Final
Blue Jays-Diamondbacks Preview
May 23, 2010 - 5:59 AMVideo
Toronto (25-20) at Arizona (20-24), 4:10 p.m. EDT
After struggling with consistency, the Arizona Diamondbacks offense has found its groove during a season-high, four-game win streak.
A matchup against red-hot Toronto Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum, however, might cool off the Diamondbacks' bats.
Marcum will try to earn his fourth win in five starts and third in as many outings as he faces the Diamondbacks for the first time in Sunday's finale of a three-game road series.
Before its current win streak, Arizona (20-24) batted .220 and was outscored 88-46 in losing 10 of 14. That seemed to change with a 13-1 victory over San Francisco on Wednesday.
Beginning with that rout, the Diamondbacks - 0-6 on their previous homestand - have scored at least eight runs in each of their four straight home wins while batting .326. First baseman Adam LaRoche has led the way by hitting .533 (8 for 15) over that stretch with three homers and eight RBIs.
Chris Young has been right behind LaRoche - batting .500 and drove in four runs in Saturday night's 8-5 victory over the Blue Jays. In a familiar theme in this season, the Diamondbacks scored all of their runs in the first two innings.
They got six of their eight runs in the first four innings of Friday's 8-6 win.
"We're jumping on top early on teams and putting good at-bats together," third baseman Mark Reynolds said. "We went through a little slump there for about a week and couldn't string anything together. Now we're stringing stuff together."
Billy Buckner (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will try to benefit from that support in his second start of the season. The right-hander gave up two runs over five innings Tuesday in Florida but was on the wrong end of an 8-0 defeat.
Until an 11-2 win over Minnesota that same day, Marcum (3-1, 2.61) also hadn't received the benefit of generous run support (3.93 runs per outing) this season. The right-hander has overcome those recent inconsistent efforts from his offense with a 1.54 ERA in his last five outings.
He's allowed one run or fewer in four of those starts, including Tuesday's win against the Twins. After giving up one run and five hits in that victory, he flew off to Dayton, Ohio, for his grandmother's funeral.
"Today was really special," manager Cito Gaston told the team's website. "He was kind of pitching with a heavy heart out there ... It wasn't easy out there for him. But, man, he stood up and did a great job for us."
Toronto (25-20) will try to avoid its fourth straight defeat and seventh in 10 road games by extending its win streak in Marcum's recent appearances. The Blue Jays have won four in a row when the right-hander has pitched.
"When Shaun's on the mound, you know what you're going to get," outfielder Vernon Wells told the Blue Jays' official website. "He's going to battle and give you some innings."
The Diamondbacks will try to stop that streak by completing their five-game homestand unbeaten. Arizona is riding its longest win streak at Chase Field since a seven-game run to conclude 2008.
Arizona has never recorded a home sweep in interleague play and hasn't won three in a row against an AL team since beating Baltimore from June 15-17, 2007.
- Diamondbacks 4, Blue Jays 12 - FINAL
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
F Lewis cf 6 1 2 0 0 1 0 .286
A Hill 2b 4 2 0 0 1 0 4 .161
S Downs p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
K Gregg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
A Lind lf 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 .231
J Reed lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
May 23 7:15 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CHRIS YOUNG (7) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 0 OUT
IN THE 9TH OFF KEVIN GREGG.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 12, ARIZONA 4
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: C SNYDER (.224, 0-FOR-3)
Blue Jays 12, Diamondbacks 4 Bot 9, 0 OutsMay 23 7:04 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ADAM LIND SCORED JOSE MOLINA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, F LEWIS ON FIRST, S CAMP ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 12
ARIZONA 3 TOP,7TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J BAUTISTA (.244, 2-FOR-4, HR, 4 RBI)
Blue Jays 12, Diamondbacks 3 Top 7, 0 OutsMay 23 6:32 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY CONOR JACKSON ALLOWED EDWIN ENCARNACION TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J MCDONALD ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 11
ARIZONA 3 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J MOLINA (.286, 2-FOR-3, RBI)
Blue Jays 11, Diamondbacks 3 Top 6, 0 OutsMay 23 6:18 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOHN MCDONALD SCORED ADAM LIND AND AARON HILL
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J MCDONALD ON FIRST, E ENCARNACION ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 10
ARIZONA 3 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J MOLINA (.286, 2-FOR-3, RBI)
Blue Jays 10, Diamondbacks 3 Top 6, 0 OutsMay 23 6:17 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY AUGIE OJEDA SCORED CONOR JACKSON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A OJEDA ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 8
ARIZONA 3 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: S DREW (.303, 1-FOR-2)
Blue Jays 8, Diamondbacks 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsMay 23 5:57 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOSE MOLINA SCORED JOHN MCDONALD
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, J MOLINA ON FIRST, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 8
ARIZONA 2 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: S MARCUM (.500, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Blue Jays 8, Diamondbacks 2 Top 5, 0 OutsMay 23 5:45 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY EDWIN ENCARNACION (7) TO LEFT CENTER
WITH 0 OUT IN THE 5TH OFF BILLY BUCKNER SCORED LYLE OVERBAY.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 7, ARIZONA 2
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J MCDONALD (.220, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Blue Jays 7, Diamondbacks 2 Top 5, 0 OutsMay 23 5:37 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JOSE BAUTISTA (14) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF BILLY BUCKNER SCORED ADAM LIND.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 5, ARIZONA 2
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: L OVERBAY (.212, 1-FOR-2)
Blue Jays 5, Diamondbacks 2 Top 5, 0 OutsMay 23 5:35 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CHRIS YOUNG SCORED STEPHEN DREW
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C YOUNG ON FIRST, M REYNOLDS ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 3
ARIZONA 2 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: C SNYDER (.229, 0-FOR-1)
Blue Jays 3, Diamondbacks 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsMay 23 5:27 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SHAUN MARCUM SCORED JOHN MCDONALD
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S MARCUM ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 3
ARIZONA 1 TOP,4TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: F LEWIS (.287, 1-FOR-2)
Blue Jays 3, Diamondbacks 1 Top 4, 0 OutsMay 23 5:09 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOSE BAUTISTA SCORED AARON HILL AND FRED LEWIS
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J BAUTISTA ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
ARIZONA 1 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: L OVERBAY (.214, 1-FOR-1)
Blue Jays 2, Diamondbacks 1 Top 3, 0 OutsMay 23 4:50 PM - ML
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JUSTIN UPTON SCORED TONY ABREU
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J UPTON ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 0
ARIZONA 1 BOTTOM,1ST
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: A LAROCHE (.289, 7 HR, 32 RBI)
Blue Jays 0, Diamondbacks 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsMay 23 4:21 PM
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