Diamondback Journal

Randy Johnson notched up his fourth straight victory and tallied up win number 292, pushing him that much closer to being the next member of the 300 win club. The Diamondbacks used Johnson’s strong outing to win over the Giants by a score of 7-2.

Johnson was benefited by another strong game from Conor Jackson who has been on fire lately at the plate. He was 3-4 in the game with three runs and one RBI. He hit his 12th homer of the year in the seventh. Mark Reynolds also homered in the game, his 21st.

Johnson threw seven innings of shutout ball. He allowed nine hits and just struck out two, a season low. Barry Zito was on the losing end, dropping to 5-13.

Stephen Drew had three hits and two RBI’s in the game as well.

Brandon Webb and Tin Lincecum had combined for 24 wins before they found themselves matched up on Saturday. The two NL All-Stars dueled over seven innings and Lincecum leaving with a 3-2 lead. The Diamondbacks jumped on Tyler Walker in relief of Lincecum for three runs in the top of the eighth and left winners 5-3.

Webb went seven innings striking out eight and giving up three runs on four hits. Lincecum had a slightly better stat line, going seven innings and striking out thirteen while giving up two runs on seven hits.

Augie Ojeda led off the eighth with a double, followed by a botched grounder off the bat of Stephen Drew. Chris Young drove home the tying run on a sacrifice fly. Orlando Hudson and Conor Jackson followed with singles that each drove in a run.

Webb took the win, to improve his record to 14-4.

Dan Haren was dominant again the Giants Friday, going eight strong innings of two run baseball. He allowed nine hits and struck out nine as well. The offense was more than up to the challenge, throwing five runs on the board in the second which was more than enough as they won 10-2.

Conor Jackson continued his hot hitting of late, with a homer in the third as one of two hits. He scored two and drove in one. Chad Tracy and Mark Reynolds also homered in the game.

All but one Diamondback starter had a hit in the game, only Chris Burke was hitless. Chris Young and Reynolds had two hits along with Jackson. Stephen Drew drove in two runs.

The Giants had just one less hit than the Diamondbacks in the game, but they failed to capitalize on any opportunites. Fred Lewis and Jose Castillo each had two hits for the Giants.

Conor Jackson has been hot of late, since the All Star Break and is making his case for being snubbed after a solid first half. He was huge in a 9-2 win over the Cubs last night, going 3-5 with two runs scored and three RBI’s. One of his three hits was hit tenth homer of the year.

Yusmeiro Petit was the beneficiary of the strong performance from Jackson and the D’backs offense. He picked up his first win of the year against one loss. He gave up one run over five innings, but walked four.

Orlando Hudson also hit a homer in the game, his eighth.

Former second round pick Jame D’Antona got into the game as a pinch hitter, and notched his first MLB hit in his first at bat. Newly acquired bullpen help Jon Rauch worked the ninth inning. Tony Clark also saw playing time soon after returning to the Diamondbacks.

In a game that featured just four hits, two on either side, pitching was at a premium. Randy Johnson was just a notch above Cubs starter Rich Harden. Harden, in just his second start with the Cubs, took a no hitter into the sixth when Alex Romero broke it up with his first career homer.

Romero’s homer would prove to be the difference, but the Diamondbacks added one more run when Stephen Drew tripled home Chris Snyder in the eighth inning to provide a cushion of an additional run.

Johnson went seven innings and allowed both the Cubs hits while striking out four. Micah Owings worked a scoreless eighth and Chad Qualls worked the ninth for his second save of the year. Brandon Lyon the normal closer has been struggling of late and was given the night off from working.

Harden took the hard luck loss on a night when the offense did him no good. He struck out ten in th game, opposed to just two walks.

The Diamondbacks were poised to take the second game of the series by a score of 5-1, but they were snakebitten by the Dodgers five run ninth inning that left the Diamondbacks at a loss for explanations. After almost blowing a late game lead the previous night, Brandon Lyon recorded his fifth blown save of the year in the ninth.

Lyon was charged with five earned runs allowed on five hits in just .2 innings. Starter Brandon Webb was left with a no decision despite going eight incredibly strong innings in which he allowed just one run on six hits. He struck out four and walked three.

The Dodgers had six hits in the ninth, four in a row with two outs, that scored the runs to take the win.

Stephen Drew had a 4-5 day at the plate, including a triple and almost had an inside the park homer but was thrown out on the attempt.

James Loney had three hits for the Dodgers.

Going into the last inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers winning by a score of 3-0, all looked good with closer Brandon Lyon coming in to finish off the victory and seal the deal. Lyon however did not make things easy, giving up two runs to scrape out a 3-2 win over the visiting Dodgers.

Lyon finished off the job that Dan Haren started with seven shutout innings and seven strikeouts. He allowed just four hits to the Dodgers in the game.

Conor Jackson got the offense started early with a solo homer in the first inning off Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. Jackson and Orlando Hudson each had two hits on the day.

Billingsley gave up three runs in 5.2 innings and took the loss. He dropped to 9-9 on the year.

Jeff Kent started the ninth inning rally with a leadoff solo homer off Lyon before Lyon settled down to pick up his 20th save of the year.

The Diamondbacks ended their up and down first half with a loss to the Phillies in the finale of a three game set. The Phillies took two of three games to take the series as well and go into the break leading the NL East. The Phillies won by a score of 6-3.

Chad Tracy homered for the second straight game for the Diamondbacks, a solo shot that was one of his two hits. Chris Burke led the way with three hits for the Diamondbacks, but they left 19 runners on base which hurt greatly. The Diamondbacks outhit the Phillies 14-11.

Pedro Feliz had three hits, including a big two run homer in the eight that was part of a four run eighth inning that gave the Phillies the lead and eventually the game.

Chad Qualls gave up the homer and took the loss, dropping him to 2-7. Brandon Webb had an effective start before heading to New York for the All Star Game. He went seven innings, giving up seven hits that led to two runs. He struck out six hitters.

Cole Hamels was pounded for 11 hits in seven innings, but managed to scatter them for just two runs. He struck out eight in an effort to show he was snubbed from the NL All Star squad.

Randy Johnson has never been known for his bat, honestly, with an almost seven foot frame, his strike zone is so big everything is there. Along with winning his 290th career game over the Phillies, Johnson had a huge two run double as a part of the Diamondbacks eight run fourth inning. They won by a tally of 10-4.

The Diamondbacks had 12 hits, led by Chad Tracy with three. Mark Reynolds also hit his 19th homer of the year in his return after missing the game the day before. Tracy drove in four runs, while Reynolds brought home three.

Johnson limited the Phillies to five hits and four runs in six innings. He struck out three and walked just one.

Micah Owings threw two innings in relief and struck out three batters.

Phillies starter Adam Eaton was roughed up in just 3.2 innings of work. He surrendered eight runs on seven hits, all runs were earned.

The Phillies took the first game of a three game set with the Diamondbacks by a score of 6-5 in a hard fought game that went 12 innings. The Phillies won a run scoring single by Jayson Werth that drove in So Taguchi who led off the 12th with a hit.

The Diamondbacks bullpen failed to hold a two run lead they were staked to by the offense. Connor Robertson took the loss after working in the 12th.

The offense rapped out 13 hits, while the Phillies had 15. Miguel Montero had three hits and scored two runs. Alex Romero, Stephen Drew, Orlando Hudson, and Chad Tracy each had two hits to round out most of the offense. Emilio Bonifacio had a big two run pinch hit double in the seventh that had put the Diamondbacks up.

Werth had the big game for the Phillies, along with the game winning hit he had two others base knocks. Shane Victorino also pounded out three hits.

The first two games of the Padres-Diamondbacks series had been a disaster for all concerned on the Diamondbacks side. The pitchers had been great, but the runs were not coming and the Padres won both of the games.

The third game looked headed in the same direction, when Randy Johnson gave up a homer to Scott Hairston leading off the game. It was Hairston’s third homer in two games. Johnson however settled down and did not allow another run over the next 6.1 innings.

Justin Upton made fans jaws drop with the second longest homer in the history of Chase Field. The ball landed in the third row of seating in the outer deck of TGI Friday’s. The blast traveled an estimated 484 feet. It was his 11th of the year.

Padres starter Jared Banks allowed three runs off seven hits in six innings and took the loss. Johnson allowed only three hits and one run, the homer, and struck out 10 Padres batters.

Mark Reynolds blasted his 18th homer of the year later in the game for the Diamondbacks. Brandon Lyon also picked up his 18th save.

Kevin Kouzmanhoff had two hits for the Padres.

The Diamondbacks might be getting a little taste of the frustrations of the Padres season with their lack of run scoring lately. The story of the Padres season thus far has been the lack of ability to score runs. That came to be again for the Diamondbacks for the second straight night. Doug Davis was left with no support from his offense and the Padres, fueled by Scott Hairston, took the second game of the series 4-2.

Davis went eight strong innings allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out seven. Hairston was the lone speed bump in the game. He went deep twice, once in the third with a runner on and again with a solo shot in the sixth. He had three hits in the game.

Jake Peavy was on the other side unfortunately, and he threw seven shutout innings blanking the Diamondbacks on just three hits. He walked two and struck out six.

The Diamondbacks did not get on the board until the eighth with one and put up one more in the ninth but fell short. Stephen Drew hit a solo homer in the ninth. Orlando Hudson had two hits, both doubles, and drove in the other run.

The Diamondbacks just cannot find the winning formula on a consistent basis. The pitching and hitting has not yet come at the same time and for a team that was the best in the bigs for the early part of the year, the season has started to become a lot more shaky. Dan Haren threw all he had, and gave up just two runs in seven innings. Sadly, the Diamondbacks offense managed just one run in the game. The loss was taken by a score of 5-1.

The Padres starter Cha Seung Baek gave up just two hits over six innings and struck out seven. The Diamondbacks had just five hits in the game of Padres pitching.

The run support came from the middle of the order, with an RBI coming one apiece from the 2-5 hitters. Jody Gerut and Kevin Kouzmanhoff led the way with two hits each.

Haren sturck out seven in seven innings and allowed the same number of hits. Sadly, triple sevens were not that lucky for Haren. He likely cemented himself in as an NL All-Star with the outing.

Chad Tracy drove in the lone Diamondbacks run with an RBI single in the seventh.

Randy Johnson dropped his sixth straight start in an 8-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. He was roughed up for seven runs in just 3.2 innings, his shortest outing of the year.

JJ Hardy and Joe Dillon homered off Johnson early, sending him spiraling downhill. Hardy homered in the first and the second innings off Johnson, while Dillon hit his first of the year. Johnson is winless since May 18, a span on seven starts without a win.

The Diamondbacks top of the order struggled in the game, Justin Upton had the lone hit among the top 3 hitters. Conor Jackson had a big game with three hits, three RBI’s and two runs. His big blow a two run homer. Mark Reynolds, Chad Tracy and Chris Young each had two hits.

Jeff Suppan picked up the win for the Brewers despite allowing five runs in five innings on nine hits.

The Brewers had strong offensive backing from Hardy who along with the two homers had three RBI’s and three runs. Corey Hart rapped out three hits and Mike Rivera had two hits. Hart also stole two bases, Hardy stole one.

Solomon Torres picked up the save for the Brewers. Three Brewers relievers combined to keep the lead intact, allowing just two hits over three innings from the sixth to the eighth.