Record: 80-78 On pace: 82-80 Change: 0
Well, if you sat through all of that, you deserve... I don't know. A medal? A commendation? A sincere apology? There's plenty of other topics I could go into detail here that would probably serve to be more interesting topics of discussion that this game- the burrito I had for dinner, my latest set of missions on Skyrim, my thoughts on character development in Firefly. Heck, I could recap the game of baseball that the command crew of Deep Space Nine plays in this episode I'm watching, and it'd be more interesting. (The Vulcans win, but Rom puts a pretty good bunt to bring in a run.)
Let's just get this over with.
(But, really, Captain Sisko- you're in the middle of a war, is this the best way your senior staff could be spending their time?)
It didn't start out well for the Diamondbacks. 1-2-3 innings in the first and second innings for the Diamondbacks offense, including four strike outs for Ian Kennedy. The umpires were calling a wide strike zone tonight, and Kennedy was definitely getting the advantage of some borderline calls.
Meanwhile, things started to fall in the Padres favor in the bottom of the first. Chris Denorfia hit a one out double, and then a Chase Headley hit a fly ball to deep right center. It took a lot of hustle by Gerardo Parra to get to the ball, but it clanked off Parra's glove and the Padres had their first run of the night.
It would not be their last.
(Sisko also is pretty emphatic that Constable Odo call the game. No robot umpires on Deep Space Nine, dammit.)
Oh, things got a little brighter in the third inning for the Diamondbacks. Parra doubled to start off the inning, and then took third on a ground out by Chris Owings. Randall Delgado singled up the middle to bring Parra in to score, and we had a tie ball game!
And it got better in the fourth! Paul Goldschmidt doubled to start off the fourth inning, moving up to third on a single by Martin Prado. Before we could really worry how the Diamondbacks would bring in the run, IPK took care of it for us- it looked like he started a "fake to third, throw to first" move before he remembered it was illegal this season, the third base umpire called him for a balk, and Goldy came in to score. 2-1 DBacks! Hooray!
That was basically the last bit of good news we'd see tonight.
(Worf has the best infield chatter. "Death to the opposition!")
The damage started in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Delgado reminded us of his home run-prone ways, giving up a solo shot to Tommy Medica (OPS of .648 this season). It was the only damage he gave up in the fifth, but we could come back, right? Well...
Bottom of the fifth started off with a fly out and a single Rene Rivera. Ian Kennedy grounded into a fielder's choice that was nearly an inning ending double play, but I'm sure that wouldn't come back to haunt us, right? Will Venable singled to left center, and Kennedy took third on a throw that might have deflected off his leg as he slid. That was followed by a Denorfia single to score both runners, and then a home run from Jedd Gyorko brought in two more runs. 6-2 Padres after five.
(Really, given that Vulcans are so much faster and stronger than humans, I think the Deep Space Nine team does pretty well in this game.)
After a top of the sixth inning that was only made interesting by a Paul Goldschmidt GIDP, that was the end of Delgado's less-than-inspirational outing. Matt Langwell came in from the bullpen and gave up a leadoff single to Medica. He came around to score on a two-out double from Rivera, adding to the Padres lead, 7-2.
The DBacks at least made an effort in the seventh, getting two runners on with two out, but a pop out by No Offense, Willie Bloomquist ended any hint of a rally. Then Tony Sipp came in from the 'pen and started out by hitting Will Venable with a pitch. A one-out walk to Gyorko advanced the runner, and that meant Venable was able to score on Chase Headley's single to left field to make it 8-2.
("To manufactured triumph" may be my favorite toast of all time. Sisko is the best Star Trek captain.)
After the Diamondbacks offense went down 1-2-3 in the eighth, Sipp was replaced by Eury De La Rosa. Who walked Alexi Amarista, gave up a single to Rene Rivera, and then had Chris Robinson homer to give the Padres an 11-2 lead before he even recorded an out. De La Rosa gave up one more hit, a one-out single to Denorfia to end his night, and then we got the Heath Bell Experience. This was the one we're used to, not what San Diego used to see, and he gave up a two out double to Chase Headley to give the Padres a double digit lead.
The ninth was a matter of 1-2-3 inning, and then it was all- finally, mercifully- over.
Harvey Dent: Randall Delgado at the plate (+5.1%)
Two Face: Randall Delgado on the mound (-44.4%)
A GDT that started out busy and died out as the game did, stalling out just shy of 300 comments. Clefo led in comments, with me in second, and piratedan7 in third place. Also stopping by to add to the chatter were 4 Corners Fan, AzRattler, Diamondhacks, FatBoysEatMeat, GuruB, Husk, azshadowwalker, cheese1213, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, onedotfive, porty99, rd33, and soco.
No comment of the day, though. Comments of the day are for closers!
So we have one more game in San Diego tomorrow, as the season slowly trudges to an end. Stop by to chat about Trevor Cahill's final start for the Diamondbacks as the game starts at 3:40 Arizona time.