Whenever someone asks why I’m a fan of sports, I often point to any number of reasons from the simple – it’s entertaining – to the more esoteric – it’s a matter of civic pride. I also often answer that sports can offer a kind of catharsis that you can rarely find in our everyday lives. That’s particularly true for baseball which inherently creates tension through a lack of action – only for the eventual resolution to provide a special kind of resolution. I suspect the entire D-Backs’ offense felt an incredible kind of catharsis this afternoon. After losing a frustrating game in the series opener and needing extra-inning magic to eke out a win last night, the Diamondbacks were staring down a series loss against an Athletics team that seems stuck in neutral. Instead, the offense erupted for their highest run total in nearly two years to take a crucial series win as the team attempts to convince the front office to buy at the Trade Deadline or at least convince them not to sell.
The first time through the lineup, the D-Backs failed to generate much offense against rookie Gage Jump, making just his eleventh career start. The young lefty utilized his excellent fastball to generate several weak swings and misses along with plenty of weak contact. But starting with the second time through the lineup, the batters clearly made some adjustments beginning with Corbin Carroll who opened the team’s scoring with a solo shot to left field while Nolan Arenado followed with his own one batter later to knot the score at 2-2. That was just the amuse-bouche however as the main course came one inning later when the game unraveled for the rookie. Ketel Marte began with a leadoff double and scored on a wild pitch, Gabriel Moreno took Jump deep with his own solo shot, Arenado worked a walk and moved to second on yet another wild pitch, and Ildemaro Vargas doubled him in to end Jump’s afternoon. Amazingly, the fun wasn’t over as James McCann took the very first pitch from reliever Yunior Tur into the left field bleachers to put the Snakes up by five. Ryan Waldschmidt even got the proverbial monkey off his back with his first career homer at the big league level to cap off the inning and turn the game into a rout. And if you weren’t already full, the dessert course was just as much fun as the rest of the dinner. Carroll collected his major league-leading 11th triple and scored on yet another wild pitch, the D-Backs loaded the bases on three consecutive walks and then cashed them all in with knocks by McCann and Tim Tawa to turn the game into a true laugher. In all, the offense scored 14 runs in three innings and did it in impressive fashion with plenty of power, timely hitting, and excellent at-bats up and down the lineup. Every starter except for Geraldo Perdomo had at least one hit and the team had the same number of walks as strikeouts for the game. It’s hard to encapsulate and the video may do it even more justice:
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On the flip side, this felt like a perfect opportunity for Merrill Kelly to feel absolutely no pressure as his offense clearly had the game in hand and focus on trying to return to the form we know he can have. Instead, we saw much of the same type of struggles that have plagued him all season: an inability to put hitters away, a lack of command that leads to walks, and depending all too much on the changeup as a putaway pitch. The final line on the veteran for the afternoon (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) isn’t bad, but it masks some bad luck on the Athletics bouncing into two separate double play balls. Now that those pesky Athletics are out of the way, here’s hoping the team can quickly regroup for the latest in “most important series of the year” with about a week and a half until the Trade Deadline.
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