In baseball, we often like to talk about “flushing” a bad game and mentally preparing for the next one – usually the very next day – as one of several stock phrases to describe the ability to move past failure and try to visualize the next success. It’s a particularly appropriate phenomenon in baseball when failure is such an integral part of the sport. But just like the rest of us, baseball players are human and can struggle psychologically to push past particularly difficult instances of failure. Last night’s game, in which the D-Backs were thoroughly outclassed, certainly qualifies as a failure, but today, the team looked much closer to the team that went a combined 29-24 in April and May than the one that’s gone 6-9 in June coming into today’s game.
Unsurprisingly, the team’s fortunes are tied to their starting pitching and today was no exception. Eduardo Rodriguez continues to beat out all of the expected statistics and underlying red flags to maintain the most unlikely Cy Young candidacies of the season. He had just one blemish on the night – a Zach Neto ambush on the fifth pitch of the game that the young shortstop drove out to the home run porch in centerfield that gave the Angels an early lead. Outside of that drive, Rodriguez was spectacular. There was certainly some hard contact throughout his outing, but he did what so many fans and players clamor for: he let his defense do most of his work, generating three separate double plays to eliminate several threats before they started. He also collected an impressive 11 swings and misses while throwing 62 strikes and allowing 9 baserunners (three walks and six hits) over seven innings.
Of course, it never hurts a starting pitcher’s confidence if his offense provides some run support and the Arizona bats delivered plenty of fireworks this afternoon to give Rodriguez more confidence than he might have had already. After a scoreless first inning in which they worked starter Sam Aldegheri around, the bats exploded for five runs starting with a leadoff walk to Ildemaro Vargas who scored on a Tommy Troy triple after a couple outs. But the team then loaded the bases on a hit by pitch and a hard-fought walk to Geraldo Perdomo for a suddenly scuffling Corbin Carroll who turned on an inside changeup and deposited it into the right field bleachers for his fifth career grand slam. In all, the team sent nine batters to the plate in the inning in an impressive offensive showing, but they weren’t done either. The team tacked on another run in the next inning through a Jordan Lawlar double and a single from Troy as well as a two-run double from Ketel Marte that just snuck by first baseman Vaughn Grissom down the right field line. It was great to see exactly the kind of dynamic offense the team is capable of bringing to the ballpark every day after a few series of lackluster offensive results.
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This series win is the team’s second straight after a rough stretch to begin the month of June. And while the Angels win-loss record on the year is nothing to write home about, they’ve been playing better as of late (if you can believe it) with an exactly .500 record over their last 20 games. Additionally, if we’re being honest, the D-Backs are desperate enough in an extremely competitive National League playoff picture that they’ll take every win they can possibly get. Next on the docket after an off day tomorrow: another losing team in the Minnesota Twins, their last such opponent before re-entering the fray with consecutive series against the Cardinals, Rays, Giants, Brewers, Padres, Dodgers, and Cardinals again heading into the All-Star Break. It should be a fun couple of weeks – especially if the team plays up to its standards like they did today.
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