azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Without Sexson, offense fizzles; Dessens loses
By Ed Price, Tribune
PHILADELPHIA - The initial returns on the sans-Richie Sexson Diamondbacks are not good.
The Philadelphia Phillies held the D-Backs to five hits Friday in a 4-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
It was Arizona’s first time scoring fewer than two runs this season. The DBacks’ six total bases were a season low, and their hit total matched their lowest since getting three on Opening Day.
Danny Bautista had one of the hits, a single up the middle in the seventh inning, to extend his hitting streak to 21 games.
That was one of just six base runners Philadelphia left-hander Randy Wolf allowed in seven innings.
While manager Bob Brenly and the Diamondbacks were upset over a call at first base that prolonged the Phillies’ only rally, Brenly admitted, "Of course, you’ve got to score to win a ballgame, and we didn’t score."
Perhaps the presence of Sexson, the cleanup hitter who is out with a shoulder injury, would not have mattered, the way Wolf was changing speeds and using the outside of the plate.
Wolf (2-1) gave up five hits and a walk and struck out five in extending his shutout streak to 21 innings. Rheal Cormier then retired all six men he faced.
"He just had us tied in knots," Brenly said of Wolf.
"It was one of those days offensively," said Matt Kata, who is hitless in his past 14 at-bats. "We just couldn’t get anything rolling at all, really."
D-Backs starter Elmer Dessens lasted just four innings, allowing four runs on back-to-back thirdinning homers by Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome.
Dessens (1-3) has a 7.66 ERA and has yet to complete six innings this season.
The game turned when the D-Backs were unable to turn a double play. On Placido Polanco’s one-out grounder in the third, shortstop Alex Cintron backhanded the ball and threw a bit wide of second.
Kata got off a decent throw but Tony Randazzo ruled Polanco safe at first. Replays indicated the ball barely beat Polanco (and perhaps having the 6-foot-8 Sexson take the throw instead of the 6-foot Greg Colbrunn would have made a difference).
"In my opinion he was out," Colbrunn said. "It just happened to lead to four runs."
That’s because Abreu followed with his fifth home run. Three pitches later, Thome hit No. 7 to make the score 4-0.
"Those two hitters should not have been up there in that inning," Brenly said.
"They might hit home runs the next inning, who knows? But Elmer shouldn’t have been put in that position. And if he gets out of that inning unscathed, who knows what might have happened?"
Dessens was asked if Randazzo’s call was a bad break.
"Yeah," Dessens said, "but I have to make the pitches (afterward)."
Abreu has three homers in 23 career at-bats against Dessens, but Thome had been 1-for-7 against Dessens before his home run.
Arizona had a chance to get back in the game in the seventh, loading the bases with two out on Bautista’s single, a bloop hit by Chad Tracy and Robby Hammock’s infield hit. But pinch hitter Bobby Estalella struck out looking.
"They put a couple of hits together," Luis Gonzalez said, "and we couldn’t do that tonight."
By Ed Price, Tribune
PHILADELPHIA - The initial returns on the sans-Richie Sexson Diamondbacks are not good.
The Philadelphia Phillies held the D-Backs to five hits Friday in a 4-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
It was Arizona’s first time scoring fewer than two runs this season. The DBacks’ six total bases were a season low, and their hit total matched their lowest since getting three on Opening Day.
Danny Bautista had one of the hits, a single up the middle in the seventh inning, to extend his hitting streak to 21 games.
That was one of just six base runners Philadelphia left-hander Randy Wolf allowed in seven innings.
While manager Bob Brenly and the Diamondbacks were upset over a call at first base that prolonged the Phillies’ only rally, Brenly admitted, "Of course, you’ve got to score to win a ballgame, and we didn’t score."
Perhaps the presence of Sexson, the cleanup hitter who is out with a shoulder injury, would not have mattered, the way Wolf was changing speeds and using the outside of the plate.
Wolf (2-1) gave up five hits and a walk and struck out five in extending his shutout streak to 21 innings. Rheal Cormier then retired all six men he faced.
"He just had us tied in knots," Brenly said of Wolf.
"It was one of those days offensively," said Matt Kata, who is hitless in his past 14 at-bats. "We just couldn’t get anything rolling at all, really."
D-Backs starter Elmer Dessens lasted just four innings, allowing four runs on back-to-back thirdinning homers by Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome.
Dessens (1-3) has a 7.66 ERA and has yet to complete six innings this season.
The game turned when the D-Backs were unable to turn a double play. On Placido Polanco’s one-out grounder in the third, shortstop Alex Cintron backhanded the ball and threw a bit wide of second.
Kata got off a decent throw but Tony Randazzo ruled Polanco safe at first. Replays indicated the ball barely beat Polanco (and perhaps having the 6-foot-8 Sexson take the throw instead of the 6-foot Greg Colbrunn would have made a difference).
"In my opinion he was out," Colbrunn said. "It just happened to lead to four runs."
That’s because Abreu followed with his fifth home run. Three pitches later, Thome hit No. 7 to make the score 4-0.
"Those two hitters should not have been up there in that inning," Brenly said.
"They might hit home runs the next inning, who knows? But Elmer shouldn’t have been put in that position. And if he gets out of that inning unscathed, who knows what might have happened?"
Dessens was asked if Randazzo’s call was a bad break.
"Yeah," Dessens said, "but I have to make the pitches (afterward)."
Abreu has three homers in 23 career at-bats against Dessens, but Thome had been 1-for-7 against Dessens before his home run.
Arizona had a chance to get back in the game in the seventh, loading the bases with two out on Bautista’s single, a bloop hit by Chad Tracy and Robby Hammock’s infield hit. But pinch hitter Bobby Estalella struck out looking.
"They put a couple of hits together," Luis Gonzalez said, "and we couldn’t do that tonight."
