At 6:53 p.m., 13 minutes following first pitch, it looked like the Arizona Diamondbacks were set to lose another game. At that time, St. Louis Cardinals centerfielder Colby Rasmus sent an Edwin Jackson pitch over the right-field wall at Chase Field. Score after a measly half-inning: Cardinals 3, D-backs 0.
Game over, right?
Nope. A bench-clearing incident in the second inning (no punches were thrown; it was one of those wimpy baseball "brawls," where everyone was too afraid to fight) seemed to ignite the home team. Arizona scored a pair in the third off of Chris Carpenter to cut the lead to one. In the seventh, they sent the Cards' ace to the showers with a run to make it 4-3. Then, in the eighth, Trever Miller's wild pitch plated Kelly Johnson for AZ's fourth and tying tally.
Woohoo, right?
Not with this team.
In the top half of the ninth, the Diamondbacks brought in an arsenal of gas cans. Chad Qualls gave up the eventual winning run, a 447-foot drive by Rasmus that landed above the pool in the right-center field concourse. But Qualls wasn't done with his fire-starting tricks. He surrendered two more earned runs in one-third of an inning, and then gave way to the fuel-pouring Bob Howry, who allowed two more Cardinals to score. Final: Cardinals 9, D-backs 4.
Nice job, fellas. So freaking pathetic.
Next up for Arizona is a season full of crappy losses like this one a three-game set at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, scheduled to take place from Friday, April 23, through Sunday, April 25. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR-620 AM. For more information, go to www.diamondbacks.com.
