Today marked game two of the three game Interleague series against the Baltimore Orioles. After the fiasco of last night’s game I had no idea what to expect. Going into this series I felt pretty good about our chances especially for game one which featured Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb. Never would I have anticipated that the Diamondbacks would commit 3 errors in one inning and give the lowly Baltimore Orioles a four-run lead. To a certain extent this 2007 Diamondbacks team remains a mystery to me. I cannot find a valid explanation for the rash of errors that have occurred during the first half of the season. Last year the Diamondbacks looked like one of the best defensive teams in the National League led by slick-fielding second baseman Orlando Hudson. This season the Diamondbacks have committed 55 errors again led by Hudson who has 9 himself. The Diamondbacks have the second highest error total in the league behind the Florida Marlins. While the defense was better in today’s game with the Diamondbacks going errorless; the starting pitching continued its woes for this series.
Livan Hernandez coming off a bad game during his last start again struggled allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and walking 4 batters. He left the game after only 4 innings putting the pressure squarely on the bullpen to try and keep the game close and give the home team an opportunity to dig out of this hole. The relief corps came through shutting down the Baltimore offense and allowing only 2 hits and 4 base runners over the remaining 5 innings. Juan Cruz looked dominating in his 2 innings for work and the combination of Tony Pena, Doug Slaten, Brandon Lyon, and Jose Valverde made the game a 6 inning affair. Any of these four could be a closer so having such depth gives Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin a lot of options. I am hoping that the starters can regain their earlier form of pitching quality starts. If that is the case I like our chances in the strong National League West. Besides the masterful pitching by the relievers, the Diamondbacks also woke up the bats scoring early and often in the middle to late innings cementing the come from behind victory.
As if the game was not exciting enough, the Arizona Diamondbacks also featured the first Independence Day Fireworks Display presented by Gila River Casino. Ten minutes after the final out the team provided a 16 minute fireworks display launched from the roof of the parking garage beyond the outfield. Sitting in a dimmed Chase Field we watched as the Phoenix sky was lit with a colorful display of color. The sound system in the stadium played a medley of patriotic songs. The music never sounded so good and it really set the stage for the fireworks program. I’ve been to several regional fireworks displays and I’ve been to Walt Disney World and Disneyland but none of those compare to what was shown tonight at Chase Field. Maybe it was because I was sitting in a baseball stadium eating a hot dog and watching fireworks but I have never been prouder to be an American than I was last night. I had taken my son Dakota with me to the game and afterwards he commented that this was the best game he had ever attended. Coming from a nine year-old that is pretty high praise.
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