Diamondbacks Notes: April 7, 2009
* ROCKIES TAKE GAME 2 - Colorado shut out Arizona 3-0 on Tuesday night, evening both clubs' records at 1-1. The season's second game was radically different from the opener. After trading runs early and often in Game 1, both clubs were held scoreless tonight until the fifth inning. Leading off the inning, Troy Tulowitzki cracked his second home run in as many games on a first-pitch curveball that Dan Haren grooved over the heart of the plate. The pitch was the only real miscue of the night for Haren, who didn't walk a batter and finished with a handsome line of 7 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 9 K.
If the Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez (7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K) was not quite as sharp, he came through when it counted. Jimenez induced a double-play to end Arizona's two-on, no-out threat in the second. He again put a pair of runners on before striking out Miguel Montero to end the Diamondbacks' threat in the sixth.
Colorado tacked on a pair of runs against Jon Rauch to extend the lead in the eighth, although Doug Slaten bears some of the blame for failing to retire Todd Helton. On a two-out single to center off Slaten, Helton drove in Ian Stewart, whose run was charged to Rauch. The Snakes offense failed to click in the late innings, so Arizona will need a win in tomorrow's matinee to emerge victorious in the season's first series.
* REYNOLDS & UPTON DEBUT - Opening Day saw surprise starts by Tony Clark at 1B (moving Chad Tracy to 3B) and Eric Byrnes in RF. That left presumptive starters Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton riding the pines in Game 1. There's no arguing with the results from Monday's 9-8 Diamondbacks win, especially with Reynolds taking the "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" approach. Making their first starts of the season from the seventh and eighth spots in the lineup, Reynolds went 1/4 with a single and a strikeout, while Upton was 0/2, 2 BB, 2 K.
* NL WEST WATCH - Yes, it's a touch early to look at the standings ... and yet we can't help ourselves. After the Dodgers opened the season with a win against the Padres on Monday, San Diego ensured a four-way tie for second place by beating Los Angeles 4-2 tonight. The Giants got a late start to the season, but overcame a shaky start from reigning NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum (3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) for a 10-6 victory over the Brewers. At 1-0, San Francisco sits alone atop the NL West.
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