Diamondbacks-5 Cubs-2: I’m not making this up!

Lets be real. The Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t been doing alot of winning so far in 2014. Thats why before the game on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Team President Derrick Hall basically said this was a must win for team desperate of a series split and some momentum to take with them back home for a 6 game homestand at Chase. Well the boys in Sedona Red answered the call winning 5-2 in a game that featured good starting pitching, offense, and for the most part a good performance out of the pen resulting in the Dbacks second win in a row, and a series split with Cubs: again I am not making this up!

Both team’s scored in the first inning. The Dbacks took a 1-0 lead when Gerardo Parra lead off the game with a single and scored two outs later when Miguel Montero laced a double into the right field corner. The most surprising part of that play was the fact that the Dbacks actually got a two out hit to score a run! The Cubs tied the score in bottom half of the inning thanks in large part to an error by LF Rodger Kieschnick who was playing in his first game since being recalled from Triple A Reno. The Dbacks grabbed the lead right back in the second on a RBI double by Campana.

The real story of the game though was the pitching performance of rookie Mike Bolsinger. Bolsinger grew up in Chicago as a Blackhawks fan had family and friends in attendence and boy did he captivate on his opportunity to pitch at historic Wrigley Field pitching into the 7th inning going 6 and two thirds allowing 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 7.

Instead of sitting in his hotel room for the start the night before, Bolsinger went to the Blackhawks Blues playoff game at the United Center, and watched his boyhood team pullout a 4-3 overtime win in game 4. Bolsinger talked about that experience with MLB.com: “I kind of took the excitement of that game out onto the mound,” he said. “That kind of stuff fires me up. I love hockey. I played when I was little. Growing up and in high school. That was one of the first sports I ever played before baseball.” What he did worked and the team needed it: it was only the fourth quality start by a Snakes starter all season. Bolsinger also collected his first career hit and RBI driving in Campana in the second.

The Dbacks would score two more runs off Cubs reliever Jose Veras in the eighth inning for some insurance and Addison Reed closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save. Overall, it was a great game for the Dbacks-probably there first well played game of the whole year in all areas. Hopefully they can carry this game into the next homestand and win at home. Manager Kirk Gibson did say that despite going 3-4 on the road trip, the guys feel better about themselves. Lets hope it starts a long winning streak.