Bullpen Slams Door, Offense Rallies: D’Backs 7 – O’s 4

No. 12 for No. 22
(photo by Paul Connors)

"When Cruz strikes out the pitcher right there, you could really kind of feel the momentum shift. We had bases loaded right there. We would be happy probably to come away with one and to be able to get it back with nothing in our dugout, and then [Eric Byrnes] goes deep, and it just seemed like that was a huge momentum swing at the time."
– Mgr. Bob Melvin

It was another short night for Livan Hernandez. Four earned runs in four innings plus two batters in the 5th. But Juan Cruz followed and pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth. And the Snakes, who picked up 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th, added 3 in the fifth, and two in the sixth, to beat the Baltimoe Orioles 7-4.

Carlos Quentin was the hero with the glove. WIth two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, Q grabbed a ball at the wall that looked like it was headed out. It’s a good sign that he’s not taking his hitting woes out to the field. The Diamondbacks need better defense than they’ve shown of late.

Good News, Bad News. Bad News First: Eric Byrnes struck out looking twice yesterday and his K/BB ratio now exceeds 2. (It’s 2.04 to be exact). He hasn’t walked in ages and is on pace to exceed to 88 K’s he had last year. In fact, he’s on pace to exceed 100 K’s again. Wrong direction, Byrnesie!) The good news is that he homered again. It was his third homer in 5 games and, as Bob Melvin said, part of the momentum shift of the game.

Jose Valverde got his 75th save as a D’Back, making him the all-time franchise leader. Papa Grande now has 24 saves on the year. He definitely has to be on the All-Star team (as does a certain Diamondbacks outfielder).

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