Guess time off did the Arizona Diamondbacks some good. After spending the last few days watching torrential rain postpone a couple games, the D-Backs came out swinging in a 5-3 win over the Florida Marlins on Tuesday night, following a whiz-bang seventh inning that featured the heroics of Gerardo Parra, the team's newest prodigy.
Fans probably wondered if the game was going to happen at all, as some angry-looking storm clouds hung in the proximity of Joe Robbie, er, Pro Player, oops, Dolphins, eek, LandShark Stadium in south Florida before game time, resulting in a mere 10,131 bodies turning out for the contest. (The seats were so empty that you could actually hear individual fans booing and cheering during the telecast.)
A slight rain delay caused the first pitch to be delayed by 20 minutes, but once the game finally got going, things started rolling the D-Backs' way.
Starter Jon Garland (4-2, 4.72 ERA) put forth a decent effort, permitting a pair of runs in the sixth (including a homer by Hanley Ramirez). It could've been worse, however, had Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew not saved his ass with a nice 6-4-3 double play during the previous frame to get out Emilio Bonifacio and Cody Ross.
Opposing pitcher Josh Johnson was providing his team with a similarly scoreless effort through six innings, until the D-Backs began spoiling things with a five-run rally. Reynolds started it by drilling a rocket deep into the left-field seats off a 2-1 fastball, racking up his ninth homer of the year.
The next few runs came via a parade of both D-Backs offensive highlights and Florida gaffes. The Marlins proceeded to load the bases after Eric Byrnes made it to first thanks to a throwing snafu by Bonifacio, followed by a Chris Snyder single and Miguel Montero getting hit by a pitch. A line drive from Felipe Lopez scored a run for Arizona, and then it was Parra's time to shine.
The center fielder (who was brought up from the minors recently to replace under-the-weather Conor Jackson) nailed an RBI single that was flubbed by Cody Ross, allowing Snyder and Montero to reach the dish. (Lopez later made it home on a Justin Upton sac-fly.) Parra's now batting an astounding .421.
Let's hope his hot streak continues today, as the D-Backs (15-23) endure a day-night doubleheader against the Marlins to make up for Monday's rainout. The first game starts at 2:10 p.m., with lefty Doug Davis (2-5, 3.22 ERA) heading to the hill against the Marlins' Chris Volstad (2-3, 3.35). After a 30-minute break, rookie Bryan Augenstein (0-1, 7.11) will attempt to get his first major league win versus Hayden Penn (1-0, 5.71).
Both games will be broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona, with Greg Schulte handling the radio play-by-play on KTAR-AM 620. For more info, visit www.dbacks.com.
