Arizona Diamondbacks Win Third Straight

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

For the third consecutive day, the Arizona Diamondbacks were victorious.Late Friday night, they squeaked out a win over the Philadelphia Phillies by a final of 5-4.

Three wins in a row may not feel like a major achievement, but to these scuffling Diamondbacks, it’s as close to Eden as they’ve been.

The key to their success was the able-bodied pitching recording outs early and often.Josh Collmenterwent six strong innings of scoreless baseball, not rendering a walk, only four hits and five strikeouts.While Phillies hitters were squaring the ball up well against Collmenter and his super slow curveball, he received a bit of luck in his defense behind him.

On the surface, it was another day, another error for the D-Backs.OnTony GwynnJr.’s hot smash in the top of the seventh inning,Cliff Penningtoncould not knock the ball down, having it ricochet off him.Yet, out in left field,Tony Campanahad himself an incredible evening.Doing everything from cutting off the ball at the appropriate angles, to running a dead sprint to get to balls, Campana single-handedly saved a couple of runs on Friday night.They may not yet have proper statistics to quantify just how valuable Campana was.

With the bat,Aaron Hillwas the star of the game.He got two pitches centered up incredibly well and deposited them into his left centerfield power alley.In the bottom of the fourth, he cranked a running fastball into the bleachers, putting the D-Backs up 2-0.The very next inning, he added insurance to the lead with a ground-run double that scored one run, and very well could have scored two had the ball not been interfered with.

Leading 4-0 in the top of the seventh, it was time for the bullpen to take over, and the pacemaker’s to begin jumping.

Handcuffed by an inept bullpen made up of ineffective starters and specialty relievers,Kirk Gibsonhas to do his best to manage a mish-mosh of a Major League bullpen.AfterJoe Thatchergave up back-to-back hits, he triedRandall Delgado, who was hit even harder.Thankfully, the entire lead wasn’t given away in just that one frame, but the Phillies had cut the lead down to 4-3.

In the bottom of the eighth,A.J. Pollockconnected with his second home run of the season, which provided to be vital come the top half of the ninth.Pollock may not be credited with a go-ahead home run, but that extra run was the difference in the contest.

Nailing down his sixth save of the season,Addison Reedrefused to let the Phillies go quietly.Retiring the first two batters with no issues, Reed surrendered back-to-back hits, then an intentional walk, before eventually striking outJohn MayberryJr. to end the contest.Catching a bit of a break, Mayberry Jr. was only in the game because he pinch-ran for the cement block footedRyan Howardin the top of the eighth.Regardless, the outcome played out favorably for Arizona.

Two veteran pitchers will match up come Saturday night asBronson Arroyolooks to get back to his days of old after a horrific start to 2014.The Phillies send outCliff Lee, who has been his usual dominant, pinpoint controlled self.Getting underway at 5:10 p.m., the D-Backs look to win their fourth game in a row.

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