Two Wins in a Row for the Arizona Diamondbacks
By Jesse Borek
Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
For just the second time all year, the Arizona Diamondbacks have strung back-to-back wins together. On Thursday afternoon, they defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-2.
Injured pitcher Daniel Hudson hit the nail on the head today via Twitter when he quoted Lou Brown, the infamous fictional manager of the Cleveland Indians in the movie Major League, “if we win one tomorrow, that’s called a ‘winning streak,’ it has happened before.” A bit of comic relief is necessary at this moment in time for Diamondbacks fans.
With Mark Trumbo a member of the disabled list for the following two weeks, the remaining healthy bats will not only have to fill in his missing void, but also continue to improve their own.
Off to a stunningly quick start on Thursday, Miguel Montero staked the D-Backs to an early lead with a first inning RBI double. After giving the run right back in the bottom half of the inning, Mike Bolsinger helped his own cause the following inning by driving in a run of his own to put the D-Backs ahead 3-1 after just an inning and a half.
According to recent trends, a two-run lead is not exactly safe with the Diamondbacks hurlers on the mound. Mystifyingly bucking that trend was Mike Bolsinger, who tossed a gem of a ballgame. Going 6.2 innings, he only allowed four hits and two walks in addition to his seven strikeouts. Picking up his first Major League win, Bolsinger displayed above average stuff with great movement, using the Cubs aggressiveness against them.
The name of the game when playing the Chicago Cubs is to get to their bullpen. With Edwin Jackson finally departing after a solid afternoon, the D-Backs unleashed an assault on reliever Jose Veras to attempt to put the game out of reach. Both Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Montero drove in runs that ballooned the Arizona lead to four and neutralized the Cubs chances of making a comeback.
Yet again, it was the bullpen putting the clamps on the Chicago bats. Outside of Anthony Rizzo’s solo shot off Oliver Perez in the eighth, they were unblemished. Addison Reed retired the side in the ninth for the second day in a row and the Diamondbacks finally have some semblance of momentum moving in their direction.
While they may be limping home, they are returning to Chase Field for six consecutive games over the upcoming week.
First in are the Philadelphia Phillies, who will send Roberto Hernandez (formally known as Fausto Carmona) to the mound against Josh Collmenter, with the game getting underway at 6:40 p.m.
The Diamondbacks are hoping that some home cooking can solve the team issues and that with April showers, May flowers are just around the corner.