The Arizona Diamondbacks picked up a huge win Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. The D-backs were victorious by the score of 4-2 as they moved within two games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division. Any win is a big one as the D-backs are in the final week of the season.

Brandon Webb was the winning pitcher as he tossed seven innings and limited the Cardinals to just two runs on eight hits. Webb was good as he had six strike outs and only walked two batters. Brandon Lyon and Chad Qualls both allowed hits in their inning of action each, but they did not allow a run to score which was the big thing.

Stephen Drew led the team by going 3-4 with a rbi double and a solo home run. Conor Jackson and Chad Tracy both added rbi’s of there own in the game as well. It wasn’t the best offensive performance for the d-backs but it was enough to get the win.

So they D-backs have six games left in the regular season and they are down two games in the division to the Dodgers. Do you think they will catch them?

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The Arizona Diamondbacks got a scare in the ninth inning but they were able to hold off the San Francisco Giants for the victory. The 7-6 victory over the Giants and the Dodgers loss, puts the D-backs 3.5 games back in the division with 10 games to go in the season.

Brandon Webb picked up his 21st win of the season as he tossed eight inning and only gave up three runs on eight hits. Webb walked two batters and struck out two others in the game. He let his defense help him out rather then trying to strike everyone out.

Doug Slaten had some trouble in the ninth inning as he was charged with two runs. Tony Pena tried to clean up the mess but he was charged with one run as well. Luckily for Pena and the D-backs he was able to get the final two outs of the game via the groundball and the Diamondbacks won.

B.J. Upton and David Eckstein both hit home runs for the D-backs. Upton’s was a two-run shot while Eckstein’s was a solo home run. Brandon Webb had a nice two-run double as well in the game. The rbi tab finished up with Stephen Drew and Conor Jackson both finishing with one rbi each.

Diamondbacks need another win on Thursday night over the Giants however it will be tough as they face off against Tim Lincecum. Diamondbacks Blog

Crap! It looked like the Diamondbacks were finally going to win a game on the road, however Brandon Lyon allowed a two run triple to Eugenio Velez in the bottom of the ninth inning and the D-backs lost to the San Francisco Giants by the score of 4-3.

The Diamondbacks had just scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead and then they just give it right back. Lyon took the loss as he gave up the winning runs and he is now 2-5.

Chris Young had hit the two run triple in the top of the ninth that gave the D-backs the lead but it just wasn’t meant to be I guess. Stephen Drew had a solo home run earlier in the game as well but it still wasn’t enough.

I hate losing games like this, especially with how the D-backs have been playing. They need to figure out a way to pick up some wins at this point in the season or else they will be staying at home during the playoffs.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Chicago Cubs for the second straight night as they won 9-2.  The game was a close one until the D-backs scored six late runs in the 7th and 8th innings and blew the game wide open.  The Diamondbacks can now sweep the Central Division leading Cubs with a victory on Wednesday.

Yusmeiro Petit improved his record to 1-1 as he tossed five innings to get the win.  Petit gave up three hits but only one run while walking four and striking out three batters.  It was a quality start for Petit who made some mistakes but also pitched well at times.

Leo Rosales, Chad Qualls, Tony Pena, and newly acquired Jon Rauch all pitched one inning of relief.  Pena was the only pitcher to give up a run as gave up a solo home run to Daryle Ward in the 8th inning.  Other then that one mistake by Pena, the Diamondbacks bullpen all did a great job.

At the plate for the D-backs, they were lead by Conor Jackson who went 3-5 with three rbi.  Jackson had a solo home run in the first inning off of Jason Marquis and then added a two run double in the 8th inning when the D-backs broke the game wide open.  Stephen Drew, Orlando Hudson, Augie Ojeda, and Mark Reynolds all contributed with one rbi as well.

The Diamondbacks can sweep the Cubs without having Dan Haren or Brandon Webb throw the ball.  Now that will be a big deal if they can pull it off!  Diamondbacks Baseball Blog

The Arizona Diamondbacks were able to beat the Chicago Cubs by the score of 2-0 in a pitchers duel on Monday night.  Diamondbacks starting pitcher Randy Johnson outdueled newly acquired Cubs pitcher Rich Harden as the D-backs took the first game of the three game series.

Johnson gave up two hits through seven innings and held the Cubs scoreless to improve to 7-7.  Johnson struckout four batters and was hit hard but none of the ball left the ballpark.  The Cubs did have 5-6 long fly outs that were caught at the warning track but they just didn’t have enough to get over the wall.

Micah Owings who was scheduled to pitched on Tuesday threw a scoreless eighth inning and then Chad Qualls pitched the ninth inning to record his second save.  Qualls did have some trouble in the ninth when the Cubs got the first two runners on base with no outs but he got Derrek Lee to ground into a double play on a 2-0 count and then Aramis Ramirez grounded out to end the game.

The Diamondbacks only had two hits at the plate but they made sure both of them scored runs.  Alex Romero hit is first home run in the sixth inning off of Harden and that broke up Harden’s no-hit bid while putting the D-backs on the scoreboard 1-0.  Stephen Drew then added a rbi triple in the eighth inning off of Bob Howry and Chris Snyder scored all the way from first base.

It was a good win over a good quality team in the Cubs.  Now the D-backs will send Yusmeiro Petit to the mound on Tuesday night as they try to go up 2-0 in the series.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals played a wild game on Thursday night as both teams battled back and forth in the late innings and into extra innings.  Good news for the Diamondbacks fans though, the D-backs were able to come out on top with the 7-5 victory.

I had a big nice write up that I wrote during the eighth and ninth innings.  I sure wish I had waiting lol. Basically Dan Haren was going for the complete game shutout but let the first two runners on base and then Brandon Lyon allowed two runs to score.  In the end the game went into the 11th innings before the D-backs were able to hold on and get the victory.  Chad Qualls ended up with the victory and is now 2-6 on the season.

Chad Tracy led the team with two rbi in the game while a slew of hitters had one rbi each.  Stephen Drew, Orlando Hudson, Mark Reynolds, Mike Montero, and Alex Romero all had one rbi each.  Great output but the offense.  Of course they scored five runs in extra innings so it wasn’t like they didn’t have the chances to score a lot of runs.

The D-backs will now open up a series against the Philadelphia Phillies.  Diamondbacks Blog

The Arizona Diamondbacks completely routed the Oakland Athletics Wednesday night by the score of 11-1.  It was a big butt kicking by the D-backs as the offense hit the ball hard and the pitchers had no problems shutting down the A’s offense.

Dan Haren tossed seven innings while only allowing four hits and one run.  Haren picked up the win and is now 7-4 on the season.  Haren struck out eight batters and also lowered his era to 3.26 on the season.  Juan Cruz tossed the eighth inning and struck out the side.  Chad Qualls then came in and pitched the ninth inning to record one more strick out for the D-backs.  Great job by all three pitchers!

Chris Young and Stephen Drew both hit home runs at the plate for the Diamondbacks.  Young’s was a three run shot while Drew hit a two run homer.  Young and Haren led the Diamondbacks with three rbi each while Drew and Chad Tracy both had two rbi in the game.  We can’t forget about Jeff Salazar who also had one rbi in the game.

So will the great pitching and hot hitting carry over to Thursday when they Diamondbacks and Athletics play the rubber match of the three game series?  For Diamondbacks fans, they are sure hoping so.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks completed a three game series with the New York Mets wining two of three.  For a second straight game the Diamondbacks found some offense late and rallied against Mets’ closer Billy Wagner to tie the game late and send it to extra innings.  Today, the Diamondbacks’ were on the wining end beating the Mets 5-4 in ten innings. 

Dan Harren started the game for the Diamondbacks, he went six innings giving up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts.  The Diamondbacks’ bullpen gave up two more runs in the bottom of the seventh with Doug Slaten on the mound.  Slaten hit Damion Easley with a pitch; Ramon Castro hit a long fly ball to center that was misplayed by Chris Young, Easley would advance to third on the double.  Both Castro and Easly would score on an RBI single to center off the bat of Fernando Tatis.  Jose Reyes hit a double that advanced Tatis to third, Endy Chavez drew a walk and with one out and the bases loaded, Edgar Gonzalez came in to the game-he would get David Wright to hit a popup in foul territory on the first base side that was caught by Conner Jackson.  However, Gonzalez would have to face Carlos Beltran again, this time with the bases load, but Gonzalez won the battle when he got Beltran to fly out to centerfield.

The Diamondbacks scored two runs in the top of the eighth and Joe Smith on the mound, with one out Augie Ojeda drew a walk, but would be erased on a fielder’s choice, Orlando Hudson was safe at first, Connor Jackson hit a single to center advancing Hudson to second.  Mark Reynolds hit a triple that just missed going over the fence in center field.  Both Hudson and Jackson would score to make it 4-2.   

The top of the ninth inning started when Billy Wagner walked lead off man Miguel Montero, Wagner then gave up a single to Stephen Drew.  Chris Young doubled to left, scoring Montero, and allowing Drew to advance to third.  Augie Ojeda walked to load the bases, Orlando Hudson grounded to Jose Reyes who threw Drew out at the plate.  Connor Jackson hit a grounder to Jose Reyes, who flipped the ball to second base to get the force out, but Drew would score and tie the game at four.  Wagner was able to strike out Mark Reynolds on a called third strike to end the inning, but the damage was done.  With the game tied at 4 in the top of the tenth Aaron Heilman started the inning by giving up a double to Justin Upton, Jeff Salazar moved the runner to third on a sac bunt, and Upton would score on a sac fly by Miguel Montero.  Brandon Lyon shut the Mets down in the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings recording his second win of the season. 

The Diamondbacks return home to start interleague play.  The Kansas City Royals will be in town.  The Diamondbacks will have Doug Davis on the mound and he will be opposed by Zack Greinke.  First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. 

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The Diamondbacks traveled to Shea Stadium on Tuesday to take on the New  York Mets.  While the Diamondbacks are currently in first place in the NL West, they are not a great road team compiling a 13-18 road record this season.  When the Diamondbacks last saw the Mets they had a 20-8, the lost 2-3 to the Mets and since then are 14-22.  After a fast start, the Diamondbacks as a team are hitting .251 and are struggling to consistently put runs on the board; they still hold first place in the NL West as everyone else in division is playing .500 baseball.  However, the best thing to happen to the Diamondbacks’ offense was Mets pitching.  The Diamondbacks as a team had four homeruns in their 9-5 win over the Mets.  

Micha Owings started the game for the Diamondbacks.  In his last outing Owings was rocked for four earned runs off eight hits before leaving the game after three innings.  Owings has had two starts against the Mets and has a 0-1 record with a 6.94 era in those two games and didn’t fare much better in Tuesday night’s start.  In 41/3 innings he gave up 5 runs, four earned, on 8 hits with three walks and two strikeouts.  Owings who averages 2.6 walks per nine innings had give up two walks in the first inning of the game.  He was not sharp and lucky for him, neither were any of Mets pitchers.   

The Diamondbacks scored a run in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead.  John Maine gave up a long home run to Orlando Hudson in the top of the fifth to cut the Mets lead 5-3.   In the sixth inning with Mets reliever Claudio Vargas on the mound, the Diamondback’s would score two runs and tie the game.   Vargas walked the lead off man before hitting  Justin Upton with a pitch, Jeff Salazar’s ground out allowed the runners to advance to second and third, with the tying runs on, Augie Ojeda drove them in when he hit a line drive that eluded the glove of Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado and landed in right field.  Ojeda would advance to second on the throw by Endy Chavez, but was stranded there when Chris Young flied out to end the inning. 

In the top of the seventh, with weather reports showing that rain was near and with the wind picking up at Shea Stadium, the Umps suspended play and the Mets grounds crew secured the tarp on the field.  The rain delay would last one hour.  When play resumed, the Diamondbacks took the lead on a homerun by Chris Snyder off Met’s reliever Joe Smith.  In the top of the ninth inning the Diamondbacks scored three more runs when Duaner Sanchez gave up a two run homer to Stephen Drew and a solo shot to Conner Jackson.   

The Diamondbacks will have Brandon Webb on the mound tonight, and he will be opposed by Mets starter Mike Pelfrey.  Game time is set for 7:10 p.m.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks lost for the second straight time to the Pittsburgh Pirates as they feel 5-3 on Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh.  The Diamondbacks had started the four game series off by winning the first two games but then lost the next two to split the series.  Another up and down series as the D-backs just can’t seem to get things going to run off a win streak of five or six games.

On Monday, it was Randy Johnson taking the loss as he threw 5 2/3 innings while allowing six hits and five runs (four were earned).  The Big Unit walked four batters while striking out three so he did have some control issues.

Three errors by the Diamondbacks defense sure didn’t help out the pitchers either.  Johnson, Miguel Montero, and Mark Reynolds all had errors in the game.

At the plate for the Diamondbacks, three different players had a rbi in the game.  Reynolds connected on a solo home run in the fourth inning.  Chris Young had a rbi ground rule double in the seventh inning and in the eighth inning, Stephen Drew hit a solo home run.  The D-backs just needed to have some runners on base when those two home runs were hit.

I should also not that that Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin was ejected from the game in the second inning when he argued about a home run call that was over turned.  Reynolds hit a fly ball to right field that was caught by a fan that put their glove over the wall.  The call was an initial home run, but the umpires later ruled that it was a double instead.  Melvin was quickly tossed after that.

The Diamondbacks will play the New York Mets on Tuesday night.  Diamondbacks Home Plate will also have a new blogger in place as “B” who blogs for our Mets Blog, will be covering the Diamondbacks series here at Diamondbacks Home Plate as well.

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