But this time, Lady Luck smiled
down on the Diamondbacks.
Despite an 11-3 loss on Friday
night, the D’Backs gathered their strength and beat Philadelphia 2-0 on Saturday
and 10-5 on Sunday. In doing so, they kept pace with the Dodgers, who took two
of three from the Houston Astros. Arizona also picked up a game on the Padres,
who lost two of three to the Colorado Rockies.
On Friday night, Arizona’s Brad Halsey faced Brett Myers. Although Myers was chased after giving up three runs
in four innings, the D’Backs managed only four hits off of him. Their next (and
last) hit of the game would not come until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Halsey gave up four runs off four hits in 6.1 innings, including two solo homers
by Chase Utley. The bullpen again disintegrated, giving up seven runs off seven
hits, including a home run, while striking out only two, leading to an 11-3 loss
for Arizona.
The loss was a popular topic of
conversation, especially due to another poor performance by the relief
pitchers. Todd Worrell, a Phillie prior to joining Arizona on July 21, gave up
a grand slam to Bobby Abreu, who was formerly -0-5 when facing him. Worrell
later expressed that a batter’s statistics against a particular pitcher do not
guarantee outs. ``I just fell behind and made a pitch
up and over the plate. That doesn't mean I don't get him tomorrow, and just
because he was 0-for-5 doesn't mean he's going to be 0-for-6, so I don't buy
into that stuff, I guess. So it's just a different story if I make my pitch,''
Worrell informed the Associated Press.
The Diamondbacks, entering
Saturday’s game with six straight losses, put Brandon Webb on the mound against
Jon Lieber on Saturday. After more than six innings of scoreless play, Alex Cintron hit a home run with two out and Chad Tracy on third base, accounting for
the only runs of the game. Webb pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only
five hits and four walks while striking out six. The shaky bullpen managed to
seal the victory for Webb, allowing just two walks and striking out three. Jose Valverde earned his fifth save after pitching 1.2 innings. The game proved
to be a major morale boost for the struggling D’Backs after losing eleven of
their thirteen games prior to Saturday. Webb confirmed the importance of the
win, regardless of the final score. ``It's just a game
that we needed to win just to get off this streak we've been in. No matter how
we won it, 10-9, whatever, we just really needed to win a ballgame,'' he
explained to AP.
On Sunday, Claudia Vargas pitched
for Arizona against Vincente Padilla. Vargas was staked to a 6-2 lead after the
third inning, thanks to a grand slam by Shawn Green in his first game back since
the birth of his daughter on Friday. After a miserable outing on Tuesday, in
which he gave up eight runs in five innings, Vargas faced more trouble on Sunday
and finally left after giving up two more runs in the top of the seventh. But
Arizona had another four-run rally in the bottom of that inning and, aided by
the second-consecutive masterful performance from the bullpen, went on to win
10-5.
The Diamondbacks go out on the
road for three games against San Diego before returning home for three against
the San Francisco Giants. They will then go on another road trip, making
three-game stops in both Pittsburgh and Colorado.