‘No secrets’ between these familiar foes
Diamondbacks, Rockies looking forward to playing in an energized Chase Field
PHOENIX— The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies share a spring training facility and played each other 19 times this season. They know each other very well. Now comes game No. 20 on Wednesday night, the biggest one of them all, an NL wild-card matchup with Arizona’s Zack Greinke facing Colorado’s young Jon Gray.
“There’s no secrets here,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We know what they like to do. They know our players . . . They know our tendencies, they know our hitters’ tendencies, they know our pitchers’ tendencies. And we know theirs.”
It’s a matchup of under-the-radar franchises in the NL West that had turnaround seasons under first-year managers. The Rockies are in the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The Diamondbacks haven’t been here since 2011. The game is sold out at 48,686-seat Chase Field.
Here are some things to consider when the Rockies meet the Diamondbacks: WILD ATMOSPHERE: Diamondbacks slugger J.D. Martinez relishes the idea of playing in the energized atmosphere of the winner-take-all contest, but said the players can’t get too caught up in the scene.
“It’s going to be awesome, it’s going to be fun,” he said. “But, at the same time, you have to control it. I think that’s going to be the hardest thing for everyone, both sides. It’s just being able to control that environment and being able to control your adrenalin, your emotions and your feelings, because all that stuff’s going to be on a high.” POWER SURGE: The Rockies bring a powerhouse lineup featuring NL batting champion Charlie Blackmon (.331, 37 home runs, 104 RBI), Nolan Arenado (.309, 37 homers, 130 RBI) and Carlos Gonzalez, whose bat came alive late in the season after an uncharacteristically tough year at the plate.
But the entire one-through-eight in the batting order are dangerous.
Blackmon had just eight hits in 44 at-bats at Chase Field, but he loves hitting there.
“The thing I like about it the best is it has a really nice batter’s eye. It’s very big, bigger than most parks,” he said. “It makes for seeing the ball well. It also carries pretty good. The gaps are big. The infield can be fast.”
The teams split 10 games at Chase Field. Containing the power of both squads is crucial to the outcome of their 11th matchup there.