Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everybody!

It’s a gorgeous afternoon here at Tempe Diablo Stadium, where the D-backs are taking on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

We’re looking at, for the most part, all of the starters for both teams, so we definitely lucked out with the lineups. I’ll check in throughout the game with notes.

D-backs

Drew – SS

Jackson – LF

Upton – RF

LaRoche – 1B

Reynolds – 3B

Montero – C

Johnson – 2B

Young – CF

Snyder – DH

Pitchers: Ian Kennedy, Barry Enright, Esmerling Vasquez, Leo Rosales, Jordan Norberto

 

Angels

Izturis – SS

Kendrick – 2B

Hunter – CF

Matsui – DH

Morales – 1B

Rivera – RF

Wood – 3B

Mathis – C

Aldridge – LF

Pitchers: Joe Saunders, Matt Palmer, Rafael Rodriguez, Francisco Rodriguez, Travis Chick

 

***Notes***

— Kennedy has a chance to take a major step forward in his bid for a rotation spot with a good effort this afternoon. Bryan Augenstein was reassigned to minor league camp afternoon, creating one less guy in the competition for the back-end spots. With the way Kennedy has pitched so far, it does seem like a spot would be his to lose.

— Another time on base for Conor Jackson, getting hit in the foot with a pitch. He is just having a fantastic Spring, getting on base 14 times in 27 plate appearances.

— Upton follows it up with a hard single to left, runners on first and second with LaRoche and Reynolds coming up for the D-backs… and there it is, and RBI single for LaRoche, 1-0 D-backs.

— Angels tie it up quickly with a pair of long flyball doubles to right-center and center from Izturis and Kendrick, 1-1.

— Upton improves to 10-for-24 (.417) in Spring Training with another hit to left. Angels up 3-1 going into the top of the third.

— Kind of a rough one today for Kennedy, as Manager A.J. Hinch calls to the bullpen with runners on first and third, and four runs in with one out in the fourth.

— Reynolds just ripped a solo home run to left-center — his first home run of Spring Training — on the heels of a Rivera homer in the fifth that extended the Angels’ lead. It’s 6-2 Angels in the top of the sixth.

— A note for tomorrow, the pitchers for the D-backs/Athletics game at Phoenix Muni: Rodrigo Lopez, Kevin Mulvey, Zach Kroenke, T.J. Beam and Bob Howry. Watch Lopez and Mulvey tomorrow, they’re both vying for a rotation spot right now.

— Hinch said pre-game that, like today, he expects to run something close to the D-backs’ starting lineup out there several more times this spring, so he can get a feel for the regular order. With nothing firmed up, he did say that Jackson is looking “like a two-hole hitter,” though he likes the versatility of moving players to the top and bottom of the lineup. Drew and Johnson, for example, could bat No. 1 and No. 2, but could also find themselves lower in the lineup as well.

— RBI Triple to right-center field for Cole Gillespie, who continues to impress in Spring Training. He’s hitting .333 with 19 total bases in 26 at-bats (.703 slugging) thanks to six extra-base hits. He was quickly driven in on an RBI single by Drew Macias… 6-4 Angels in the top of the seventh.

— Worth noting: The D-backs are getting a nice applause with every hit this afternoon. The Angels do draw well, but this is quite a D-backs-favored crowd. Third consecutive sellout for the Angels today, with 8,911 packing Tempe Diablo today.

— Brandon Allen almost gave the D-backs a lead right there… With two on, Allen mashed a ball down the left field line, but just foul.

— Allen shoots a ball into left center for a single, scoring Macias and moving Augie Ojeda to third, 6-5 Angels.

— John Hester draws a walk. Bases loaded for pinch hitter Evan Frey as the Angels make a pitching change. 

— Frey strikes out as the Angels get out of the inning still up by one, 6-5.

— Just got word: Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee has received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing a pitch in the head area of Chris Snyder during the third inning of the Mariners/D-backs game on Monday at Tucson Electric Park.

— Wow, tack on another two total bases for Gillespie as he hits a double down the left-field line. The kid just rolls out of bed and hits for extra bases these days.

— Drew Macias ties it up with a two-out wall-ball double to right center to plate Gillespie. Macias only had a chance to hit the double because Angels third baseman Freddy Sandoval dropped a popup in foul territory after seemingly having trouble tracking the ball in the sun. 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth with Esmerling Vasquez coming to the mound for the D-backs.

— John Hester hits a sacrifice fly to center field to score Ojeda, giving the D-backs a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth.

— Vasquez gets Erick Aybar to fly out to left to pick up the win, 7-6, for the D-backs who have won seven of their last eight to improve to 9-6-1.