Snake Bytes, 8/22: The D-backs Magic Number is still 4

An opportunity to drop it to 3 slid away…

Recaps

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks blow 8-run lead, fall to Brewers in series finale – The Diamondbacks watched an eight-run lead go up in smoke on Sunday — along with a four-game series sweep and what looked like the ability to breathe easy in the wild-card race. Despite scoring seven times in the third inning to take an 8-0 lead, the Diamondbacks lost on Sunday, 10-9, to a hard-charging Milwaukee Brewers team that scored seven runs over their final three turns at bat at American Family Field… With a chance to maintain a three-game lead on a playoff spot over the Atlanta Braves with six games left in the season, the Diamondbacks watched as their advantage was cut to two games.

[Dbacks.com] D-backs suffer ‘frustrating’ loss after Moreno’s early departure – “Frustrating,” Lovullo said of the loss. “It’s nothing you can predict. I thought we were in total control of that game. It just goes to show you that things can change quickly. You can’t take anything for granted. I don’t think the team did… I just think we didn’t execute at some really critical times and this is how it ends up. We lost today’s game, and we could have swept for four straight.” Outfielder Jake McCarthy said. “We put up a lot of runs. I think we had good at-bats in clutch situations and, again, it stinks when you lose, but we’ve got six more [games] and we’re going to focus on tomorrow.”

[SI] Gabriel Moreno Injured in Crushing Loss for Diamondbacks – Arizona appeared to have blown the game open with a seven run third inning. Jake McCarthy had a two-run single, followed by back to back homers from Josh Bell and Eugenio Suarez, It was the 14th time this year D-backs hitters have done that. The Brewers started chipping away at Jordan Montgomery’s 8-0 lead in the bottom half of the third inning. Some of it was bad luck however. A bloop single was followed by a swinging bunt base hit. A solid single by Blake Perkins plated the Brewers first run.

On batted ball metrics, the most likely result was a 7-4 win for Arizona…

Team news

[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks’ Gabriel Moreno exits game, limps off field vs. Brewers – Just as all seemed right in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ world leading 8-1 against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, another injury scare reared its ugly head. Catcher Gabriel Moreno blocked a ball in the dirt from pitcher Jordan Montgomery and quickly called to the dugout in the fourth inning. After a conversation with trainer Max Esposito, manager Torey Lovullo and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, Moreno limped off the field. The club said he suffered from left adductor tightness.

However, there was good news later:

[PHNX Sports] Do the Diamondbacks have a postseason-caliber bullpen? – The fact that this year’s September bullpen is allowing runs at roughly three times the rate of last year does not exactly inspire confidence. However, a quick glance at several peripheral stats paints a much different picture about how the D-backs bullpen compares this September versus last September. Diamondbacks relievers have a higher strikeout rate this September than they did last September, and ERA indicators such as FIP and xFIP suggest little difference in underlying performance.

[Field Level Media] After 8-run collapse, Diamondbacks look to rebound vs. Giants – San Francisco (77-79) just completed a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals and is 5-1 to start a nine-game trip. The Giants took two of three from the Baltimore Orioles to begin the excursion. San Francisco outscored Kansas City 13-1 in the sweep and Sunday’s 2-0 win was its second straight shutout. “It’s just nice to get a sweep against a good team,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re playing good right now.” San Francisco needs to win four of its final six games to avoid a losing campaign.

And, elsewhere…

[SI] D-backs Could Face Former Shortstop Nick Ahmed vs Padres – The Padres officially selected his contract on Sunday. He’ll join their major league club, with a three-game set at Chase Field approaching on September 27, closing out the regular season with playoff implications looming large. He hasn’t hit to an incredible slash this season, batting .232/.271/.300, good for a .571 OPS. He’s been his regular defensive self, however, ranking in the 93rd percentile in Outs Above Average (+8), and boasting a +6 fielding run value, awarding him 0.5 fWAR despite a 61 wRC+. With that said, Ahmed has played with an apparent chip on his shoulder against his former club.

[ESPN] White Sox tie record for most losses since 1900 with 120 – The Chicago White Sox tied the post-1900 MLB record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets on Sunday when the San Diego Padres won 4-2 by rallying for three runs in the eighth inning The White Sox (36-120) had taken a 2-1 lead on home runs by Korey Lee and Miguel Vargas off Yu Darvish, but that lead quickly disappeared in the eighth. This defeat came a day after the White Sox tied the American League record of 119 losses set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the major league record for losses at 20-134.

Vampiro, guerrero de la noche (1993)

Rating: C+
Dir: José Nieto Ramírez
Star: Ian Hodgkinson, Gloria Mayo, Sergio Bustamante, Pierroth Jr.
a.k.a. The Canadian Vampire in Night Warrior

This kind of amusing nonsense is why I love Tubi so hard. This does not appear ever to have received any kind of English language release – there’s a really poor-quality Mexican language print on YouTube. But my goodness: even by the quirky standards of Mexican luchador films, this is something. The Santo films are best-known in this genre, but there have been many others. We’ve covered a few before, such as Los Canallas. That one is positively staid by comparison.

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