After a tough loss last night the Diamondbacks don’t catch a break in the opening game against the Dodgers. They face Derek Lowe who has been pitching well and is in the running for the NL Cy Young along with Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals and Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks. Arizona countered tonight with Claudio Vargas who has thrown better of late but still too inconsistent to be counted on from game to game. All signs pointed to another blow out but that is why they play these games on the field instead of on paper. You just never know what to expect.
Tonight happened to be one of Claudio’s better outings as he matched Derek Lowe inning for inning through the first 6 innings. The teams were in a classic Dodger Stadium pitching dual with neither team able to bring home a run. That changed in the seventh inning as JD Drew came up and smoked a Vargas pitch over the center field fence for a home run. Claudio then retired Betemit and Andre Ethier leaving him one out away from getting out of the inning. That plan didn’t quite work out as he allowed Russell Martin to double to centerfield. This was followed by Marlon Anderson doubling to right field which scored Martin making the deficit 2-0. While the Diamondbacks got 8 hits in the game they were never able to score. This meant that Checker Auto Parts will not be donating a car seat as they do when the Diamondbacks score their first run in each game. This means that somewhere in Arizona a Hispanic child is being placed in harms way by not being buckled in. There will be some restless sleeping tonight as the Diamondbacks players worry about that little kid getting into an accident now.
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