It was certainly a busy Tuesday for the Arizona Diamondbacks. After the front office scrambled around yesterday afternoon in an (ultimately futile) effort to secure a major deal before Major League Baseball's trade deadline expired, the D-backs roster proved far more productive by smashing the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2.
It was Arizona's second win over their division rivals in as many days and allowed them to inch closer to overtaking L.A. in the National League West. (Only two-and-a-half games separate the teams in the standings.) And pitcher Wade Miley (12-6, 2.98 ERA) played a big role in the win.
The Diamondbacks (53-51) picked up their seventh win in 10 games thanks in part to Miley's steady hand. The 25-year-old ace put in eight long innings of work, scattering only three hits throughout while walking one and striking out seven. His only earned run of the evening came when L.A. second baseman Mark Ellis homered to the left field seats at Dodgers Stadium in the bottom of the first.
Arizona had already struck first with a two-run of its own in the top half of the inning, however, when Paul Goldschmidt unleashed a 409-foot moonshot after Jason Kubel had gotten the base-on-balls treatment by Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano (10-7, 3.33).
More runs came in the sixth inning when Capuano, who was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks in 1999 -- gave up singles by Goldschmidt and Justin Upton, followed by a 377-foot homer by Miguel Montero.
Dodgers relievers Jamey Wright and Ronald Belisario didn't fare much better, as they both boarded the failroad in the top of the ninth. Wright allowed Chris Young to rack up a double (which was extended into a triple after a throwing error by Jerry Hairston Jr.) and Kubel to walk to first base. After Belisario took over on the mound, he busted out with a fielder's choice to permit Young to score and Kubel to reach third.
The bases were then loaded when the relieve chose to walk Montero, and set the stage for the new arrival Chris Johnson to smack an RBI single to center and score Kubel and J-Up for the seventh and eighth runs of the game for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona will go for the series sweep of the Dodgers later today as they send lefty Patrick Corbin (2-4, 4.15) to the hill against L.A. rookie Stephen Fife (0-0, 1.46). It's an afternoon game, so try brining a radio into work (or log-on to MLB's audio stream) to follow the contest as it unfolds. First pitch is at 12:10 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. More info: www.dbacks.com.
