On a cold blustery evening, the Arizona Diamondbacks were able to take the series against the Mets today after the bats broke out late against the Mets bullpen. The victory today is a key win for this team in the early going as the W/L record against a team like the Mets could prove to be very important down the line.
The beginning of the game was a solid pitchers duel for as it was a rematch of the World Baseball Classic championship game of Eduardo Rodriguez vs Nolan Mclean. Despite a first inning home run given up by Erod, the 2 pitchers went toe to toe inning for inning. Eduardo Rodgriguez managed to go 6 Innings of just the 1 run allowed while being the first Dbacks pitcher of the season to reach the 100 pitch mark. Although still early, he has really seemed to turn a corner in his career adapting his pitch arsenal. A historically fastball heavy pitcher, Erod continued the recent trend of throwing his changeup 32% of the time tonight while cutting his fastball usage almost in half. The early season results have been astonishing as he has pitched to a microscopic 0.50 ERA. Has to be one of the highlights of the early season so far.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Dbacks failed to score going into the 7th inning and I think every fan was thinking, “Oh great here we go again! Another wasted Erod masterpiece” Things turned around in the 7th however as Geraldo Perdomo led off the inning with a walk, Jose Fernandez notched his 2nd hit of the night moving Perdomo into scoring position, and Gabi Moreno pinch hit for James McCann and promptly rips a double over the head of the right fielder Brett Baty tieing the game. Alek Thomas was up next and knocked in the go ahead run Jose Fernandez on a fielder’s choice and a masterful slide by the young Fernandez. His elite sprint speed was definitely a factor on that play and caused a rushed throw by the first basemen. It is really nice having that athleticism on the field! From there, the Dbacks would open this game up on a sac fly by Tim Tawa and a triple by Jorge Barrosa bringing the score to 4-1 and some much needed breathing room.
The bullpen was nails tonight as Taylor Clarke did a tremendous job of holding the score there in a quick and efficient bottom of the 7th inning. A very underrated thing for a reliver to do by maintaining all that momentum and getting the team back in the dugout quickly. Taylor Rashi came in after Clarke and had perhaps the most dominant relief outing we have seen from a Dbacks pitcher in the early going as he pitched 2 flat out filthy innings striking out 3 Mets batters. Like he was in complete control tonight and he was even smiling on the mound as he was toying with the Mets batters with his high arm slot 4 seamer, splitter, and slider combination. He even threw a slurve tonight. Is Taylor Rashi a leverage reliever all of a sudden? Would be a huge break for this team if so.
Gabi Moreno was able to notch 2 doubles in a game that he didn’t even start in and the Dbacks were able to have a nice little 7 run outburst tonight on the offense bringing the final score to 7-1. The offense though it was late to show up tonight was a welcome sight for the Dbacks and their fans given some of the early season struggles they have had in that department. All in all, the Dbacks won tonight with excellent starting pitching, and athleticism on the offensive side. A welcome sight in my opinion and certainly playing the likes of Jose Fernandez, Ildemaro Vargas, and Jose Barrosa were paramount. Hopefully we see more of this brand of Dbacks baseball. This is the type of offense that is sustainable especially considering the Dbacks once again scored all 7 runs without the benefit of the longball. Refreshing!
The Dbacks will get on the bus tonight a game over .500 and head to Philadelphia to begin the weekend series against the Phillies. Lets see if the young guns get rewarded with more playing time, and this team can keep the momentum going into Philly!
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