RattleON - A DBacks Dynasty Presented by BigJDotCom01

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DBacks Shore Up Rotation

Phoenix, AZ (AP) – The Arizona Diamondbacks made a move on Monday afternoon to shore up their rotation as they signed free agent pitcher Dallas Keuchel to a two-year deal with a player option in 2021.

The left-handed Keuchel will fit into the rotation behind Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray. To make room for Keuchel, the DBacks have optioned pitcher Luke Weaver to Triple-A Reno.

The 31-year-old Keuchel signed a two-year deal worth $12 million. He spent his entire career in Houston with the Astros and won the American League Cy Young in 2015.

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APR 30–MAY 1: NEW YORK (18-12) @ ARIZONA (12-19)

April 30: Yankees 3, DBacks 1
May 1: Yankees 6, DBacks 4

The New York Yankees made a rare appearance at Chase Field and made the most of it, sweeping the DBacks. On Tuesday evening, it was Aaron Judge who drove in two runs to help the Bronx Bombers to a 3-1 victory.

Judge hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and an RBI single with two-outs in the seventh.

J.A. Happ shut down the DBacks, going eight innings and allowing just one run on five hits. Dallas Keuchel’s DBacks debut was pretty good, but he got no support. He went 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits. He struck out three and walked one in picking up the loss.

In game two, the Bronx Bombers lived up to their name as they hit six solo home runs in a 6-4 victory over the DBacks to sweep the two game series. Aaron Judge hit three of the home runs for New York.

Judge tied the game with his third home run on the afternoon, in the top of the eighth off of reliever Yoshihisa Hirano. Giancarlo Stanton then followed that with a tape measure shot to left to put New York in front 5-4. Matt Andriese came on and get Torres to strike out before serving up a long ball to Gary Sanchez.

Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth to pick up the save, his ninth on the season and second of the series.

Zack Greinke pitched seven pretty strong innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one, but got the no decision. Hirano dropped to (0-3) with his second blow save on the season.

Arizona (12-19) has tomorrow off before heading to Denver for a three game weekend series against Colorado.

Giancarlo Stanton hit the go ahead home run off of Yoshi Hirano on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field.

[spursup]

Enjoying the read so far. Seems to be a bit of a struggle early on but there's definitely enough talent on the roster to dig out of it.

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MAY 3-5: ARIZONA (14-20) @ COLORADO (14-22)

May 3: DBacks 3, Rockies 1
May 4: Rockies 7, DBacks 6 (11)
May 5: DBacks 6, Rockies 4

The Arizona Diamondbacks started off their road trip by taking two of three from the Rockies in Denver.

Robbie Ray was masterful on Friday evening as the Arizona Diamondbacks slipped past the Colorado Rockies 3-1 at Coors Field to open a three game weekend series. Ray tossed five innings, allowing one run on just two hits. He struck out eight and walked two.

He would get all the offensive support that he would need in the third inning as Adam Jones and David Peralta hit back-to-back RBI singles off of Rockies starter Tyler Anderson.

DBacks pitchers held the Rockies to just four hits, a season low. Matt Koch, Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin combined to allow just two hits over the final four innings out of the bullpen. Chafin picked up his fifth save.

Nolan Arenado, who had been slumping through the first five weeks of the season, came to life on Saturday night, blasting two home runs including a walk off moon shot on the first pitch of the eleventh inning as the Rockies defeated the DBacks 7-6. Arenado went 4 for 5 with two doubles to go along with his two home runs, and he drove in three runs. The two home runs were Arenado’s third and fourth on the season.

Andrew Chafin (0-1) picked up the loss, tossing just one pitch in the game. D.J. Johnson (2-1) earned the win in relief for the Rockies. He worked two scoreless innings.

Alex Avila had a big night offensively for Arizona, going 2 for 5 with a double, and home run. He drove in three. Eduardo Escobar went 3 for 5 with two doubles and he drove in two runs.

Former DBack Chris Iannetta homered for the Rockies and went 2 for 4.

The DBacks grabbed the rubber match on Sunday afternoon 6-4 after falling behind 4-1 after the first inning on home runs by David Dahl and Josh Fuentes.

Adam Jones, Wilmer Flores and Eduardo Escobar each hit solo home runs in the third inning to spark the rally. Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly in the fourth inning drove in the game winning run and the DBacks bullpen shut down the Rockies to seal the win.

The Rockies scored four runs on three hits in the first, then didn’t record another hit until the seventh inning. Taijuan Walker (3-1) was masterful after a rough first inning. He allowed the four runs (three earned) on just three hits in six innings of work. He struck out four and walked one. The bullpen scattered five hits. Archie Bradley came in and got Chris Iannetta to strike out with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning. Andrew Chafin worked the ninth to pick up his sixth save.

Arizona (14-20) will now head to Tampa for a three game series against the Rays (18-17).

Nolan Arenado ended Saturday’s game with one swing of the bat.

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MAY 6-8: ARIZONA (17-20) @ TAMPA BAY (18-20)

May 6: DBacks 6, Rays 2
May 7: DBacks 12, Rays 1
May 8: DBacks 11, Rays 8

The Arizona Diamondbacks broke out their bats in St. Petersburg as they scored 29 runs in a three game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The DBacks hit 10 home runs and they pounded out 41 hits in the three game series.

On Monday evening, it was a great pitching performance from Zack Godley, to open the series. Godley (3-1) tossed seven strong innings, allowing just three hits and no runs, while striking out seven and walking one.

Wilmer Flores and Alex Avila each homered to pace the offense.

The story of Tuesday evening’s 12-1 blowout of the Rays was the fact that Zack Greinke had to leave the game early with right shoulder tightness. He left just one pitch into the six inning. X-rays were negative and he his scheduled for an MRI when the team returns to Phoenix on Thursday.

The DBacks hit four first inning doubles as they scored four times in the top of the first inning off of Tampa starter Charlie Morton.

Adam Jones, David Peralta and Jake Lamb all homered for Arizona in the win. Jones went 3 for 4 with two doubles to go along with the homer. He also drove in three runs.

In the finale, Tampa scored three times in the first inning off of Robbie Ray and ended up scoring eight runs off of Ray in six innings. But that wouldn’t matter as the DBacks rallied from an early 7-2 deficit to defeat the Rays 11-8 to earn the three game sweep.

Jake Lamb hit two more bombs (nine on the season), and drove in three runs. Eduardo Escobar doubled and homered, while driving in three. Blake Swihart and Alex Avila added solo shots in the victory.

Arizona’s bullpen was fantastic, allowing no runs on only two hits over the final three innings. DBacks pitchers struck out ten and did not issue a walk.

Arizona now returns home for a 10-game home stand against Atlanta (18-20), Pittsburgh (15-19) and San Francisco (19-18).

Jake Lamb hit three home runs in the series.

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MAY 9-12: ATLANTA (20-22) @ ARIZONA (19-22)

May 9: Braves 9, DBacks 4
May 10: Braves 8, DBacks 4
May 11: DBacks 15, Braves 8
May 12: DBacks 3, Braves 1

After a couple of tough losses in the first two games, the DBacks bounced back for a big split of the four game weekend series. Arizona’s offense continues to be on fire, now leading the National League in batting average, and slugging percentage.

In the opener, the DBacks jumped out to an early lead, but the bullpen absolutely fell apart in a 9-4 loss to the Braves on Thursday evening. Freddie Freeman went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs to help pace the Braves to the victory.

The DBacks led 2-0 heading into the sixth inning with Dallas Keuchel tossing a no hitter through five innings. Dansby Swanson broke it up with a leadoff double and scored on an Ender Inciarte RBI single. He would then steal second and score on a Freddie Freeman RBI single to tie the ball game.

Then, after the DBacks retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth, Dansby Swanson struck again, launching a two-run bomb to center off of Keuchel to put Atlanta up 4-3. A Jake Lamb sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh tied the game back up at 4-4.

Archie Bradley came on in the eighth and the wheels fell off. Inciarte, Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr all singled to load the bases. Ozzie Albies then lined a single to put the Braves up 5-4. Andrew Chafin came in and walked Brian McCann to walk in a run and then gave up and RBI groundout and the Braves went up by three.

In the ninth, it was more of the same as Freddie Freeman blasted a long two-run home run off of Chafin to put the Braves up 9-4.

This was a complete meltdown from the bullpen that has been pretty shaky so far in 2019. The loss ended the DBacks season high four-game winning streak.

In game two, it was more bullpen trouble for Arizona, this time blowing a 4-0 lead and a great pitching performance from Taijuan Walker in losing 8-4. The Braves scored three in the eighth and four in the ninth, led by Ronald Acuna Jr., who went 3 for 4 with a home run and two doubles.

Leading 4-1 in the eighth with Matt Koch on the mound, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run home run to left to cut the DBacks lead to 4-3. Torey Lovullo decided to stick with Koch for one more batter and it backfired as Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a moon shot on the very next pitch to tie the game at 4-4.

Derek Holland came on to get the DBacks out of the eighth. He was sent back out there in the ninth and got the first two outs before surrendering a double to Nick Markakis and an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman. Archie Bradley was brought in to face Ronald Acuna Jr. and he promptly hit an RBI double to put Atlanta in front 5-4. Ozzie Albies then crushed a Bradley fastball into the seats in right to make it 8-4.

For Bradley, his last two outings saw him throw 1/3 of an inning, allowing five runs on six hits. His ERA has ballooned to 10.50.

Notes: After the game, the DBacks optioned Christian Walker to Triple-A Reno. He was hitting just .162 in 74 at bats with one home run and eight RBIs. They recalled Yasmany Tomas from Reno after adding him to their 40-man roster.

Game three was another slugfest as the DBacks built a 15-0 lead, then survived an eight run eighth inning by the Braves to break their two game losing streak.

Zack Greinke (6-2) was masterful again, in his return from a shoulder sprain. IN the series finale on Sunday afternoon, Greinke tossed eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out eight and did not issue a walk.

Greinke helped himself with a sacrifice fly in the third inning, scoring recently called up Yasmany Tomas. RBI doubles from Adam Jones and Blake Swihart in the fourth provided the rest of the DBacks offense.

Andrew Chafin made it interesting in the ninth. He gave up a double to Nick Markakis with one out. Freddie Freeman then grounded a single up the middle and advanced to second on a Chafin wild pitch, setting up the Braves to tie the ball game with just a base hit. But Chafin would get Ozzie Albies looking at a called third strike, and Brian McCann to pop out to Nick Ahmed to end the game to earn his eighth save.

The DBacks (19-22) will now welcome Pittsburgh (15-23) into town for a three game series beginning on Monday evening.

Zack Greinke leads the National League with six wins

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MAY 13-15: PITTSBURGH (16-25) @ ARIZONA (21-23)

May 13: DBacks 6, Pirates 0
May 14: DBacks 4, Pirates 3
May 15: Pirates 4, DBacks 3

Arizona took two of three from the Pirates, cruising in game one, then playing two tight games to close out the series.

The DBacks took the opener behind six shutout innings from Dallas Keuchel as they blanked the Pirates 6-0. Keuchel (1-1) allowed just three hits and walked one as the DBacks recorded their first shutout of 2019, blanking the Bucs.

Arizona would get all the offense that they would need in the first inning on a David Peralta solo shot into the pool. It was his seventh on the season.

Joe Musgrove (4-3) came into the game leading the National League with a stingy 1.20 ERA, but he lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine base hits.

The DBacks took game two, scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh to rally to a 4-3 victory. David Peralta blasted a two-run double off of Keone Kela to put the DBacks ahead.

Derek Holland and Andrew Chafin then nailed down the victory, Arizona’s fourth straight. It was also the Pirates sixth straight loss.

Note: Robbie Ray left the game after just two pitches in the first inning with a broken fingernail on his left hand. He is not expected to miss his next start. Matt Koch pitched 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, allowing one run on four hits.

In the finale, the DBacks wasted a great pitching performance from Zack Godley as the bullpen once again failed them in a 4-3 loss. Godley carried a no hitter into the seventh inning. Then left the game in the eighth with two runners on and a 2-0 lead. Archie Bradley promptly came in and blew the lead. He allowed three hits and three runs to score, while recording just one out.

A Steve Baron RBI double in the top of the ninth off of Yoshihisa Hirano was a huge insurance run as Arizona scored one in the bottom half on a Wilmer Flores pinch-hit RBI double, and stranded the tying run at third.

Eduardo Escobar homered to center in the fifth off the base of the scoreboard. His ninth home run on the season traveled an estimated 454 feet.

Arizona (21-23) has tomorrow off before welcoming San Francisco (24-19) in for a three game weekend series to close out the 10-game home stand.

Eduardo Escobar leads all third basemen in All-Star voting in the National League.

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MAY 17-19: SAN FRANCISCO (25-21) @ ARIZONA (23-24)

May 17: DBacks 11, Giants 7
May 18: DBacks 7, Giants 6
May 19: Giants 7, DBacks 6 (11)

Arizona took two of three from the San Francisco Giants as they continue their nice run of play after starting the season at 0-8. Only an extra inning loss in the finale prevented the DBacks from a sweep.

Arizona rallied from an early three run deficit in the opener to defeat the San Francisco Giants 11-7 on Friday night at Chase Field. Christian Walker hit a three run blast in the seventh to break a 6-6 tie and send the DBacks on to victory.

Arizona batted around in the fifth inning, scoring six times to go from down three runs to up three runs. But the Giants would rally to tie it with one run in the sixth and two more in the top of the seventh, on a Brandon Belt two-run shot off of Yoshihisa Hirano.

Hirano would pick up the win though as Walker’s home run in the bottom of the seventh proved to be the difference. Walker, mired in an awful slump and hitting just .153 coming into the game, went 1 for 2 with the three run home run and a walk.

In game two, the DBacks bullpen blew a late lead in the ninth, then the DBacks offense picked them up to walk it off with a 7-6 victory on Saturday evening. Adam Jones lined a one-out double to left to score Katel Marte with the winning run as Arizona got to the .500 mark for the first time in 2019.

The Giants knocked Zack Greinke out after just five innings, scoring four runs on ten hits. He did not have his best stuff and the Giants hit him hard. But they could not take advantage of it.

Arizona would score twice in the fifth on a Christian Walker home run and an Adam Jones RBI double. Christian Walker would add an RBI double in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.

Eduardo Escobar then hit a home run into the pool in the seventh off of Reyes Moronto, it was his second of the game and 11th on the season.

But the Arizona bullpen struck again. This time it was closer Andrew Chafin. After Steven Duggar reached on a Christian Walker error, he would score on a wild pitch from Chafin to tie the game. A second Chafin wild pitch moved Austin Slater to third and he scored on a Yangervis Solarte RBI single.

But the DBacks rallied in the bottom half off of Giants closer Will Smith. Katel Marte hit an RBI double to tie the game and one-out later, Adam Jones doubled to right to score Marte with the game winner.

In the finale, the Giants used a five run fourth inning off of Dallas Keuchel to help power them to a 7-6 extra inning victory. Steven Duggar went 3 for 5 with a triple and drove in two runs to lead the Giants to the win.

After falling behind 5-1 in the fourth, Arizona rallied and eventually tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a David Peralta RBI single. But in the 11th, former DBack Gerrardo Parra hit a two-run home run off of Yoan Lopez.

Arizona would get one back in the bottom of the inning on a David Peralta RBI double, but Adam Jones flew out to center to end the ball game. Peralta drove in four runs for the DBacks in the loss.

Arizona (23-24) will now hit the road for ten games against the National League West with three in San Diego and San Francisco, followed by four in Colorado.

Eduardo Escobar is knocking the cover off of the ball.