The Arizona Diamondbacks have been hot lately -- scoring at least six runs in their previous seven games -- but the hot spell fizzled out last night, when the 'Backs lost the third and final game in a home series against the Colorado Rockies.
Right-handed pitcher Trevor Cahill had another less-than-stellar outing, pitching 6 2/3 innings and throwing 68 strikes in 108 pitches. Last night's loss put Cahill at 8-9 in his first season with the D-Backs. Of course, it didn't help that umpire Wally Bell can't make up his mind what a strike looks like (as you can see in the zone plot below.)
Check out more photos from last night's Diamondbacks v. Rockies game.
The D-Backs are now 49-49, and six games behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. They're still in the hunt for a wild card spot, but losses in next series could be the end of their postseason aspirations.
The Rockies started off with a triple from outfielder Dexter Fowler, followed by Marco Scuatro's sacrifice fly to chalk up the first run of the game. Arizona answered quickly, when Jason Kubel knocked his 22nd homerun out of Chase Field off Colorado's left-handed starter, Jeff Francis.
Francis pitched 6 1/3 innings and threw 64 strikes in 97 pitches. The slow-throwing pitcher gave Arizona a hard night of swinging, with not much to show for the effort.
In the third, Scutaro struck again -- this time with a double to left -- bringing home Fowler and Francis, who got on base bunting into a fielder's choice. Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario stretched Colorado's lead with a homerun to left on a 1-0 pitch in the fourth.
From there, things got quiet until the bottom of the seventh, when Miguel Montero smacked another homer to bring the score to 4-2. In the bottom of the ninth, trailing by two with two outs, Montero took seven pitches to gain a walk and sustain Arizona's hope of pulling out the win. But Chris Young took to the plate, swung hard, and missed to end the game, and the D-backs five-game winning streak.
Off the field, the D-Backs have been making some moves that fans might have missed. Tuesday the Diamondbacks "Tat-Man" Ryan Roberts to the Tampa Bay Rays for infielder Tyler Bortnick.
Arizona will begin a four-game series against the New York Mets tonight. Rookie Wade Miley (11-5 with a 3.02 ERA) will face right-hander Matt Harvey. First pitch will be at 6:40 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona, Radio: KTAR Sports AM 620.
