Diamondbacks Notes: April 18, 2009
* ARI @ SF, GAMES 1 & 2 - Diamondbacks Nation feels for Dan Haren. In his three starts, he has allowed a total of 4 ER on 12 H and 3 BB with 17 K. To show for his efforts, Haren has a record of 0-3 after losing to the Giants by a 2-0 score on Friday night.
Haren (6 IP, 5 H, ER, 0 BB, 6 K) was sharp in Game 1 of the series, but the Snakes could get nothing going off San Francisco lefty Jonathan Sanchez (6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K). Only Felipe Lopez (2/4, 2B) and Justin Upton (1/4, 2B) posed any real threat.
The clubs locked up in a pitching duel again on Saturday afternoon. In Game 2, the previous night's result was reversed: a Snakes lefty defeated the Giants ace.
Doug Davis went eight innings and pitched out of trouble several times to earn the win against a suddenly in-form Tim Lincecum. Lincecum went eight innings with 13 K before the Giants called on Brian Wilson to pitch the ninth. Chris B. Young started his at-bat with two strikes, then worked the count full before connecting on a double that scored two runs.
Chad Qualls struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to preserve a much-needed 2-0 victory for Arizona.
* GRUDGE MATCH - Saturday's win earns the Diamondbacks another chance to take its first series of the year. Game 3 against the Giants promises to be especially juicy, in that it will mark the Snakes' first head-to-head battle with Randy Johnson.
The Unit left Arizona to sign a one-year, $8M deal with San Francisco in the off-season. He felt slighted by what he considered a low-ball offer from the Diamondbacks, whose cries of poverty were belied by the contract the club eventually inked with Jon Garland.
Johnson is always an intimidating presence. Against his former club, bearing a grudge, and with his 300th win in sight, we expect RJ to be pure nasty.
His opponent, Max Scherzer, has the strikeout stuff to stymie the Giants and defeat Johnson, but lacks the surly aura of San Francisco's 6'10" southpaw.
We want to see two things on Sunday afternoon: a Diamondbacks win and an effort by Scherzer to match Johnson's legendary intensity.
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