azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Jack Magruder, Tribune
DENVER - In the hitters’ oasis that is Coors Field, the Diamondbacks won a game of a type seldom seen here, beating Colorado 5-3 with pitching, defense and small ball.
Sure, Troy Glaus and the Rockies’ Brad Hawpe hit the obligatory home runs, Glaus’ measured at 438 feet.
But when the D-Backs needed runs in the seventh inning Monday to avoid a fourth consecutive loss, they did it all with six singles in a four-run rally before 18,563, the smallest home crowd in the Rockies’ 13-year history.
Entrusted with a two-run lead, the bullpen showed no signs of a hangover from the last two days in Washington, getting the final nine outs with minimal stress.
And Craig Counsell helped Brandon Webb become the first D-Backs starter to open a season 3-0 since 2002, with three highlight-reel plays.
Counsell saved a run with a diving stop in the fourth inning, made an over-theshoulder catch to prevent a rally from starting in the seventh, and ended the game with another rangy play in the ninth; all exploits that would seem extraordinary if Counsell did not make them time after time.
"Unbelievable,’’ manager Bob Melvin said.
Colorado starter Shawn Chacon gave up only Glaus’ sixth-inning homer before being replaced in the seventh with a 3-1 lead.
The D-Backs turned on reliever Ryan Speier for five straight singles, taking a 4-3 lead before Shawn Green’s two-out single made it 5-3.
It was almost a repeat of their efforts in a three-game sweep of Colorado at Bank One Ballpark last week, when the Diamondbacks scored three in the eighth in a 4-2 victory Tuesday and four in the seventh in a 5-2 victory Wednesday.
"We’ve had a lot of success against bullpens,’’ said Counsell, whose RBI single tied the game at 3 in the seventh.
"We feel like if we can get the starter out and get four innings against a bullpen, we can do some damage. Chacon shut us down. We need to put a couple of more early runs on the board.’’
Brian Bruney struck out Todd Helton and Matt Holliday with a runner on second to end the seventh, pumping his first after getting Holliday.
"Those were the biggest outs of any in the game, (Helton’s) maybe the biggest,’’ Melvin said.
Randy Choate got the first out of the eighth and Mike Koplove the final two before Brandon Lyon pitched the ninth for his fifth save, tied for No. 1 in the NL.
Lyon did not get into a game in Washington, when the bullpen was charged with nine runs in the final two games of the Nationals’ sweep.
"Every bullpen is going to have bad days,’’ Bruney said. "Sometimes we have them, sometimes we throw well. Right now, we’re just trying to get some consistency.’’
Webb, who often had to settle for a "quality start’’ instead of victory in games like this the last two seasons, instead got both. Still, it was 3-1 Rockies when Webb’s spot in the order came up in the seventh.
Quinton McCracken and Chris Snyder singled to open the inning off Speier before Tony Clark, batting for Webb, lined a single down the leftfield line to drive in McCracken.
Counsell singled to right to score Snyder and tie the game, before Royce Clayton hit the next pitch up the middle to make it 4-3. Green’s two-out single off Brian Fuentes made it 5-3.
"I’ll definitely take these last two outings,’’ said Webb, the beneficiary of the threerun eighth inning April 12.
"My first couple of years, if I gave up a few runs or the bats didn’t come alive. . . . But they picked me up big time the last two games. It’s exciting for me. I’ll definitely take that every time.’’
Scott Hairston made his 2005 D-Backs debut in left field in the ninth, when Luis Gonzalez was thrown out in the top of the inning after taking a called third strike.
"It’s the first time I’ve ever been thrown out for not swearing,’’ Gonzalez said.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39822
DENVER - In the hitters’ oasis that is Coors Field, the Diamondbacks won a game of a type seldom seen here, beating Colorado 5-3 with pitching, defense and small ball.
Sure, Troy Glaus and the Rockies’ Brad Hawpe hit the obligatory home runs, Glaus’ measured at 438 feet.
But when the D-Backs needed runs in the seventh inning Monday to avoid a fourth consecutive loss, they did it all with six singles in a four-run rally before 18,563, the smallest home crowd in the Rockies’ 13-year history.
Entrusted with a two-run lead, the bullpen showed no signs of a hangover from the last two days in Washington, getting the final nine outs with minimal stress.
And Craig Counsell helped Brandon Webb become the first D-Backs starter to open a season 3-0 since 2002, with three highlight-reel plays.
Counsell saved a run with a diving stop in the fourth inning, made an over-theshoulder catch to prevent a rally from starting in the seventh, and ended the game with another rangy play in the ninth; all exploits that would seem extraordinary if Counsell did not make them time after time.
"Unbelievable,’’ manager Bob Melvin said.
Colorado starter Shawn Chacon gave up only Glaus’ sixth-inning homer before being replaced in the seventh with a 3-1 lead.
The D-Backs turned on reliever Ryan Speier for five straight singles, taking a 4-3 lead before Shawn Green’s two-out single made it 5-3.
It was almost a repeat of their efforts in a three-game sweep of Colorado at Bank One Ballpark last week, when the Diamondbacks scored three in the eighth in a 4-2 victory Tuesday and four in the seventh in a 5-2 victory Wednesday.
"We’ve had a lot of success against bullpens,’’ said Counsell, whose RBI single tied the game at 3 in the seventh.
"We feel like if we can get the starter out and get four innings against a bullpen, we can do some damage. Chacon shut us down. We need to put a couple of more early runs on the board.’’
Brian Bruney struck out Todd Helton and Matt Holliday with a runner on second to end the seventh, pumping his first after getting Holliday.
"Those were the biggest outs of any in the game, (Helton’s) maybe the biggest,’’ Melvin said.
Randy Choate got the first out of the eighth and Mike Koplove the final two before Brandon Lyon pitched the ninth for his fifth save, tied for No. 1 in the NL.
Lyon did not get into a game in Washington, when the bullpen was charged with nine runs in the final two games of the Nationals’ sweep.
"Every bullpen is going to have bad days,’’ Bruney said. "Sometimes we have them, sometimes we throw well. Right now, we’re just trying to get some consistency.’’
Webb, who often had to settle for a "quality start’’ instead of victory in games like this the last two seasons, instead got both. Still, it was 3-1 Rockies when Webb’s spot in the order came up in the seventh.
Quinton McCracken and Chris Snyder singled to open the inning off Speier before Tony Clark, batting for Webb, lined a single down the leftfield line to drive in McCracken.
Counsell singled to right to score Snyder and tie the game, before Royce Clayton hit the next pitch up the middle to make it 4-3. Green’s two-out single off Brian Fuentes made it 5-3.
"I’ll definitely take these last two outings,’’ said Webb, the beneficiary of the threerun eighth inning April 12.
"My first couple of years, if I gave up a few runs or the bats didn’t come alive. . . . But they picked me up big time the last two games. It’s exciting for me. I’ll definitely take that every time.’’
Scott Hairston made his 2005 D-Backs debut in left field in the ninth, when Luis Gonzalez was thrown out in the top of the inning after taking a called third strike.
"It’s the first time I’ve ever been thrown out for not swearing,’’ Gonzalez said.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39822
