Arizona Diamondbacks Game Recap: Comeback Falls Short On Opening Day
Final. 4. 8. 5. 40
Game Recap:
The Arizona Diamondbacks comeback fell short in a 5-4 loss to the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants in front of 49,043 at Chase Field on Opening Night.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner showed no signs that he was going to come back to earth this season picking right where he left off in the World Series.
He allowed just one one run in seven innings. Diamondbacks hitters struggled all night to do anything against him.
The Giants got on the board first in the third inning. After Bumgarner grounded out to first to start the inning, Nori Aoki singled to center.
Joe Panik doubled to center, and it looked like the Giants would take the early lead. However, Aoki took to many steps around third and he got caught in a rundown and was out at home 8-6-5-2. Panik was at third after all of that.
In the end the Giants still scored when Angel Pagan signed home Panik with two outs, and the visitors took a 1-0 lead.
The Diamondbacks would answer back in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Ender Inciarte singled to center.
After Paul Goldschmidt lined out to right, Mark Trumbo tripled to center on a ball that went off the wall just missing home run distance. Inciarte scored and the game was tied at 1.
The Giants broke things open against Diamondbacks starter Josh Collmenter scoring four runs in the fifth. Angel Pagan drove in one run, and Brandon Crawford dealt the big blow with a two run double off of reliever Andrew Chafin.
On that play, Trumbo misplayed the ball in right, and was charged with a costly error that ultimately lead to those runs.
Collmenter labored through the first four innings of his outing. Seven Giants reached base, but only one scored, and it all caught up to him in the fifth. He managed to not go five innings in a disappointing opening day outing.
The Diamondbacks made things interesting in the eighth scoring three runs on a three run double by Jake Lamb to make it 5-4, but reliever Jeremy Affeldt struck out pinch-hitter David Peralta to end the inning.
The Dbacks went down in order in the ninth to end the game. San Francisco’s first three hitters went 8-9 in the first five innings.
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Thoughts and Observations:
Showing Fight: It was nice to see the Diamondbacks be able to come back and not give up. The offense showed great signs late which will hopefully carry over for the rest of the series. Jake Lamb is going to be something special against right-handers.
Mixed Bag on Defense: The Diamondbacks flashed the leather early in the game making some nice defensive plays in the infield, but ultimately Trumbo’s error in the fifth loomed large. He is still getting used to playing right, but he is going to have to be a lot better considering he worked on it all spring.
Baseball is a Crazy Game: Who would have thought that Trumbo would collect the team’s first triple, and Tuffy Gosewisch would collect the team’s first hit of the season. I certainly didn’t.
RISP: The Diamondbacks were 2-7 with RISP and left eight runners on base. Baseball is all about taking advantage of run scoring opportunities, and the Diamondbacks couldn’t do that. When you have a runner on second with one out late in the game, you have to find a way to bring that run to the plate.
Next Up:
The Diamondbacks will look to even up the series with the Giants as Rubby De La Rosa takes the mound for his Diamondbacks debut. He will be opposed by Giants RHP Ryan Volgelsong. The game begins at 6:40 P.M. MST.