Record: 63-56. Pace: 86-76. Change on 2025: +6.
Not sure if we have a guest recap today. I didn’t hear back from the scheduled recapper, and didn’t see them in the GDT either. So just in case, I’m going to throw up a quick one for now: if a proper recap shows up, this one can quietly wander off into the sunset. I think it’s definitely worth marking the fact that today was the first time since 2018 that the D-backs have won the season series over the Dodgers. Now, it’s still highly likely to be nothing more than a moral triumph. Los Angeles are
still 7.5 games ahead of Arizona, so there’s unlikely to be any need for any tie-breaker. But it still indicates this team is certainly playing them tougher than some previous years.
And few players deserve that “tougher” label than Eduardo Rodriguez, who threw 115 pitches over seven innings of two-run ball. It was certainly needed, on a day where the team effectively had four relievers off the board. That was a full ten pitches more than any Arizona starter this year. The last time any D-back threw more was more than nine years ago, Robbie Ray tossing 122 on June 30, 2017. [Of course, Randy Johnson passed that number on an almost everyday basis: twenty-one times in both 1999 and 2001] E-Rod scattered five hits and two walks, with nine strikeouts and improved his record for the year to 11-4.
The offense jumped out on Justin Wrobleski early, putting up a crooked number in both the first and second innings. After a Geraldo Perdomo walk to start the game for the D-backs, Ketel Marte cranked his twentieth home-run of the year into the left-field bleachers, for a quick 2-0 lead. In the second frame, a Ryan Waldschmidt bunt [let’s take the arguments as read, shall we?] caused an error which brought home a run, and a Corbin Carroll double gave Arizona a 4-0 advantage. The offense largely shut up shop thereafter. They went 0-for-14 against the Los Angeles bullpen, and were 0-for-7 with RISP. But it was definitely a case of “good enough.”
The Dodgers pulled runs back in the third and sixth, but a Freddie Freeman double-play in the eighth, when he represented the tying run, was the end of their real threat. Kevin Ginkel, much-maligned in some quarters, came in for the ninth, notched a 1-2-3 inning with two K’s for his first save of the year, reducing his season ERA to 3.60 – pretty respectable, I’d say. There should be some relief (literally) arriving for the team, with the news the D-backs have signed Zack Littell, the former Nats pitcher, likely to act as a long-man in the bullpen. They just have to pay the prorated MLB minimum, Washington covering the rest.
Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Spiderman: Eduardo Rodriguez, +23 %
Mary Jane: Ketel Marte, +14%
The Green Goblin: Corbin Carroll, -11%
Comment of the Thread to Roy Batty, for his empathy with the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
We’ll be cheering on the Astros tonight, since they face the Padres. A win for Houston would put Arizona two games clear of San Diego, though just about everyone else involved in the NL wild-card race won today. Tomorrow, the Rockies come to town for a three-game set, with the first pitch at 6:40 pm. The game looks to see the return of Michael Soroka, so I hope he can continue the fine form he showed before having to go on the injured list. See you there!
