It was announced early Tuesday morning that longtime D-back and fan favorite Conor Jackson had been traded to the Oakland Athletics for minor league pitcher Sam Demel. Since his arrival in 2005, Conor Jackson has been a mainstay in the lineup for the D-backs from 2006 to 2008. With three seasons of 25 or more doubles, two 15 home run seasons and a respectable .277 lifetime batting average, Conor will certainly be missed by the fans. During the 2009 season, Jackson was overtaken by a mysterious illness, later diagnosed as valley fever as he would miss the majority of the season for Arizona. In an effort to make some changes in the bullpen, the D-backs would trade the outfielder who did show some signs of improvement for the 2010 season.
Sam Demel, a product of TCU, has pitched in 22 games so far this year in the minors and boasts a 1.26 ERA. The right hander is expected to give the D-backs relief staff some much needed assistance as the team tried to make the bullpen whole. In 2007 Demel would allow no hits in five straight outings and in 2008 he would rank second in the California League in saves. Demel is expected to join the team on Wednesday in Boston as the D-backs face the Red Sox in interleague play.
To cover Conor’s former spot in the outfield, the D-backs expect to have Abreu step in after returning from the disabled list but, Gerardo Parra is likely to get most of the playing time. Josh Byrnes hinted that there may be more moves to come as the team’s management takes an overall look at the organization on and off the field.
]]>In their first game of interleague play in the month of June, the Arizona Diamondbacks would face the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The D-backs would arrive in Boston after winning the last two games and going six-for-four in their last ten. As the team prepares for a challenging interleague schedule, they hoped to get started on the right foot. The Red Sox, however, had other things in mind for the team as they arrived. In the first inning, the D-backs would score right away on a Adam LaRoche single that would drive in Stephen Drew to make the score one to nothing. In the bottom of the first inning, the Red Sox would score two runs and never look back.
In the bottom of the third inning, Boston would be able to drive in three more runs for the team as they would take a pretty good sized lead over Arizona. In the top of the fourth the D-backs would try to stage a comeback by chipping away at the score. The D-backs would score two runs in the inning as Montero and Young would cross the plate on a Justin Upton double. The Red Sox would be able to score one more run in the fifth inning as they were able to keep the D-backs from scoring for the remainder of the game. The D-backs will face the Red Sox, once again, as Rodrigo Lopez will go to work against Jon Hester.
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The Arizona Diamondbacks would face one of the National League’s toughest pitchers on Sunday. Chris Carpenter with a seven and one record, going into the game, would face Edwin Jackson and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs would get started right away in the first inning on an Adam LaRoche double that would score Kelly Johnson and Mark Reynolds. With Jackson on the mound, despite the zeros on the scoreboard, he had pitched himself into a number of tough spots throughout the game. Two times with the bases loaded, Jackson would be able to get out of the innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the D-backs would score once again as Chris Young would hit a solo shot to give the team a three to nothing lead over the Cardinals.
The Cardinals would begin to rally back as they were able to drive in two runs in the seventh inning. The D-backs would deliver two runs of their own in that inning Going into the ninth inning, the D-backs would maintain the lead before Chad Qualls would come into the game to let the Cardinals right back in it. Qualls would give up three runs, allowing St. Louis to tie the game before being removed from the game and replaced with Esmerling Vasquez. With the score tied, Vasquez would minimize the additional damage before the D-backs would get a chance to take the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, the D-backs would get two outs right away before Miguel Montero would single to get on base. With Chris Young at bat and two outs, after a called first strike CY would hit one to left center field sealing the fate of the Cardinals with a series victory walk off home run. With his twelfth homer of the season and his second of the game, Chris Young would make the score seven to five as the Diamondbacks win the game. The D-backs will begin Interleague play as they head to Boston to face the Red Sox.
]]>After dropping the first game of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Arizona Diamondbacks were able to bounce back on Saturday with a solid victory. Dan Haren was on the mound as he would notch another victory for the team in his excellent all-around performance. From the mound, Haren would pitch for eight innings, striking out nine of the batters that he faced. Not only would Haren perform well on the mound, he would go two-for-three at the plate with one double. Dan Haren is second only to Roy Hallady for at bats for a pitcher but is now averaging an impressive .425 at the plate with 40 at bats.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Diamondbacks would score first on a double by Mark Reynolds that would drive in Stephen Drew. In the bottom of the third inning both Reynolds and LaRoche would hit a solo homer a piece to increase the lead to three to nothing. In the bottom of the fourth inning Chris Snyder would hit another D-backs’ home run for his ninth of the season. Dan Haren would then hit a double and be driven in by Kelly Johnson as he would hit a double as well. With the two-baggers still coming, Stephen Drew would knock in Kelly Johnson from second as the fourth inning came to a close.
In the fifth inning, the Cardinals would score their first run on a Ryan Ludwick RBI single that would score Matt Holliday from second. In the bottom half of the inning, Adam LaRoche would hit his second homer of the game as he launched another solo shot to right center field. In the Sixth inning, the Cardinals would score once more making the score seven to two. The Diamondbacks would hang on to win the game as they prepare for the third and final game of the series on Sunday. Edwin Jackson will be facing Chris Carpenter as the D-backs look to take the series before hitting the road to head to Boston for Interleague play.
]]>The Arizona Diamondbacks kicked off their long home stand against the Colorado Rockies as the looked to snap their ten game losing streak. The game would begin promptly in the favor of the Rockies as Carlos Gonzalez would hit a solo shot in the first inning to give Colorado the lead. At the bottom of the first, the D-backs would bounce back with the help of Justin Upton as he would nail a two-run homer to give the D-backs the lead for the game. The Rockies would come back in the third inning by driving in two more runs to regain the lead. In the bottom of the third, the D-backs would tie the game back up at three.
In the sixth inning, the Rockies would score three runs to extend their lead as the Diamondbacks knock in a couple of runs in the in the sixth and the seventh innings. In the sixth inning, the D-backs’ run would come off of a solo homer by Chris Young. Vasquez would be brought into the game to pitch a couple of innings in middle relief as he would baffle opposing hitters by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Pitching was strong on an evening where the team would throw 14 strikeouts from the mound.
In a scary moment in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mark Reynolds would get hit by a pitch on his left hand as he would be removed from the game. Pitcher Edwin Jackson would be put into the game to pinch run for Reynolds. Jackson, a former center fielder, would score from second on a Gerrardo Parra base hit to tie the game. Ryan Roberts would come to the plate to drive in the game winning run. With the energy apparent on the field, the D-backs celebrated snapping their losing streak with a seven to six victory. In a night where the team would show their resilience, they would cap the night off with a display of fireworks.
]]>The Arizona Diamondbacks played the Los Angeles Dodgers for game two of the three game series. Pitcher Dan Haren pitched a fantastic game with seven strike outs walking no batters through eight inning. The opposing pitcher, John Ely would throw seven innings striking out five and walking two. The game would remain scoreless through nine innings. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers would hit a walk-off home run off of Juan Gutierrez to win the game.
In a tough loss for the D-backs the game remained close for the second night in a row. The spirit of the team seemed to be crushed at the end of the game for obvious reasons as the team would lose their ninth loss in a row. The D-backs face the Dodgers for the final game of the series in an afternoon game at Dodger stadium.
]]>The Arizona Diamondbacks have now lost eight in a row as they struggle to earn a win and battle with sub-par relief pitching. While the current road trip does not look to be any less of a challenge for the Diamondbacks, it is one that they surely hope will make things will turn around for the team. In a less than familiar story, the cause of the Diamondbacks’ troubles were not centered around relief for the game against the Dodgers but plays on the field. Despite this, a play during D-backs’ relief pitching would cost the team the game. Rodrigo Lopez would face Chad Billingsley in a night game at Dodger stadium that was highlighted by the return of Dodger right fielder Andre Ethier.
Ethier would have a quiet evening as some hoped that he would be able to make an impact in the game. Andre would go 0 for 4 leaving three runners on base. Arizona would begin the game strong with a lead off double by Kelly Johnson who would be driven in on a home run by the next batter, Justin Upton. With a two to nothing lead, Chris Young and Chris Snyder would go yard to make the score four to nothing after one and a half innings of play. In the bottom of the second inning, the Dodgers would put their first run on the board as a result of a homer by Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers would score again in the following inning on a Matt Kemp single that would drive in Blake DeWitt.
The D-backs would be unable to drive in any more runs in the game as the two teams headed into the bottom of the eighth with the score four to two in favor of Arizona. With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, things would begin to unravel for the Diamondbacks. After a base hit by Rafael Furcal and a double by Matt Kemp, both runners would score on a fielding error by second baseman Kelly Johnson. In the bottom of the ninth inning with a runner on third, the game winning run would cross the plate on a balk by Esmerling Vasquez. The Diamondbacks would let the first game of the three game series slip away as they lose the game by a score of four to five. Dan Haren will pitch against John Ely in game two of the series as he looks to break the D-backs’ eight game losing streak and to bounce back from his last two uncharacteristic performances.
]]>After winning the first two games of the series, the Arizona Diamondbacks drop the third and final game of the series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Chase Field. After a couple of solid games by the D-backs, the Blue Jays were able to get the best of Arizona. The D-backs would begin the game with the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. The run in the first inning would be driven in by Justin Upton on an RBI single scoring Tony Abreu.
Beginning in the third inning of play, the Blue Jays would go on a scoring rampage starting off with two runs in that inning. In the fourth, they would score another run to extend their lead as the D-backs were able to keep the game close with a run of their own at the bottom of that inning. In the following inning, Toronto would score five more runs in a big inning for the team as they begun to pull away from the Diamondbacks. Billy Buckner would be pulled from the game during that inning allowing seven earned runs on the day.
The Blue Jays’ pitching staff would continue to ward off the bats of the D-backs as they were able to keep the damage to a minimum from the home team. The Blue Jays, however, were not done. With three more runs in the sixth inning and one more in the seventh. With a nine run deficit the D-backs would go into the bottom of the ninth will a ton of catching up to do. Chris Young, who has had a spectacular season in comparison to his last, would hit a solo homer to left field to give Arizona one run in that inning.
The D-backs were unable to get anything going for the remainder of the game and lose to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of twelve to four. The D-backs hit the road to face the Rockies on Tuesday and will be sending Ian Kennedy to the mound for game one of three game series in Colorado.
]]>The Toronto Blue Jays faced the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second game of the three game series. One day after the D-backs successfully defeated the American League team, they went head-to-head with the Blue Jays once again. With Edwin Jackson on the mound for Arizona, the Diamondbacks would drive in plenty of runs early on to give them the lead.
Four runs were scored by the team in the bottom of the first inning and another four were scored in the bottom of the second as Toronto was only able to put one run on the board. The D-backs would benefit from doubles by Jackson, Johnson, Reynolds and Young. Chris Young alone would drive in four of the runs for the team. Edwin Jackson would strike out nine in the game as he would pitch seven and two-thirds innings of baseball.
In Jackson’s final two-thirds innings, he would have a tough time as the Jays looked to stage a comeback. After hitting four more runs off of the pitcher he was removed from the game and the relief staff would take over. The relief was able to hold Toronto to no more runs as the D-backs were able to hang on to win the game and take a two to nothing series lead against the third-place Blue Jays.
]]>When the Giants arrived in Phoenix, they certainly were true to their team name being the Giant team to beat in the National League West. In a classic match up of David versus Goliath, Ian Kennedy would get the nod as he was seeking his third win of the season. The Giants, who have been performing well for the first half of the season, have found themselves in a pretty tight race in the NL West with the Dodgers winning nine games in a row. The Giants would start the game off with the lead as a result of an RBI single by Pablo Sandoval. Convinced not to let this game be more of the same for the D-backs, Adam LaRoche would step in belting a homer deep into Uptown to tie the game.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, since his section had already been served up a home run ball, Justin Upton sent one over the left field fence for his seventh of the season. With the D-backs gaining the lead, Ian Kennedy would remain in the game for Arizona. In the bottom of the following inning, Stephen Drew would belt his fourth homer of the season, making the score five to one in favor of the Diamondbacks. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Chris Snyder would get some of the home run action as he drives in Chris Young. While it seemed that the D-backs had themselves enough runs for some solid insurance, then came the eighth inning.
Ian Kennedy would pitch wonderfully through eight innings of play, allowing only one run on three hits, while walking three and striking out nine. Kennedy would earn his third victory of the season in a well-deserved win. In the bottom of the eighth, the Diamondbacks would add insult to injury as six more runs would cross the plate. The eighth inning would be highlighted by a two-run homer by Kelly Johnson, his twelfth of the season and Adam LaRoche’s second homer of the evening. The D-backs gear up to face the Giants again as Tim Lincecum, who has yet to lose a game, will face Rodrigo Lopez. This will be the last game of the two-game series before Arizona begins interleague play.
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