The Arizona Diamondbacks kept up their quest for a spot in the upcoming MLB playoffs by running roughshod over the Colorado Rockies during the past three days. The Snakes swept the Mile High City squad over the weekend by winning three straight against the Rox at Coors Field in Denver.
Admittedly, it wasn't too tough a task as Colorado is currently one of the worst teams in baseball right now, but the D-backs will take victories however they can get 'em right now.
As a result of the weekend wins, Arizona made a wee bit of progress towards landing the second National League wild card (leapfrogging over the Philadelphia Phillies in the standings) but are still 4.5 games out of a postseason spot with only 10 games left to play in the season.
As a result of the weekend wins, Arizona made a wee bit of progress towards landing the second National League wild card (leapfrogging over the Philadelphia Phillies in the standings) but are still 4.5 games out of a postseason spot with only 10 games left to play in the season.
As a result of the weekend wins, Arizona made a wee bit of progress towards landing the second National League wild card (leapfrogging over the Philadelphia Phillies in the standings) but are still 4.5 games out of a postseason spot with only 10 games left to play in the season.
The Diamondbacks piled on the runs on Friday night en route to a 15-5 drubbing of the Rockies during the opener of the four-game series with Colorado. Chris Johnson's bat was red hot all evening as he not only homered in the seventh but also brought in three runs.
Meanwhile, Paul Goldschmidt, Miguel Montero, John McDonald, Aaron Hill, and Jacob Elmore also contributed RBIs, which allowed ace pitcher Wade Miley to pick up his 16th win of the season.
Both Hill and Johnson stayed hot during Saturday's 8-7 win. As the score indicates, it was close game that saw the lead see-saw between Colorado and Arizona. The D-backs struck first with three runs (via RBIs from Hill, Goldy, and Jason Kubel) in the opening frame only to have the Rox come roaring back in the second and third innings by scoring a total of five times, including a homer from Andrew Brown.
The Diamondbacks had a monster inning of their own in the top of the sixth after Rockies pitcher Carlos Torres loaded the bases and gave up an epic triple to Hill, who drilled it to deep right and drove in three runs. A sacrifice fly from Kubel and RBI single by Johnson added two more to the scoreboard to give Arizona enough runs to win.
It was bad news for Johnson during yesterday's afternoon 10-7 win, however, who banged up his left hand and had to leave the game after getting beaned by Jeff Francis in the second inning on Sunday. (X-rays revealed no damage beyond some bad bruises and the third baseman is listed as day-to-day.)
While Arizona was up 2-0 at that point, the Rox battled back with multiple RBIs and hits, which eventually led to the teams tying things up at four runs apiece in the eighth inning. Hill then became the hero of the game with a 411-foot three run homer that put the D-backs ahead 7-4. RBI swats from Kubel and A.J. Pollock added three more runs in the ninth inning.
Although he put in six innings of work, and striking out six in the process, Arizona's Ian Kennedy (14-11, 4.14) didn't walk away with win, as he blew his team's lead in the middle innings by giving up four runs and nine hits. Reliever Matt Albers was the winning pitcher of record, however, after pitching a scoreless seventh inning.
While earning three straight wins over the Rockies certainly helped Arizona's chances of playing October baseball, there are still three teams in front of them (Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and St. Louis Cardinals). Currently, the Diamondbacks' elimination number is at six, which means they not only have to pretty much win every one of the final 10 games of the season, but also have to hope that all of the aforementioned teams suddenly take nosedives.
Will that happen? Probably not, but stranger things have happened before. Stay tuned D-backs fans, the next two weeks are going to be interesting, to say the least.
Arizona will go for their fourth straight win over the Rockies tonight at Coors Field. Trevor Cahill (12-11, 8.39) takes the mound against Tyler Chatwood (4-5, 5.73). First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR 620-AM. More info: www.dbacks.com.
