Diamondbacks Continue Early-Season Success
By Cody Fincher
The Arizona Diamondbacks were able to win the series against the San Francisco Giants, taking three out of four games from the defending World Series champions. It was a good series for the D-Backs, as they were able to get solid starting pitching from Archie Bradley, Josh Collmenter and Jeremy Hellickson.
Apr 16, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Archie Bradley (25) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
One start after his major league debut where he outpitched Clayton Kershaw, Bradley had to face last year’s World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner Thursday night. Bradley did not disappoint, tossing 6 2/3 innings allowing only four hits and two earned runs with two walks and four strikeouts. Bradley was awarded a no-decision as that game went into extra innings. After using every reliever in the bullpen, the D-Backs were able to come away with the win in the 12th inning, 7-6.
Friday, Josh Collmenter was able to go the distance, pitching a complete game shutout. Collemter’s shutout was the MLB’s first complete game of the season by any pitcher. He only allowed four hits to the Giants and only struck out two batters. After two rough starts to start the season, Collmenter was able to find his good stuff and dominate San Francisco.
Rubby De La Rosa struggled a bit early during Saturday night’s game. He gave up four runs, three of which were earned, on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. Some of the runs De La Rosa gave up were on hits where he threw a good pitch, but the Giants’ hitters were just able to find openings. He seemed to write the ship as the game went on and finished the game with seven strikeouts.
Sunday afternoon belonged to Jeremy Hellickson, who was coming off a bad performance against San Diego. However, Hellickson had a very solid start today to finish the series going 6 2/3 innings giving up eight hits but only allowing one run in a 5-1 victory. The Giants were able to get men on base against Hellickson, but he didn’t allow them to score by getting out of jams, many times getting key double-play balls.
Apr 18, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder David Perelta (6) is congratulated by outfielder Mark Trumbo (15) after hitting a home run against the San Francisco Giants in the fourth inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
On the other side, the Diamondbacks were able to score at least five runs in three out of the four games during the series. The bats came alive this weekend and many guys had really good series.
Mark Trumbo got his first home run of the season Thursday night, a ball he crushed a little over half way up the left field bleachers. Trumbo is now batting a respectable .273 on the year with one home run and four RBI.
David Peralta had a nice series as well. Friday night, Peralta collected three hits, two of which were doubles, and had two RBI. He also had a solo home run during Saturday night’s game.
Last but not least, Paul Goldschmidt had a great series against the Giants. Goldschmidt notoriously owns San Francisco, and this series was no different. Goldschmidt finished this series with two home runs and six RBI. He also had a hit in every game of the series. In his career so far, Goldschmidt is batting .276 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI against the Giants.
As an honorable mention for this series, Yasmany Tomas recorded his first major league hit in Sunday’s game with a single to right field.
The D-Backs are now 7-6 on the year, which is good for 4th place in the NL West. Arizona will take on the Texas Rangers in a quick two-game series at Chase Field. This will be Arizona’s first interleague matchup of the season.