Everyone on the Arizona Diamondbacks had a float in the hit parade last night at Chase Field, as the Snakes drowned the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4.
Sure, 36-year-old Ted Lilly was on the mound for the Dodgers, but the D'Backs handed him his first loss of the season as he made it just one out into the fourth inning last night.
Ryan Roberts and Justin Upton both went yard for the D'Backs, which is a rarity these days, if you've been keeping up with the team.
Upton's shot was to opposite field, which makes it doubly rare for this season, in which most of the Diamondbacks have been relegating themselves to half the field in their hitting.
Every single D'Backs player in the starting lineup got a hit, and even John McDonald got a hit while pinch-hitting for Aaron Hill, who went 3-for-3.
Even D'Backs starting pitcher Joe Saunders got a hit, as every player on the team to face pitches earned a hit, save for reliever Josh Collmenter, who took a base on balls in his seven-pitch at-bat.
Saunders wasn't phenomenal like he was in his first couple of starts, but it was the Saunders the Diamondbacks can rely on -- throwing more than 100 pitches, and keeping the game in the Snakes' favor.
The Diamondbacks didn't wait around to score, either, as Roberts hit his solo homer in the bottom of the first, and Hill singled home Upton later in the inning.
Willie Bloomquist hit a triple that drove in a run in the next inning, and he scored on a Roberts sac fly.
The Diamondbacks put up a run in each of the first five innings, as Upton's two-run homer in the fifth brought the team's run total to 11.
Saunders gave up four runs in his 6.1 innings of work, striking out seven -- a damn good total for the veteran Saunders.
Bryan Shaw and Collmenter came in as relief, and neither surrendered a run.
An interesting fact about Collmenter, the former starter: while his ERA is 6.67 on the season, his ERA when coming in as a reliever is just 0.90.
Collmenter's pitched in eight games this year, four of them as a starter. In his four starting gigs, he give up five runs twice, and four runs and six runs in his other starts.
Since being sent to the bullpen -- two appearances of three innings, and two two-inning shows -- he's given up just one run.
It might be unrealistic right now, but given closer J.J. Putz' three blown saves in just 12 save opportunities (he blew just four in 49 opportunities last year), Collmenter has to at least be on the radar for competing for that job, or at least scaring the pants off Putz.
The Snakes' win last night avoided a Dodgers sweep in the three-game series, and the D'Backs start a three-game series at home tomorrow evening against the Milwaukee Brewers.
There will be two excellent pitching matchups in that series, as D'Backs ace Ian Kennedy faces Yovani Gallardo tomorrow, and the D'Backs' youngster sensation Wade Miley faces former Cy Young Award-winner Zack Greinke on Saturday night.
