One more day in High Desert for the Rawhide, as they capped off their three-game set on Wednesday. Predictably, it was another wild and woolly affair with a total of 20 runs on 27 hits, although there were no single-game all-time Cal League records matched like there were on Tuesday. Visalia finally leaves that forsaken wind tunnel of a park today, beginning a homestand that first sees them take on San Jose, so we can expect a return to actual baseball in a park that only slightly helps out hitters.
Snakelet of the Day:
Chris Owings (Hi-A): 4-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI, K, HBP, CS
Hi-A Visalia's Upcoming Schedule: Home Series vs. San Jose and Bakersfield (NOT AT HIGH DESERT)
Overall: 5-9 - Home: 3-5 - Road: 2-4
Record: 16-22. Pace: 68-94. Change on last season: 0
Jamie Moyer became the oldest starting pitcher to win a game in baseball history, for the second time this season, as his wily left-handed off-speed stuff succeeded in keeping the D-backs monumentally off balance. All we mustered off Moyer was a Cody Ransom RBI double, and with the aid of some spectacularly inept defense - how does the pitcher managed to drive in two runs with an infield squibber? - Patrick Corbin succumbed to defeat. Dan will be along with the recap in a bit, but just stare at the box-score in the meantime. Try to avoid sobbing gently.
Thanks, Jim. I'm (Dan) here. Hey, Jim said to avoid the sobbing.
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Jamie Moyer made his debut on June 16, 1986, beating the Phillies.The pitcher who opposed Moyer and lost to him on that day, Steve Carlton, is now aged 67. That more or less sums up the amazing longevity on display tonight, who continues to defy Father Time in a way that can only be explained by a very geriatric painting, hanging in a corner of Chez Moyer. Either that, or he's a vampire: anyone checked to see if he has appeared in any day games this season? Still, if he were to crumble into a pile of pitching dust this evening, impaled on a shard of maple, we wouldn't necessarily mind.
Line-uo and where the Diamondbacks were on the day Moyer reached the big leagues, after the jump.
The Diamondbacks' last four wins have all come when scoring exactly five runs,. Indeed, we are 9-1 this season when putting up a five-spot. Which is odd, because we are only 5-3 when scoring more than five times. Guess that lulls our pitchers into a false sense of security or something. Suspect five runs might not be enough in the next couple of games, this being Coors Field...
Recaps
The pitching and offense both struggled on the home stand last week, so don't expect much out of a 2-5 week. However, some players seem to be turning their ships around. We just need this flotilla to all go the same direction.
Read on to see how all the Diamondbacks have done this past week.
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It doesn't seem that long ago that the Diamondbacks had a dangerous offense. Sure, there was tremendous strikeout potential, but with that also came power and runs. Even if no one guy was mashing 40 or 50 home runs, nearly every regular player seeming was hitting 15 or 20. If they did anything wrong it wasn't striking out, it was playing on teams that had tremendously awful or inconsistent pitching.
So changes were made and the Diamondbacks we used to know went away. There's nothing wrong with change, and there's more than one way to construct a winning team. The dampened offense is only noticeable during losing streaks, when it seems like getting any runs will be an impossible task.
