Diamondbacks bats EXPLODE Friday Afternoon with Josh Rojas leading the way

The Arizona Diamondbacks, led by Josh Rojas, held a Home Run Derby against the Cubs

On Friday afternoon, during a super windy day, the Diamondbacks demolished the Cubs' pitching en route to a 10-6 win by them. This felt more like a Coors Field game than a Wrigley Field game. In a game that had 11 HRs hit, the Dbacks hit 7 of them, with JOSH ROJAS hitting 3! Yes, it was insanely windy. That doesn't mean that Rojas hit HRs that shouldn't have gone out.

All three of Josh's HRs had an average exit velocity above 98.8 MPH while traveling at least 400 feet. Sure, the wind might've helped the ball a couple of feet further. Despite that, these were hard-hit HRs that fully went out on their own. His lowest HR had an expected batting average of .410 which means that players who hit the ball the same have a batting average of .410 which is insanely good. This was only the 13th time in club history that a player has hit 3 HRs for the Dbacks in the same game.

Of course, it wasn't just Josh Rojas' Day as David Peralta joined in on the fun with 2 HRs of his own. In fact, Josh and David both hit HRs in the 3rd and 5th innings. This was the first time a pair of teammates on the Diamondbacks hit multiple HRs through the first 5 innings of a game ever. Peralta's HRs weren't wind-aided either as they were both smoked at over 100 mph exit velocity while having at least an XBA of .480.

The hometown kid Alek Thomas smashed an HR as well which had to feel good. I know his family was watching and some were even at the game. Meanwhile, Christian Walker lined a sharp HR out in the 9th inning to just add to the Dbacks score total. Jake McCarthy, back up from Reno after Jacob Webb was sent down, had a 2-RBI hit in the 1st inning.

Perhaps the best sign is the fact that the Diamondbacks walked 4 times while only striking out 7 times. That's a great ratio. The team had 12 hits with Rojas leading the way in hits (3) and RBI (4). They smashed Cubs' starter, Kyle Hendricks, for 7 runs in only 5 innings. In fact, the team scored off every Cubs pitcher that pitched. The teams combined for 11 HRs this game, but they also combined for only 10 hits in Thursday's game.

Humberto Castellanos struggled to start the game giving up 3 runs over the first couple of frames. He quickly settled down to give the team 5.1 innings of good pitching. He struck out 5, walked 1, and only give up 5 hits. Even Caleb Smith did well until a couple of misplaced balls got smacked out. He still struck out 2 in 1.1 innings while keeping the Dbacks well ahead. Noe Ramirez shut the rally of the Cubs down for 1.1 innings while striking out 2 and Sean Poppen allowed 1 run in the 9th before closing the game. Humberto got his 3rd win of the year.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have won 2 in a row and look to win the series tomorrow morning against the Cubs.

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