Diamondbacks Notes: August 14, 2008
* ARI @ COL, GAME 2 -- Arizona fell behind early Wednesday night before mounting a pair of rallies, first to tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh inning, then again to draw to within a run in the ninth following Brad Hawpe's two-run HR off Jon Rauch in the bottom of the eighth. Despite the Diamondbacks' resilience, Colorado evened the series as Brian Fuentes struck out Adam Dunn with the bases loaded to seal a 6-5 Rockies win.
* WEB GEMS -- With runners on the corners and no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning of last night's game, Augie Ojeda combined with Stephen Drew to turn a pretty double-play. Drew fielded an Ian Stewart grounder, then checked Brad Hawpe at 3B before throwing to Ojeda to force Troy Tulowitzki out at 2B. Ojeda, who started at 2B for the third straight game following Orlando Hudson's season-ending wrist injury, smartly saved a run by again looking Hawpe back to the bag before firing to 1B to finish the 6-4-3 twin-killing.
* TRACY GETS HOT -- The Dunn trade appears to have lit a fire under Chad Tracy, who clubbed his second HR of the series in the Wednesday night affair. The solo shot was Tracy's eighth of the season.
* ARI @ COL, GAME 3 -- In Thursday's matinee, the Diamondbacks rode a dominant peformance from Dan Haren (8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, HR) to a 6-2 victory. With the win, Haren improved to 13-6 on the campaign and gave Arizona a decisive 10-2 lead in the season series with Colorado. To atone for their roles in Wednesday night's loss, Adam Dunn contributed a two-run single in the top of the fifth and Jon Rauch pitched a scoreless ninth inning. Chris Burke started at 2B and homered, as did DBN favorite Chris Snyder. Dunn's RBIs and Burke's HR were their firsts with the Diamondbacks.
* ROMERO'S ROLE -- As he did in the win on Tuesday, Alex Romero came on as a defensive replacement for Dunn in the ninth inning of the series finale. Romero was stellar in the field and used his speed to spark a listless Arizona offense while making 20 starts as the primary RF after Justin Upton hit the disabled list. In so doing, Romero endeared himself to many fans, We at DBN have heard some of those fans to complain about his benching as a consequence of the Dunn trade. C'mon, y'all -- that's just silly. Without discounting the lift he gave to the club, Romero has a .649 OPS in the majors on the season. He's really a singles and doubles hitter with speed, not the kind of offensive threat you want as an everyday corner OF. On a team without Chris B. Young or Upton, Romero might be a candidate to patrol CF. Given the quality of the Diamondbacks' alternatives, he should be a fourth or fifth OF. There is value in a switch-hitter who can make contact and play good defense. But like Craig Counsell before him, Romero is a better fit as a reserve than as a starter, pluck-and-hustle fetishes notwithstanding.
* ROCKIES HAVE A MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB -- A year ago, the Rockies made an improbable Wild Card run, then swept Philadelphia and Arizona in the National League playoffs before falling in four games to Boston in the World Series. Now 16.5 games out of the Wild Card, Colorado's only hope to make it back to the postseason would require them to overcome a nine-game deficit to Arizona for the division crown. That would again seem unlikely, but the Diamondbacks do play six more times against the Rockies -- three on the road, then three more at home -- all in the final ten days of the regular season. Sandwiched in between for Arizona is a four game set at St. Louis.
* DODGERS LURKING -- For the moment, the Diamondbacks have reclaimed a half game lead on the Dodgers, who on Wednesday night used a Nomar Garciaparra walk-off HR to beat Philadelphia 7-6 and tie Arizona for first place in the NL West standings. The contest was the second in a row won by Los Angeles in its final at-bat, as Andre Ethier's ninth inning RBI single gave the Dodgers a 4-3 win in the series opener. The Phillies will look to avoid a sweep and give the Snakes some breathing room tonight, when they will send Brett Myers (5-9) to face Hiroki Kuroda (6-8) in a match-up of underwhelming righties.
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