The big bats in Arizona’s lineup provided the power
Josh Jones Jersey , the leadoff man the table-setting. The starting pitcher got the Diamondbacks through six innings with minimal damage, the defense had a
couple of gems behind him, and the bullpen came through again.
As wins go, this one could not have followed the game plan any better.
David Peralta hit two solo homers, Matt Koch pitched six effective innings in a combined four-hitter and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 6-3
on Thursday night.
”A pretty well-played game start to finish,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. ”That’s the way you think about things before the game.”
Koch (5-3) gave up solo homers to Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto, but only one other hit.
Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt hit solo homers off Jason Vargas (2-5) to help give Arizona a 3-1 lead early. Amed Rosario pulled the Mets within a run on solo
homer off Archie Bradley in the eighth inning, but Peralta hit his 14th of the
season off Jacob Rhame in the bottom half.
Jake Lamb added a solo shot later in the eighth and Brian Boxberger worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save in NL West-leading Diamondbacks’ sixth win in
seven games.
The Mets, like the Diamondbacks, had a strong start to the season, followed by a lull. While Arizona is back on track, winning 12 of 16, New York is not.
The Mets failed to score more than three runs for the 10th straight game and
lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
”You can’t sit there and think they are never going to come around,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. ”We go out there every day and try to do our best
to prepare them and they do the same thing.”
Nimmo at least got the Mets’ trip to the desert started off right, hitting a solo homer in the first inning that barely cleared the wall in right. Conforto
hit another solo shot off Koch in the sixth, pulling New York to 3-2.
That was about all they could manage against Koch
http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/zach-brown-jersey , who allowed two runs before being replaced Yoshihisa Hirano to start the
seventh.
”The command was pretty good, the cutter better, the curveball when I needed it, the changeup was off and on a little bit,” Koch said. ”But for the most part
it was good.”
Vargas has pitched better since a shaky start to the season, going 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA over his last four starts. He was moved up in the rotation to start
against Arizona while Steven Matz deals with a blister on his throwing hand.
Vargas got through five innings against the Diamondbacks, giving up Ketel Marte’s RBI single in the second inning, Goldschmidt’s solo homer in the third
and Peralta’s leadoff homer in the fourth
Vargas allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
”I made some good pitches, got out of some jams I out myself into a little bit, but I felt I threw the ball well,” Vargas said.
HIRANO DOMINATING
Hirano has been dominated for the Diamondbacks this season, posting a 1.50 ERA in 32 games. He’s been lights out recently, pushing his scoreless streak to
18 games (15 2/3 innings) with a perfect seventh inning.
Hirano reminds Lovullo of fellow Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox while he was the bench coach there.
”They do remind me of one another because they’re fearless, attack the zone, can make pitches in both corners of the zone
Geron Christian Jersey ,” Lovullo said. ”They understand and both have outstanding splits.”
DIAMONDBACKS MOVES
The Diamondbacks reinstated RHP Jorge De La Rosa (Achilles bursitis) from the 10-day disabled list and optioned RHP Silvino Bracho to Triple-A Reno. De La
Rosa was 0-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 27 games before going on the DL.
Bracho was 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 11 games with Arizona.
TRAINER’S TABLE
Mets: 1B Wilmer Flores went 2 for 3 with an RBI for Single-A St. Lucie Wednesday night, his second rehab game since going on the 10-day DL with a sore
lower back on May 28. … OF Jay Bruce was held out of the lineup after
aggravating a hip injury Wednesday against Atlanta.
Diamondbacks: OF Steven Souza will continue throwing take live batting practice on Friday as he works his way back from a strained right pectoral
muscle.
UP NEXT
Arizona RHP Zack Godley is 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA in five home starts this season headed into Friday’s game against the Mets and RHP Seth Lugo.
—
Igor Kokoskov is the first NBA head coach born and raised outside North America, but he reminded everyone at his introductory news conference with the
Phoenix Suns on Monday that he didn’t exactly just get off the plane.
”I don’t consider myself as a European coach,” he said. ”I’m an NBA coach.”
Kokoskov, 46, just finished his 18th season as an NBA assistant coach. He’s been with six different teams. Some played slow. Some played fast. He has been
on the staffs of seven squads to reach the conference finals. This game is not
new to him.
”As a coach, I’m not spoiled,” he said. ”I think your job is to build and create from what you have in front of you. I’m the kind of guy who loves my
team. I love my guys and they can feel it.”
Kokoskov was named head coach of the Suns last week but, as an assistant with the Utah Jazz, he had to finish his work in the playoff series against the
Houston Rockets before turning his attention to the desert.
He was an assistant with the Suns from 2008 to 2013 and became a U.S. citizen during a ceremony on the court at Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena.
”We really, as a family, the Family Kokoskov, consider Phoenix as a home base,” he said. ”This is always home base.”
Although he certainly has paid the traditional dues as an NBA assistant, he knows he’ll also have the label ”foreign coach.”
Kokoskov praised the ”courage” of Suns owner Robert Sarver and the team’s management to hire a ”rookie coach, international coach
http://www.dallascowboysteamonline.com/zack-martin-jersey , foreign coach.”
”I kind of carry some responsibilities because, if this fails, then American media and the public are going to say, `See, they can’t coach. We’ve got to
stick with our guys,”’ Kokoskov said.
But any ultimate judgment, he said, will come from what happens on the court.
”It’s all about winning,” Kokoskov said. ”It doesn’t really matter if you’re an international or American coach. All that matters is can you get it done and
can you coach?”
He inherits a team that went 21-61, worst in the NBA and second-worst in franchise history. The Suns haven’t made the playoffs in eight seasons but do
have the most ping pong balls in Tuesday night’s lottery to determine what team
gets the No. 1 overall pick,
Still, Kokoskov said the Suns have ”a good solid foundation.”
”With a couple of guys maybe we’re going to add, obviously we are expecting a lot from the upcoming draft and free agency,” he said. ”That is something that
we have a long summer to discuss, to talk, but the foundation is there.”
Kokoskov
http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/john-simon-jersey , who coached Slovenia to the EuroBasket 2017 championship, said he’s not wedded
to any particular style of play, that it will depend on the talent at hand. When
he was with the Suns, there was Steve Nash and it was a fast pace.
”I was fortunate to be part of a winning team and be part of the team with Steve Nash and Grant Hill and the rest of the guys,” he said, ”being part of the
staff with Alvin Gentry.”
Kokoskov was there when the Suns advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2010.
But the years have not been kind to the once-vibrant franchise since Nash’s departure.
General manager Ryan McDonough has said the time is now to inject some more experienced talent into the current mix of youngsters, who are led by burgeoning
star Devin Booker.
Kokoskov gets the task of trying to fulfill that ambition.
The team, he said, needs to be playing on television in June, and he wasn’t talking about its perennial appearance in the draft lottery.
”I think the city of Phoenix deserves that,” Kokoskov said. ”I think the fans that love basketball deserve that and we’ll do our best to bring this
organization and team into that path. We want to be in June on TV.”
—
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