We're hours away from a potential elimination game in the National League Division Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks, who have earned a reputation in 2011 for their resilience and never-say-die attitude, find themselves in their most challenging position yet, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0.
Obviously not a lot has gone right for Arizona in the first two games, but what has gone wrong is correctable in my estimation. What I've done is put together a short list of suggested adjustments ?�both mental and strategic ?�to help them avoid being the only three-and-out in this year's playoffs, with the ultimate goal of getting the series back to Milwaukee.
Sound good?
Right size, wrong shape: Had Kirk Gibson read my piece on Saturday morning identifying the players who held the keys to their success against Milwaukee, Arizona might not be in this position.
His Game 1 lineup was mind-boggling, primarily because he elected to start Lyle Overbay over Paul Goldschmidt at first base. That went as poorly as you'd expect.�Thankfully, Gibson righted that wrong in Game 2, and, not surprisingly, Goldschmidt rewarded him with a home run. But it was too late to steal Game 1, and Game 2 would also prove to be a lost cause for reasons we'll get into later.
Here's what I think Gibson needs to do now to find a little more offense. With Goldschmidt in the lineup, he has the right eight guys, just in the wrong order. Despite Aaron Hill's three singles on Sunday, I need him lower in the lineup. And I really want Willie Bloomquist out of the leadoff spot.
I would then take what I believe are Gibson's best two tablesetters ?�Ryan Roberts and Gerardo Parra ?�and move them from seventh and eighth, respectively, to first and second. Their impact is being minimized down there at the bottom, and I want them to see better pitches and make life easier for Justin Upton hitting third. I'd also bump a struggling Miguel Montero down one spot to fifth, placing him between Goldschmidt and Chris Young.
These changes will not happen, of course, but I'm just trying to help this lineup reach its full potential.
Tame the "Beast Mode": Easier said than done, but finding a way to contain Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun is imperative. The best way to do that is avoiding them whenever you can. That would definitely include walking Fielder with a base open late in a game. (Yeah, don't do this again.) And could be expanded to making smarter pitches and creating better matchups.
We're talking about your survival here. Trusting and supporting your pitchers is fine, but not showing a little fear of these "monsters" will be your downfall.
Keep it together: Bad things are going to happen. You're going to make an error, get picked off, an umpire will miss a call, and your pitcher might even get tangled up in his own windup and commit a balk. But the wheels can't come off as a result of that singular mistake.
We saw how quickly the inning and game spiraled out of control after Brad Ziegler's balk in Game 2. There's no reason for that. Ziegler was still in command of the situation, the game was still tied, but then he compounded his mental error with a mentally driven physical error trying to make a play on Jonathan Lucroy's safety squeeze bunt.
That turned a potentially manageable one-run inning into a game-deciding five-run inning. You simply don't overcome those in October.
Don't follow Ziegler's example.
Short leash for Josh Collmenter: Gibson admittedly showed too much faith in Ian Kennedy in Game 1, allowing him to pitch to Prince Fielder to disastrous results. He also allowed Daniel Hudson to work through early struggles in Game 2, which wasn't so bad. However, facing elimination, he can't afford rookie Josh Collmenter the same wiggle room.
With Micah Owings and Jarrod Parker available in long relief, Gibson has options. You could argue whether or not those are good enough or experienced enough options, but as we've learned in the movies, arguing while in survival mode often proves fatal.
All this said, I'm not anticipating Collmenter struggling. In fact, he tossed 14 shutout innings against Milwaukee over two starts this season. So he's seen them, and he's handled them. But if he starts slow or shows any sign of being off his game, make the move and live for another inning.
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