D-backs play long ball, bash the Brewers
Hill, Kubel, Goldschmidt crack homers to lead 16-hit attack
MILWAUKEE — After slamming the Diamondbacks’ third home run of the game in a 9-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night, second baseman Aaron Hill wanted to clarify something as it related to his team’s expected fluency with the long ball.
“I didn’t say we hit them,” Hill said. “Just not having the emphasis on hitting them is key for us.”
The evening marked the end of a nice first week for the Diamondbacks as a whole — they went 4-1, winning two of three against the St. Louis Cardinals before taking the first two games against the Brewers — but it was an especially fruitful beginning for their offense.
Though questions were raised about its lack of star power — about not having a hitter that struck fear into the opposing pitcher, like, say, the departed Justin Upton — the lineup has more than held its own. After the Diamondbacks’ 16-hit, nine-run output on Saturday, they are averaging 11.4 hits and 5.8 runs per game through the first five games.
Of course, this is the smallest of small sample sizes in a sport that plays a 162-game schedule — they are 3 percent of the way into the year — but it’s been a heck of a start. And the lineup’s performance has made it a whole lot easier to overlook the scorched-earth start by Upton, who hit two more home runs for the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, including a walk-off blast, giving him five homers in five games.
For a team that aimed to be less homer-dependent this year, the Diamondbacks got into a few on Saturday, with Jason Kubel, Paul Goldschmidt and Hill each connecting for homers.
But thus far the Diamondbacks have shown the kind of versatile offense they envisioned. They’ve looked capable of manufacturing runs by advancing runners. They’ve been able to sustain long rallies and deliver two-strike hits. Nearly every one of their position players came through with a big hit at some point in the week.
“Just the first week has been fun to see what we’ve been talking about in the spring unfold,” Hill said. “It’s been good so far. Moving guys over, getting big two-out knocks. It’s the way that we thought that we were going to look like, and we’ve just got to keep it rolling. Obviously, it’s nice to start off good. But we’ve got to stay healthy and as consistent as possible throughout the year.”
Newcomer Martin Prado, the key player in the Upton deal, hasn’t had the kind of eye-popping impact as the guy for whom was traded, but the Diamondbacks have been gushing about his team-first style of play.
“He’s not selfish at all,” Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers said. “Not a lot of guys are like that. He’s not really worried so much about his average as he is about doing the right thing for the club.”
Prado, who it should be noted is hitting .308 (8 for 26), has had at least a handful of at-bats in which he’s moved runners from second to third base, something the Diamondbacks believe will prove valuable in the long run.
They didn’t exactly need those little things on Saturday, not while swinging the bats the way they were.
“Times that you’re not getting those hits maybe it takes a bunt or a hit-and-run or something like that,” Goldschmidt said. “Hopefully, we have the guys to execute that way as well.”