Glaus saves D-Backs from Royal collapse
PHOENIX -- Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" was being blasted on a loop in the Arizona clubhouse, but the soundtrack hardly matched the mood following the Diamondbacks' 12-11 victory in 10 innings against Kansas City on Friday.
Sure, Troy Glaus provided a dramatic ending, scraping a towering fly ball off the top of the fence and into the Arizona bullpen for a walk-off home run.
Sure, Shawn Green had his best game as a Diamondback, blasting two homers of his own and driving in a season-high five runs.
And sure, Russ Ortiz threw an encouraging seven innings against the Royals.
But the Diamondbacks were far from celebratory after clinching their first winning streak since mid-May because they shouldn't have needed their first extra-inning victory in six tries Friday, not after storming out to an 11-2 lead after five innings.
"It shouldn't end up like that, but we'll take a win," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin.
Kansas City opened the scoring on a Terrence Long double in the first, but Kansas City starter Zack Greinke could hold that lead for all of two batters. Craig Counsell led off with a single and scored on a triple by Alex Cintron. Luis Gonzalez, Green and Chad Tracy each had RBI doubles in the inning.
Although Greinke hit his first career home run in the fifth, he couldn't survive the bottom half. He was lifted after getting just one out in the inning and was charged for 11 runs.
Most of the damage was done by Green, who roped an opposite-field home run in the third and then pulled a two-run shot to right in the fourth. His sacrifice fly in the fifth capped a four-run rally to push the lead to nine.
"I just got a couple of fastballs," said Green, who had been hitless in eight at-bats entering Friday's contest. "I was able to do what I wanted to with them and it felt good."
Ortiz left the game with an eight-run cushion and the bullpen needing to get just six outs to nail down his fifth victory of the season -- a win that had eluded him in his previous three starts. But the 11-3 lead Ortiz left with didn't prove to be comfortable enough for the Arizona bullpen, which has been hitter-friendly lately.
Russ Ortiz / P
Born: 06/05/74
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 210 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
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"As a starter, I guess a lot of times you're rated on your won-loss record," said Ortiz, who got a no-decision. "You can't control the wins and losses sometimes, and this is one of those days. ... We won today, so that's the most important thing. It wasn't the way we wanted to win, but we still won."
Edgar Gonzalez and Matt Herges combined to give up six runs while retiring just two Royals in the eighth inning. Javier Lopez then came in and walked both batters he faced. In all, the Royals drew six walks in the inning. After Lance Cormier finally stopped the bleeding by inducing a Ruben Gotay groundout, what was left of the Bank One Ballpark crowd let out a loud mock cheer.
But the bullpen's charitableness proved to be contagious even for Cormier, who has been the D-Backs' most dependable setup man all year. Melvin showed his confidence in Cormier by letting him hit in the eighth with runners on the corners and two outs, but a Matt Stairs single with two outs tied the game at 11 in the ninth.
"He got the big, big out in the eighth and I had two guys left in the bullpen and that's why he stayed in the game," Melvin said. "I had confidence with a two-run lead that he'd go out there and seal it. They got some good at-bats and obviously ended up tying it. Certainly, I can be second-guessed."
After Arizona went down in order in the ninth, closer Brian Bruney came in and settled things down by pitching a perfect 10th.
Glaus led off the bottom of the inning and turned on a 2-1 Mike MacDougal offering that was up in the zone. As the ball flew toward the wall, it appeared left fielder Shane Costa might have a play, but the ball eluded Costa's glove and eked over the fence to allow the Diamondbacks to blow a sigh of relief.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
Sure, Troy Glaus provided a dramatic ending, scraping a towering fly ball off the top of the fence and into the Arizona bullpen for a walk-off home run.
Sure, Shawn Green had his best game as a Diamondback, blasting two homers of his own and driving in a season-high five runs.
And sure, Russ Ortiz threw an encouraging seven innings against the Royals.
But the Diamondbacks were far from celebratory after clinching their first winning streak since mid-May because they shouldn't have needed their first extra-inning victory in six tries Friday, not after storming out to an 11-2 lead after five innings.
"It shouldn't end up like that, but we'll take a win," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin.
Kansas City opened the scoring on a Terrence Long double in the first, but Kansas City starter Zack Greinke could hold that lead for all of two batters. Craig Counsell led off with a single and scored on a triple by Alex Cintron. Luis Gonzalez, Green and Chad Tracy each had RBI doubles in the inning.
Although Greinke hit his first career home run in the fifth, he couldn't survive the bottom half. He was lifted after getting just one out in the inning and was charged for 11 runs.
Most of the damage was done by Green, who roped an opposite-field home run in the third and then pulled a two-run shot to right in the fourth. His sacrifice fly in the fifth capped a four-run rally to push the lead to nine.
"I just got a couple of fastballs," said Green, who had been hitless in eight at-bats entering Friday's contest. "I was able to do what I wanted to with them and it felt good."
Ortiz left the game with an eight-run cushion and the bullpen needing to get just six outs to nail down his fifth victory of the season -- a win that had eluded him in his previous three starts. But the 11-3 lead Ortiz left with didn't prove to be comfortable enough for the Arizona bullpen, which has been hitter-friendly lately.
Russ Ortiz / P
Born: 06/05/74
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 210 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
More info:
Player page
Stats | Splits
Gallery
Team Site | Shop
"As a starter, I guess a lot of times you're rated on your won-loss record," said Ortiz, who got a no-decision. "You can't control the wins and losses sometimes, and this is one of those days. ... We won today, so that's the most important thing. It wasn't the way we wanted to win, but we still won."
Edgar Gonzalez and Matt Herges combined to give up six runs while retiring just two Royals in the eighth inning. Javier Lopez then came in and walked both batters he faced. In all, the Royals drew six walks in the inning. After Lance Cormier finally stopped the bleeding by inducing a Ruben Gotay groundout, what was left of the Bank One Ballpark crowd let out a loud mock cheer.
But the bullpen's charitableness proved to be contagious even for Cormier, who has been the D-Backs' most dependable setup man all year. Melvin showed his confidence in Cormier by letting him hit in the eighth with runners on the corners and two outs, but a Matt Stairs single with two outs tied the game at 11 in the ninth.
"He got the big, big out in the eighth and I had two guys left in the bullpen and that's why he stayed in the game," Melvin said. "I had confidence with a two-run lead that he'd go out there and seal it. They got some good at-bats and obviously ended up tying it. Certainly, I can be second-guessed."
After Arizona went down in order in the ninth, closer Brian Bruney came in and settled things down by pitching a perfect 10th.
Glaus led off the bottom of the inning and turned on a 2-1 Mike MacDougal offering that was up in the zone. As the ball flew toward the wall, it appeared left fielder Shane Costa might have a play, but the ball eluded Costa's glove and eked over the fence to allow the Diamondbacks to blow a sigh of relief.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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