The Arizona Diamondbacks did exactly what they needed to in a 9-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks rattled off a convincing 9-0 series-opening win against the Colorado Rockies on Monday.
With the win, Arizona improved to 64-56. Let’s talk about what happened and why it’s important:
Putting ‘em away early
The Rockies are struggling immensely this season, and the Diamondbacks saw that as easy prey.
In the first inning, Nolan Arenado rocked a grand slam to get Arizona on the board. In the second inning, an RBI double by Corbin Carroll, a wild pitch by Rockies rookie right-hander Gabriel Hughes and an RBI single by Ketel Marte put three more runs on the board for the Diamondbacks.
With a quick 7-0 lead in its favor, Arizona’s offense could have stopped there. Instead, it added two more runs thanks to RBIs off the bats of Jorge Barrosa and Gabriel Moreno in the eighth inning.
The importance of the Diamondbacks’ hitters cannot be overlooked. When this offense is humming, this team has the best chance to win, especially with struggling starting pitching. Except for the production of Eduardo Rodriguez, pitching has not been a strong suit for Arizona, but it was good enough on Monday.
Littell goes the distance
In his debut appearance with the Diamondbacks, right-hander Zack Littell replaced Michael Soroka in the top of the fifth and pitched the rest of the way.
Littell was far from perfect, but he did his job. In 4.2 innings of shutout work, Littlell struck out two batters while allowing two walks and two hits.
Because Littell has plenty of experience as a starter, manager Torey Lovullo did not need to go deeper in his bullpen. Saving arms will bode well through the rest of the series and beyond, because the Diamondbacks have some tough opponents on the horizon.
Why this series is important
As I mentioned, the Diamondbacks have some tough competition coming up. After they conclude their series against the Rockies, a three-game series on the road against the Atlanta Braves is up next before traveling to Boston to face the Red Sox in a three-game set.
Arizona does not have many proverbial layups left down the stretch of the season, so it must make the most of this one. Heading into Tuesday's slate of games, the Diamondbacks are second in the National League Wild Card hunt and 5.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in that space.
Therefore, they will be in a good spot if they can sweep Colorado. In fact, it needs to happen. Arizona is a good team, but its record does not allow it the luxury of falling behind or going on a losing streak.
With heavy-hitters coming up on their schedule, the Diamondbacks will certainly endure some losses, which is why they need to stack up wins where they can.
