Yay, Offense. Boo, Bullpen

Everyone knows how much I hate losing to bad baseball teams (i.e Chicago Cubs). Arizona was able to salvage a game on Tuesday night, but I did not find myself as happy as I should have been. Patrick Corbin was great, per usual. I have said it before about this team, but the bullpen has been rather soft lately. David Hernandez and Tony Sipp should be happy that the offense did not sleep through their alarms again.

Does anyone know if Lakes’ homerun has landed yet? Image: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

I am not going to include Heath Bell in this post because he was good on Tuesday night. Heath faced four batters and struck out two of them – neat! The problem lies with Hernandez, who gave up a home run to Nate Schierholtz that almost landed in the Ram trucks pool. I feel like I should mention Ram trucks because Steve Berthiaume always does. The line last night was not anything to write home about. David faced five batters. He walked one, and struck out one. Along with the K, DH gave up two earned runs, both coming from the homer by Schierholtz. The only good thing about the home run was that those chill bros by the pool got a souvenir. I know it sounds like I am not a big David Hernandez fan, but I just prefer that our “pitchers” do their job when they are summoned.

Tony Sipp has actually been pretty decent lately, including Tuesday night (kind of). Sipp struck out two batters, but he also gave up a home run to Junior Lake that just landed somewhere near Tucson. I know the game was a laugher at the time, but the struggles from the bullpen the other night are very apropos of the season. Sipp and Hernandez were lucky last night that the offense did their job and gave some support. New rule: David Hernandez can’t come in to pitch if the Diamondbacks are leading by less than 10 runs. Sound good? Okay. Bullpen struggles are inevitable and I get that, but if this team is expecting to make a playoff push, all the cogs need to working together. Now is not the time to take your foot off the gas pedal. I’m talking to you, bullpen!

Also, on a somewhat related side note, it makes me sad when Miguel Montero is not in the lineup. In case you are wondering, I have started to grow a mustache in honor of Adam Eaton. After a twelve inning loss on Wednesday night, Wade Miley will be on the mound on Thursday night for the Snakes, while Chet Steadman will pitch for Chicago. Not really, but that would be fun!

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