Diamondback Journal

Brandon Webb started off the 2008 campaign with a strong six inning performance in a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Webb had six strikeouts, and only surrendered two runs on three hits to the Reds offense on the day.

The offense was provided on three solo homers. Chris Young got it started with a homer in the third, followed two batters later by Eric Byrnes hitting the second solo shot of the inning. Jeff Salazer blasted the third homer in the seventh as a pinch hitter for Webb.

Reds pitcher Aaron Harang took the loss despite an almost identical outing as Webb. Harang gave up only two earned runs on three hits and notched six punch outs. Brandon Lyon earned the save for the Diamondbacks in his new role, striking out two of the three batters he faced. Tony Pena and Chad Qualls threw a shutout inning each, with one strikeout apiece.

Dan Haren will make his D’backs debut tomorrow against Bronson Arroyo.

When going through a routine physical in early February, starting pitcher Doug Davis was expecting nothing more than that: routine. What came from that physical was anything but. Team physician Roger McCoy informed Davis on Wednesday that a firm nodule found during the physical was a form of cancer.

Davis plans to make his first two starts of the season before undergoing surgery to remove the lump from his throat. After the surgery it will be about four to six weeks before Davis can be back on the mound.

The Diamondbacks will close out Cactus League play on Friday with a game against the Colorado Rockies. On Saturday, they will play an exhibition game at Chase Field before heading north to Cincinnati to open the season against the Reds with a three-game series. Following the Cincinnati series will be a three-game series in Colorado. The Diamondbacks will have their home opener on the 7th against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Waking up with a cold at 1 P.M. this afternoon was not the way I planned on starting my Tuesday. My head throbbed, and my runny nose not letting up. I lay down on the sofa, picked up the remote and flicked on the TV. Not even a cold could keep me down when I hit the number 3 followed by 2 and ESPN came on. The highlights from the Red Sox-A’s game in Japan were playing across the screen. Soon after, a replay of the game was shown on ESPN2 for those of us who did not rise at 6 A.M. to watch the live game.

It may be cold outside, and snow is still on the ground while the temperature has broken 50 one day in the last month, but baseball is back. The sure sign that spring is here is pitch 1 of a new season opening. Amid the NCAA Tournament, the March Madness is fueled on by the baseball season starting. This is arguably my favorite time of year, second to the day after finals and summer begins. It is the kind of day that has less students in classes, and more workers calling in sick to work. It is what those TV commercials where a boss sees his employee at a baseball game on TV are all about.

Baseball is back. It may not be spring all over the United States, but it is baseball season, and that is good enough for me.

Conor Jackson continued tearing up Cactus League pitching with a homer and three RBI’s in the Diamondbacks win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Jackson has been an offensive force to be reckoned with through the spring, justifying management not resigning veteran Tony Clark in the offseason. Meanwhile, on the mound, Micah Owings continued to have trouble finding the strike zone consistently. He was knocked around on the day, giving up four runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He also walked four in the game, while striking out three. Eric Byrnes and Augie Ojeda both had two hits on the day for the D’backs.

The Giants were helped out by a Fred Lewis bomb, but only managed seven total hits on the day. Nick Periera started for the Giants, having his only difficult inning in the first when he allowed three runs to score, including two on the Jackson homer.

Brandon Webb will take to the mound for the Diamondbacks Tuesday in his final Spring Training start before Opening Day next week.

The Diamondbacks won their first Spring Training game, and added another while they were at it. Arizona won both games against the Chicago White Sox with scores of 12-5 and 7-6.

Chris Burke led off the game with a homer, and the Diamondbacks never looked back. They hit three dingers in the ballgame, and never trailed once. Javier Vasquez was on the other end of the rout, giving up 5 runs in 2.1 innings.

Minor league outfielder Trot Nixon hit his first homer of the spring in the game, adding a single and a walk on the day. Conor Jackson continued his hot streak of late, hitting a homer in the game too.

The Diamondbacks now stand at 1-2-1 in Cactus League play.

Despite losing to the Chicago White Sox for the second straight game, the Diamondbacks have some positives to cling to from the game. Dan Haren made his debut in the desert, and impressed a lot of people with his pitching.

Haren started for the Diamondbacks, and gave up a share of hits in his two innings. The White Sox knocked him around early, having five hits off Haren. Among those two innings, Haren punched out four White Sox batters for a strong reminder that he is dominant. Gavin Floyd started for the White Sox, and surrendered two runs in three innings.

Emilio Bonifacio went 3-5 at the dish, with two runs scored and batted in. He had two two-baggers and a three-bagger on the day. Paul Konerko was huge for the White Sox, having three hits and four runs knocked in.

Ehren Wasserman took the win, and Juan Gutierrez took the loss. The Diamondbacks enter play still looking for their first win of spring training.

The Diamondbacks lost their second Spring Training game after tying the first game. The Chicago White Sox won 7-5 in Tuscon.

Brandon Webb threw two scoreless innings to open the game, allowing only one hit and striking out two. His counterpart, Mark Buehrle, threw the first two innings allowing one walk and one hit, while also ringing up two hitters. Highly regarded Diamondbacks prospect Billy Buckner was knocked around heavily in his first appearance. He allowed four runs to cross the plate on four hits and a walk.

Conor Jackson went 2-for-3 for the second straight game, continuing to play well early. Mark Reynolds knocked in three runs with a 3-run bomb in the fourth inning, but the Diamondbacks would score only two more runs and fall short in this one.

Jerry Owens had two hits and a walk, while scoring two runs and knocking in another to pace the ChiSox. Jeff Liefer and Juan Uribe also had two hits for the White Sox in the victory. The White Sox move to 2-1 in Spring Training.

-NOTE: sorry about the absence for so long, i have been on vacation and unable to post.

The Diamondbacks opened Spring Training games with two games in the last week of February. The first game was a 5-5 tie with NL West rival, the Colorado Rockies.

In the tie opener, the Diamondbacks had the game wrapped up late in the ninth, until pitcher Jailen Peguero hit Jeff Baker with a pitch forcing in the tying run with two outs. Donnie Kelly had a two run single in a four run seventh inning. Conor Jackson had two hits in three at bats to start strong early.

The Rockies were paced by Jeff Baker who had two RBI’s. Omar Quintanilla and Willy Tavares each had two hits in the game. Top prospect Ian Stewart went 0-for-3 with 2 K’s.

Micah Owings started on the mound for Arizona , throwing two innings. He gave up two runs on two walks and two hits, while striking out two. Kip Wells started for the Rockies, throwing two scoreless innings while giving up two hits and walking one.