Hello, all you lovelies, and happy Opening Weekend for 2025. I am always guardedly optimistic at this early stage of the season, and while our opening day performance left a lot to be desired, last nights shellacking of the Cubs had the team looking a lot more like I expect them to when theyre in full regular season form. Brandon Pfaadt took the mound for us tonight, fresh off his five-year contract extension, and while I didnt think he looked all that great when I saw him in Spring Training, well, its Spring Training and not quite real baseball. He was facing off against Chicago lefty Shota Imanaga, the very talented Japanese import who has been sadly overshadowed by all those folks the Doyers keep signing for like a zillion dollars. Im not terribly familiar with him, but I knew that hes supposed to be pretty started off looking a little bit iffy for our young Brandon, I have to say. He put up a zero in the top of the first, but he had to pitch around a one-out Kyle Tucker ground-rule double into the right field corner, and then a two-out walk to Chicago first baseman Michael Busch. It was also worse to watch in real time than the box score would reflect, as Pfaadt needed 22 pitches to get it done, and of those 22 pitches he threw, only 11 of them were strikes. As has been a theme in the early innings for our starters so far, he really couldnt locate his , meanwhile, disposed of us quite handily, setting the top of our order down 1-2-3 in the top of the first, though it was mitigated somewhat by Lourdes Gurriel Drey Jameson Jersey, Jr. putting up a mighty 10-pitch AB with two outs to bring Imanagas pitch count to 18 after one. As it turned out, Pfaadt settled down pretty effectively after that rocky first, as he retired the Cubs in order in the second, including two strikeouts on only ten pitches thrown for the inning. He also had an efficient 16-pitch top of the third, putting up another zero while pitching around a two-out single to, yes, Kyle Tucker. I honestly didnt know much about the guy until Chicago traded for him early in the offseason, but yeah, I can see why they did. That dude is , we took our first lead of the ballgame in the top of the second. Randal Grichuk, hitting cleanup, led off the bottom of the second by rocketing the first pitch he saw to the gap in right center for an easy double. One out later, Geno Suarez drew a walk, followed by a Montero work to load the bases. Jake McCarthy, who had yet to notch a base hit so far this young season , dribbled a slow grounder to first that allowed everyone else to advance and Grichuk to cross the plate. That was all we managed, but at least the first lead was ours. 1-0 DBACKSThat lead lasted until the top of the fourth, when Pfaadt gave up a Michael Busch single un the middle, followed by two quick grounders that each could have been double-play balls but werent. Busch gave way to Dansby Swanson at first, who gave way to Pete Crow-Armstrong at first, but then there were two outs and it seemed like all would be good. Sadly Jonathan Loaisiga Jersey, Chicago catcher Miguel Amaya, who was just a pain in the butt on Opening Day, doubled down the line in left to score Crow-Armstrong. It was still a remarkably efficient inning from Pfaadt, whod definitely settled into a grooveafter an 16-pitch third and 11 pitches all told in the top of the fourth, he ended the frame with the score tied but his pitch count only at 59 pitches thrown. 1-1 TIEImanaga, though, was also getting more efficient, and he resumed putting up zeroes, pitching around a one-out Corbin Carroll single in the third and a Josh Naylor leadoff double in the fourth to find himself also at 59 pitches through four. So it was feeling kind of pitchers-duelish. The duel ended, kind of anyway, in the top of the fifth, when Chicago, or rather Kyle Tucker, finally broke through. Jon Berti, batting ninth for the Cubs and playing second base, singled to right to lead off the inning. One out later, Kyle Tucker came to the plate for the third time, and for the third time checked another box off on his hit-for-the-cycle list. After the double in the first and the single in the third, he launched a bomb over the fence in right center. Despite that, Pfaadt shook it off and continued to be efficient, ending the inning with no further damage and only 13 more pitches thrown, for a total of 72. 3-1 ChicagoAnd that was pretty much that, until the very end. Pfaadt wound up going six full innings, with a final pitching line of 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 K and 1 BB on 78 pitches thrown. Imanaga, meanwhile Grae Kessinger Jersey, continued to cruise through seven innings, with us getting naught but a lone base runner through the fifth, sixth, and Beeks relieved Pfaadt in the top of the seventh, was greeted by pinch-hitter Matt Shaw, launching the first pitch he saw over into the left-center field bleachers. Bryce Jarvis pitched a scoreless eighth, and Justin Martinez a scoreless top of the ninth. 4-1 ChicagoSo it came down to the bottom of the ninth, with Josh Naylor leading off against new Cubs closer Ryan Pressley. Pressleys night did not start auspiciously, as Naylor singled up the middle to bring Geno to the plate. And well, we do at this point know its Geno. Whack went the bat, up in the air went the ball, over the fence in left it sailed:Gabi Moreno then singled on through Gabi Lane. He was replaced by pinch runner Garrett Hampson, who I have dubbed Hamster Dance in my mind for whatever reason, which will become important in just a moment and may help to explain the image at the top of this recap. Anyway. Two outs later, Ketel Marte walked to put runners on first and second for Corbin Carroll. Carroll hit a weak grounder on the infield that was clearly shallow enough to go for a single and load the bases!But. But but but. But Garrett Hampson, perhaps a bit overexcited at having been let out of his cage to play, overran third base as Dansby Swanson made the play on Carrolls grounder, and Swanson simply ran at him and tagged him out unassisted to end the ballgame as he tried to skitter back to the base. 4-3 Chicago FINAL Im not sure it gets any dumber than Probability Added, courtesy of FanGraphs The Adorable Capybara: Eugenio Suarez ; Ketel Marte The Hapless Gerbil: Jake McCarthy ; Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. The Ignominious Hamster: Corbin Carroll I suspect that Carroll might have gotten dinged by Hampsons game-ending TOOTBLAN because it happened during his at bat; otherwise, Im not sure how you go 2 for 5 and wind up with such a grotesquely negative WPA. was a pretty light crowd in the Gameday thread tonight, with 138 comments at time of writing. There were a few I had in mind to award my first CotG to for 2025, but after that ending to the game, this late-breaking one from ISH has to take it, hands down: Me, too, brother. Me too. still have a shot at a series split tomorrow, so I hope you will join us for the rubber game, as the alleged Eduardo Rodriguez takes the mound for us, facing off in a battle of lefties against Matthew Boyd. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm AZ time. Hope to see you!As always, folks, thanks so much for reading. And as always, go Diamondbacks!

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