sources
The Phoenix Suns are trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft and five second-round picks, team sources told The Athletic. This marks the first blockbuster trade for Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory, a former college basketball coach who was promoted to his new role as part of a front-office revamp in May. After missing the playoffs with the league's highest payroll, owner Mat Ishbia set out to establish an organizational identity focused on toughness. Advertisement Durant will play for his fifth team, following stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix. He has one year left on his current contract at $54.7 million, and is eligible this summer for a two-year extension worth up to $122 million. The 15-time All-Star turns 37 in September. Durant's future in the desert became clear at this season's trade deadline. Fighting to reach .500, the underperforming Suns explored trading the superstar without informing him, something Durant did not appreciate. Over the season's final weeks, Durant seemed to accept his fate. With Phoenix lacking roster flexibility as a second-apron team, the Suns needed to reset. Trading him was their best option. Although fans appreciated Durant's greatness, his time in Phoenix will not be remembered fondly. He and Devin Booker never became a dominant duo, nor did they replicate the chemistry displayed last summer on Team USA's gold-medal run in Paris. Adding Bradley Beal before the 2023-24 season didn't help. A three-time All-Star and high-level scorer, Beal struggled to stay healthy and find a role. Overall, the Suns won one playoff series with Durant, a 2023 first-round series against a Los Angeles Clippers team missing key players. In 2024, the Suns were swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. This season, they didn't even make the play-in tournament. The Suns had a different head coach for all three of Durant's seasons. This will likely not be Phoenix's final move. The Suns are expected to try and part ways with Beal, but his salary (he is owed nearly $111 million over the next two seasons) and contract (he has a no-trade clause) will make that difficult. Phoenix explored moving Beal in February but never came close to making a deal. The Suns plan to build around Booker, a four-time All-Star and the franchise's career scoring leader. Over 10 years, Booker has experienced some of the best Phoenix seasons and some of the worst. He is eligible this summer for a two-year extension worth $150 million. Booker will play next season for Jordan Ott, a first-time head coach the Suns hired this month after an extensive search. This story will be updated.
