Sep 19, 2013
Photo Credit: Rob Leifheit-USA TODAY Sports
It was a cool-ish summer night in Phoenix. The roof was open at Chase Field and the rival Dodgers were in town. A single game away from clinching the MLB’s first playoff berth it was win-and-you’re-in situation for the team from Los Angeles. But the Dbacks still believed in something; they believed in pride and they believed in themselves. No playoff berth for the Dodgers, not on this night, not in Phoenix.
The Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was a late scratch; instead Stephen Fife was the man on the mound for the blue and whites. In his first year in the big leagues the right hander out of Boise Idaho had a 3.86 ERA. Fife had not pitched more than three innings in his last two starts; it was much more of the same from him on this night.
With a man on base in the bottom of the first Paul Goldschmidt knocked in his 34th home run of the year. The two runs from Goldy’s bomb were the only runs allowed by Fife in the first but it could have, and probably should have, been much worse. Fife weaseled his way out of a bases loaded jam to end the inning. Fife struggled his way through the second inning and by the third inning it was time to for the Dodgers to call the bullpen. In just 2.1 innings pitched Fife faced 18 batters and allowed 3 runs.
Enter the Dodgers carousel of former closers; first up, Carlos Marmol. Things continued badly for the Dodgers as Marmol took his place on the rubber. With two runners on Marmol struggled to find the strike zone and walked the pitcher. If nothing else Marmol was consistent, he followed his walk to the pitcher with a bases loaded walk to Adam Eaton. Unfortunately for the snakes they would squander another bases loaded opportunity and allow the Dodgers to slink off the field with score 4-0.
Leading off for the Dodgers was the Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig. Puig is a fiery player who plays balls to the wall every inning; this was his second plate appearance on the night and he launched a 442 foot moon shot putting the Dodgers on the scoreboard. The 4th was the toughest inning for Arizona starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy. After allowing Carl Crawford and Michael young to reach base McCarthy lost the battle at the plate to Adrian Gonzalez who knocked an RBI single in to right field. Thankfully for the Dbacks, McCarthy was able to collect himself and record three straight outs to end the inning. DBacks still leading 4-2.
The only item worth noting in the 5th inning is that the Dodgers relieved former closer Carlos Marmol and brought in former closer Brandon League. There are a lot of former closers who have lost their jobs in that Dodger bullpen. Not that Arizona fans have anything to chuckle at, if it weren’t for our bullpen we might still be in contention.
Even as a Dbacks fan I know the Dodgers should have scored a run in the sixth. They were robbed of a run by the umpires, and I applaud the umpire who did it. Michael young lead off the inning for the Dodgers with a single. Adrian Gonzalez followed him with a double to deep left-center. Michael Young isn’t the young man he once was but he motored around the bases and made the turn towards home. The Dbacks relay throws from the outfield have been outstanding this year and Adam Eaton unloaded his canon to get the ball into rookie shortstop Chris Owings who made a beautiful throw to Miguel Montero for a play at the plate. Hands down Michael Young was safe. Miguel Montero knew it, Young knew it, Gonzalez knew it, the entire stadium knew it. Everyone except notoriously blind Jim Joyce (first base umpire who rotated to cover the plate) saw Michael young score the run. Old Jimmy boy called him out at the plate, it was beautiful. It was so beautiful that Adrian Gonzalez couldn’t contain his overwhelming joy (or anger) at second base and got himself tossed from the game. A run was stolen from the Dodgers and their all-star first baseman was thrown from the game. A great inning for Dbacks fans, a crime against humanity for the Dodgers. Life is about perspective.
In the eighth inning the Dodgers would inch closer with a Federowicz double to center that scored the runner Nick Punto, but the Dodgers never truly recovered from the debacle of the sixth inning. Dodger’s reliever Paco Rodriguez was relieved by former closer Brian Wilson in the seventh and former closer Brian Wilson was relieved by former closer Roland Belasario. Belasario showed fans why he lost his closer job by allowing the Dbacks to score five more insurance runs to put the game on ice.
Going in to the top of the ninth the Dbacks lead 9-3 and it was time to call our closer by elimination Brad Zeigler. Zeigler has performed admirably since inheriting the closer role from a comity of spaghetti armed AARP members. Although Zeigler allowed a home run with two outs he still managed to seal the win for the home town Diamondbacks.
In my many years of Diamondback fandom and attending games against the rival Dodgers, this game was one of the best. Not for its pitching prowess or its mind blowing defensive plays, this game was about the atmosphere, the fans, and playing spoiler to one of baseball’s hottest teams. This game has fostered a small belief that there may in fact be a God, and he is a Dback fan. The Dbacks will attempt to keep the Dodgers from clenching a playoff berth once again on Wednesday at 12:40pm MST. Say your prayers for the glorious Arizona Diamondbacks.
UPDATE:
The Dbacks lost a heartbreaker to the Dodgers. The Dodgers are the first team in the MLB to clinch a playoff berth. There is no God.
James Green
James is a freelance writer who frequently works in the tech field. To keep himself sane he takes a break from tech and security and watches sports... ok, he mostly works to fund his love of sports. On off days James can be found in baseball, football, basketball or hockey stadiums cheering for all Arizona sports teams and his beloved Green Bay Packers.
