Arizona Diamondbacks defeat Atlanta Braves 2-1 – MLB Update
Arizona Diamondbacks put in a tremendous effort as they beat Atlanta Braves 2-1 at Chase Field, Phoenix on Thursday, May 19.
Josh Collmenter who is the right-hander for the Diamondbacks has an unusual over hand delivery which is often the base of many jokes targeted at the player. However, unusual or not, at the end of the day it was the same ‘tomahawk’ chop that handed the Braves
their defeat. The manager for Arizona, Kirk Gibson was more than pleased with Collmenter’s performance, saying, "You couldn't ask for more, hopefully he'll keep it going."
According to Collmenter he learned the unusual throw as a child when he used to play tomahawk. During the game he let two hits pass him by along with one strike-out and did not allow any walks. This was his seconds start and his performance in his first
start is almost identical to the one in his second. Collmenter put in a good performance as he managed to restrict the Braves’ offence from getting any big hits in the game.
While pitching 26 innings he has had 15 strike-outs along with one walk and holds a franchise record for 12 back-to-back scoreless innings as a starter. Collmenter mixed-up his speeds and the kind of pitches he threw. There were times when he threw in a
couple of curveballs and fastballs which resulted in a constant change to which the batter could not get familiar. This proved to be helpful for the Diamondbacks.
"I don't want to hurt myself by walking guys," Collmenter said. "That's been my game plan all along is work it in and out and mix up my pitches, keep them off balance and try and keep balls out of kind of their wheelhouse."
The very first run of the game was put on the score board in the sixth inning by Chris Young who belted out a homer that flew for 386 feet. The Diamondbacks, scored again in the same inning when Juan Miranda tripled to deep centre-field and Miguel Montero
proceeded to score.
The Braves got their chance to out a run up in the very last inning of the game, the ninth. Dan Uggla was safe on first base due to an error by fielder Justin Upton and Brian McCann scored.
Arizona put in a brilliant performance as they managed to contain the Braves’ offence. Atlanta struggled throughout the game as they found it difficult to get their offence started against the Diamondbacks’ pitching line-up. They will be looking to improve
their performance to become more competitive against the top teams. It will be interesting to see how Arizona carries their winning momentum into their next match-up.
Tags: