D’backs, Rockies have no secrets to spring
PHOENIX — The Diamondbacks and Rockies share a spring training facility and played each other 19 times this season.
They know each other very well.
Game No. 20 was Wednesday night, a National League wild-card matchup with the Diamondbacks’ Zack Greinke facing young Jon Gray.
“There’s no secrets here,” Rockies manager Bud Black said before the game. “They know our hitters’ tendencies, they know our pitchers’ tendencies and we know theirs.”
The game matched under-the-radar franchises in the NL West that had turnaround seasons under first-year managers. The Rockies made the playoffs for the first time since 2009, while the Diamondbacks hadn’t been in the postseason since 2011. The game was sold out at 48,686-seat Chase Field.
“A couple of guys were wondering why the fans weren’t here early in the season and when were they going to start showing up,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Tuesday. “And I told them, ‘You keep playing the same type of baseball, they’re going to come out and support us.’ I can’t wait to see what (Wednesday) brings as far as the crowd, the noise and the energy.”
Diamondbacks slugger J.D. Martinez relished the idea of playing in the energized atmosphere of the winner-take-all game but said the players can’t get too caught up in the scene.
“It’s going to be awesome, but you have to control it,” he said. That’s going to be the hardest thing for everyone (on) both sides — being able to control that environment and control your adrenaline, your emotions and your feelings because all that stuff ’s going to be on a high.”
Greinke (17-7, 3.20 ERA) was making his 10th career playoff start. He took a 3-3 postseason record with a 3.55 ERA into the game. He was 2-1 in five starts against the Rockies with a 3.41 ERA in 341⁄3 innings.
The Diamondbacks signed Greinke to a sixyear, $206.5 million contract before the start of last season. This was the situation in which they expected him to earn some of that money.
“I feel good going into it,” Greinke said. “All my pitches feel good, so I’ll be doing as good as I can.”
The Rockies countered with the 25-year-old Gray (10-4, 3.67), who said “it’s very cool” to go against Greinke.
“The guy’s obviously got a great track record,” Gray said. “He’s been a really good pitcher for years. It’s very exciting for me. He’s a guy I used to watch on TV, so it’s very, very surreal.”
Gray was 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three starts against the Diamondbacks. He didn’t allow more than three runs in any of the starts.
Dealing with Martinez figured to be quite a chore. Acquired from the Tigers before the trade deadline, Martinez hit .302 with 29 home runs and 65 RBIs in 62 regular-season games with the Diamondbacks. He hit .404 in September with 16 home runs and 36 RBIs in 24 games.
The Rockies brought a powerhouse lineup featuring NL batting champion Charlie Blackmon (.331, 37 homers, 104 RBIs), Nolan Arenado (.309, 37, 130) and Carlos Gonzalez, whose bat came alive late in the season after an uncharacteristically tough year at the plate.