Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

By Josh Greene

Sadly, great stories don’t always come with ideal endings. The 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks are proof of that.

The team that many said had no shot this season gave it their best one en route to winning 94 games and the National League Western Division title. While that was obviously a more-than-surprising (and welcome) turn of events, what transpired less than 18 hours after their season ended in Milwaukee with decisive Game 5 of the NLDS was even more so.  

Regardless of the sport, post-elimination locker cleanouts usually have all the understandable enthusiasm of a wake. A season’s rigorous, daily routine is abruptly pared down to some goodbye handshakes and the screech of packing-tape guns to seal up soon-to-be-mailed boxes of personal mementos.  

But there was a more prevalent happening in the D-backs’ clubhouse Saturday. There was optimism. A wave of it enveloped the overall finality of the situation, giving off not an eagerness to race into the offseason, but instead an eagerness to race into next season.

Inevitably with this game, some of the faces that made 2011 a success for the D-backs could give way to a few new ones come Opening Day 2012, but the building blocks are there, and knowing Executive Vice President and General Manager Kevin Towers, construction for next year has already begun.

One of the few downsides heading into next season is that there will be no flying under the radar for this team, especially coming off this year’s accomplishments. With a proven 20-game winner on the mound, a revitalized bullpen, All-Star-worthy talent and a never-say-die attitude up and down the roster, the rest of the National League will already know full well what the D-backs are capable of on the field. The big question is whether those other teams will be able to do anything about it.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

By Josh Greene

Let’s face it. Just days ago, it looked as if the only way the D-backs were going to see the city of Milwaukee again before next season was to catch a rerun of “Happy Days.”

But that’s what back-to-back must-wins at Chase Field will do for you. Now the team prepares for an improbable-turned-decisive Game 5 back at Miller Park Friday afternoon.

Just like Game 1, starters Ian Kennedy and Yovani Gallardo will tangle once again. Last Sunday, the D-backs’ ace got tagged for the loss after surrendering 8 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 hit batters to go along with his 3 strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Meanwhile, his Brewers counterpart went 8 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and fanning 9 in the win.

“Ever game is separate,” said D-backs centerfielder Chris Young. “He pitched good against us the last time we were there, but that truly has nothing to do with this start. He could miss his spots. We could take advantage. We could get a couple of bloop hits. (Paul Goldschmidt) could hit another bomb. You never know in this game.”

And nobody wants another chance at Game 1 redemption more than the National League’s first 20-game winner this season.

“Like any experience, you learn from it,” Kennedy said. “You try to build and learn the positive things from it. I’ve definitely got the first one under my belt. And that one hopefully helps me my next start … and hopefully the outcome will be different.”

Seeing their runs-per-game average jump to 9 over the last two games, the D-backs are riding a two-game winning streak, but they know they’ll have to make it three (with this one being on the road) to advance to the NLCS.

“I feel like it’s a brand new series,” Young added. “When you’re down 0-2, you feel like your back is against the wall and you feel like the pressure is on you. Now we’ve been able to tie it back up, and we have to go back to their house. We have to forget about what we did when we were there. But I think take only the good things from this home stand. Try to take the momentum with us and hope that they remember it, as well. And if we’re able to jump on Gallardo early, I think it will make a big difference.”

First pitch is at 2:07 p.m. on Friday, Phoenix time. The game airs on TBS.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

By Greg Dillard

Randy Wolf sat in the press interview room on Tuesday and talked extensively about the D-backs’ balanced lineup, depth and variety of players capable of doing damage prior to his Game 4 start.

He was spot-on in his assessment of the Arizona lineup. The D-backs possess all of those, and they showcased every one of them in a pivotal Game 4 thumping of Wolf and the Brewers.

One night after bashing eight runs on 11 hits to prolong the National League Division Series, the D-backs followed a similar model on Wednesday.

The D-backs plated 10 runs on 13 hits and four home runs while receiving contributions from everyone in the lineup. Eight different batters collected hits while four D-backs notched multi-hit games and all nine starters reached base safely.

The 10 runs from Arizona marked the third highest run total in a postseason contest in franchise history. The D-backs’ four home runs also established a single-game, franchise postseason record.

“We know we’re capable of scoring runs,” D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. “So that was outstanding. But to keep things in perspective, we haven’t accomplished anything yet. We didn’t come here to win two games and not win the Series. We have to stay level headed about it.”

Milwaukee struck first by grabbing an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. That margin would be short lived. In typical Willie Bloomquist fashion, he jumpstarted an Arizona rally by drilling a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. After Justin Upton walked and Miguel Montero singled to load the bases, Ryan Roberts crushed a grand slam into the D-backs’ left field bullpen.

That dinger marked the second postseason grand slam in D-backs’ history, and the fourth consecutive game at Chase Field in which the D-backs have hit a grand slam.

It didn’t take long for the D-backs to tack on another run when Chris Young launched a solo blast one batter later. The back-to-back long balls from Roberts and Young marked the first time in which D-backs players had done so in a postseason game.

In the third inning, Gibson called on his bench by having Collin Cowgill pinch-hit for starter Joe Saunders. Like so many of Gibson’s moves this season, it paid off.

The rookie outfielder laced a two-RBI single into left field for a pair of crucial runs. With Cowgill’s two RBI, Arizona rookies have now driven in eight runs in the series, which ties a rookie record for postseason RBI in team history.

Whether it’s Cowgill, Paul Goldschmidt or any of the other D-backs rookies, they all have had a profound impact not only in the 2011 postseason, but throughout the regular season, as well.

“We obviously have confidence in them,” Gibson said. “That’s why they’re in the game. We’ve brought guys up from Double-A, and they were exposed to a very good environment down there, as well. They’ve got good stuff. They’ve got good abilities.”

Despite the early offensive barrage from Arizona, the Brewers were unwilling to go down without a fight as they scored runs in the first three innings en route to six in the game.

Milwaukee’s offense became a non-issue when the D-backs kept their foot on the gas.

Young struck again in the seventh by depositing a Chris Narveson 2-1 pitch into the left-field stands for a two-run bomb.

 “I was just looking for something up the middle, honestly,” Young said. “In the playoffs your adrenaline is flowing so much you’re just trying to hit the ball hard. You’re not thinking about homers, you’re just thinking about having good at-bats and trying to get on base to produce runs. And every now and then you square some up.”

 His second long ball made him the first player in D-backs’ history to smack two home runs in a postseason game. With five career postseason homers, the centerfielder is now the D-backs’ career postseason home runs leader.

“It’s been nice,” Young said. “I’ve been here for quite a few years now. I’ve been able to experience the ups and downs of this season and actually hang out with guys like (Luis Gonzalez) and Matt Williams and guys from that old team, as well. So I respect that and I take it as a compliment. That’s pretty cool.”

Henry Blanco is a career .357 hitter against Randy Wolf.  Photo by Jordan Megenhardt

By Greg Dillard

The Arizona bats were unusually quiet during the first two games of the National League Division Series in Milwaukee.

That all changed when the D-backs returned home to Chase Field for Game 3.

The offense smacked 11 hits for eight runs, including a grand slam off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt. Four different players in the starting lineup collected multi-hit games, including Willie Bloomquist’s three-hit performance.

The Brewers and D-backs return to Chase Field for Game 4 tonight, and the red-hot Arizona lineup will face off against veteran Randy Wolf.

For Wolf, navigating through the hot-hitting D-backs batting order will be a far from easy task.

“They have a good balance,” Wolf said. “They’re one of those teams that once they get the ball rolling, you have to really slow them down because they’re pretty tough. They like to get on base. They like to steal. They have a good balance of contact guys and power guys that can really do some damage. And there are really no soft spots at the end of their lineup.”

Many D-backs players have had success against the Milwaukee southpaw. Chris Young, Justin Upton, Ryan Roberts, Gerardo Parra and Lyle Overbay have all homered off the Wolf in their careers. The 12 Arizona hitters that have faced Wolf before have combined for a .328 batting average, .542 slugging percentage and 24 RBI all-time.

Young is a career .296 hitter off Wolf with a homer, three doubles and three walks. Henry Blanco has hit .357 lifetime vs. Wolf in 14 at-bats, while Roberts is a career .462 hitter against the lefty. Geoff Blum has tallied five hits in 13 at-bats off Wolf along with five RBI. Bloomquist is always a .300 hitter when facing Wolf. Additionally, Miguel Montero owns a .500 career batting average off Wolf to go with two RBI.

Wolf is aware of the challenge that lies ahead as the Brewers and D-backs square off in game number four.

“They’re a tough team, especially in this ballpark,” Wolf said. “They’re one of those teams you really want to keep off base. You want to slow the game down because they have the tendency to bring the intensity on their side and you want to slow that down. They’re a good team. You’ve got to respect them.”

Photo by Jonathan Willey

By Greg Dillard

The D-backs fought to live another day by winning Tuesday’s Game 3.

Now it’s up to veteran left-hander Joe Saunders to keep Arizona’s postseason dreams alive. The southpaw will toe the rubber Wednesday night for Game 4 of the National League Division Series.

The D-backs faced a 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series, but claimed the must-win Game 3 last night by a final score of 8-1.

In another must-win matchup, Saunders gets the ball tonight in his first start of the 2011 postseason. It’s sure to be a high-intensity evening as Saunders and the D-backs will be wearing their black uniforms, and Chase Field will be blacked out by fans with black D-backs gear.

Although he hasn’t pitched in this series, Saunders has attentively watched the Brewers’ lineup in each of the series’ first three games.

“It’s always an advantage when you get to see a team for a little bit,” Saunders said. “But you’ve still got to go out there and throw the baseball, and they’ve still got to go out there and hit the baseball. You do your homework, and they do their homework, and you let the chips fall where they may.”

Saunders will undoubtedly have his hands full as he works through the Milwaukee lineup. The Brewers boast a pair of MVP candidates in Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.

Braun hit a red-hot .332 with 33 homers and 111 RBI in his fourth consecutive All-Star season. Fielder batted .299 while bashing 38 long balls and driving in 120 runs.

“You look at their lineup and you don’t want any of them to beat you, really,” Saunders said. “They’re kind of built like we are. They’re very similar to us. They’ve got speed. They’ve got guys that put it in play. And they’ve got guys that can hit it out of the ballpark with ease.”

Saunders posted a 12-13 record to go with a 3.69 ERA in 212 innings pitched in his first full season in Arizona. He was acquired from the Angels in July of 2010. Following the move to the desert, Saunders made it a goal to help the D-backs return to their winning ways.

In 2011, Saunders and the D-backs did just that.

“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” Saunders said. “I think everything has a purpose, and everything happens for a reason. So there’s a reason for me coming over here. And I was just fortunate enough to help this organization turn it around.”

It didn’t take Saunders very long to help the D-backs soar to the top of the National League West standings. The team won 94 games and won the division title just one season after finishing in the division cellar.

“I was telling CY in August last year when I got traded over here that, ‘Hey we’re going to turn this thing around next year, and we’re going to string some wins together and really compete in this division.’ And sure enough we did it.”

With the acquisition of Saunders, the D-backs received a polished left-handed starter who experienced plenty of success in Los Angeles. He notched a 54-32 record in his six seasons with the Halos.

Additionally, Saunders owns postseason experience as he and the Angels made several runs to October over the years. He made a start in the 2008 playoff run and then once again in the 2009 ALCS.

Those starts in the playoffs are experiences that Saunders will never forget.

“There’s a ton of adrenaline,” Saunders said. “I remember my first experience, I think I was in Boston, and I just had adrenaline flowing through every inch of my body. And when you do it and you get through it and you realize it’s just another baseball game, you kind of settle in and you kind of try to slow everything down.”

His playoff experiences should bode for Saunders as he looks to keep the D-backs in the 2011 postseason.

Photo by Jordan Megenhardt

By Josh Greene

With 94 wins in the regular season, the D-backs’ first of the playoffs undoubtedly came just in the nick of time.

Arizona pounded out 11 hits vs. the Brewers en route to an 8-1 win in Tuesday’s Game 3 at Chase Field. They still trail in the NLDS series two games to one, with one more to play in Phoenix Wednesday night.    

Coming off his first career postseason hit (and home run) in Game 2 Sunday, rookie Paul Goldschmidt did one better Tuesday, tying a franchise playoff record with 5 RBI (Steve Finley, 1999; Danny Bautista, 2001). The first D-back to ever hit a grand slam in the playoffs, he also became the second rookie since 1998 to hit one in the postseason (Ricky Ledee, 1999) with his fifth inning blast off Milwaukee starter Shaun Marcum.

“I’m sure he missed his spot because it ended up down the middle and I was able to get a good part of the bat on it,” Goldschmidt said, “I knew I hit it well, but (Corey) Hart was going after it hard. And luckily it was able to get out of here.

“Right now, it’s not about me. It’s about the team. And really that’s how it’s been this whole year since I got here. That’s how we got in this situation, and (we’ll) try to keep (it) going.”

Miguel Montero was hitless in eight at-bats through the first two games before stepping into the batter’s box in Game 3. Lacing an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning for the D-backs’ first run, the All-Star catcher once again plated a run two innings later with an RBI single.

“Miggy did a great job,” D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. “Actually his last two at bats in Milwaukee he had a good bat off (LaTroy) Hawkins, one that he caught, went off his glove. And then he had a good bat off (John) Axford. We saw that as a good sign. He had a great approach tonight. He stayed up the middle his first two at bats, and drove in some runs.”

Another must-win for the D-backs in Wednesday’s Game 4… For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Photo by Jordan Megenhardt

By Greg Dillard

It was the biggest start of his young Major League career, and it came in Game 3 of the 2011 National League Division Series.

Josh Collmenter took the mound in his first postseason start with his team in an 0-2 series deficit. Arizona was just a single loss away from having its season come to a premature end.

The D-backs desperately needed a solid outing from their starter in hopes of prolonging their 2011 playoff hopes, and Collmenter certainly delivered just what Arizona hoped for and then some.

“The Ferris Wheel” silenced the red-hot Brewers lineup by unleashing seven innings of one-run baseball. He allowed just two hits while striking out six, which established a franchise record for most strikeouts by a rookie pitcher in a postseason game.

Collmenter effectively navigated his way through the Milwaukee batting lineup that produced 13 runs on 20 hits in the first two games of the series.

“Coming into the game I knew I had success against Milwaukee,” Collmenter said. “I knew if I executed my game plan, I could get them out. I didn’t have to pitch out of my head. I think that gave me some confidence to know that if I ever got in the situation with some runners on or got in a jam, I knew I’d pitch out of it by executing pitches against different guys.”

Collmenter’s spectacular outing in Game 3 is just the latest of his impressive performances against the Brewers.

In his July 6 start at Miller Park, he hurled six shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out three. Collmenter was just as good, if not better in his next start vs. Milwaukee as he tossed eight shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out seven in the 3-0 Arizona win.

With his seven innings and just one earned run allowed on Tuesday, Collmenter has now surrendered just one earned run in 21 innings against Milwaukee this season. He owns a 2-0 record with a stellar 0.43 ERA in three career starts against the Brewers.

“It’s been incredible,” D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. “He gave up one run three times, walked three, struck out 16. I think he had one groundball out, struck out six tonight and I think everything else was in the air.”

Collmenter worked out of a mini-jam in the first inning of Tuesday’s game. After walking Ryan Braun and hitting Prince Fielder, he struck out Richie Weeks to end any potential scoring threat.

“I wasn’t going to give in to Braun, and the game plan is to pitch Fielder inside,” Collmenter said. “I decided to actually use some pitches to Weeks. I wanted to slow it down and make the pitches I wanted to make and not let them get the momentum that we ended up getting.”

His only blemish of the evening came in the top of the third when he surrendered a leadoff, solo home run off the bat of Corey Hart. Collmenter quickly responded by retiring nine straight Brewer batters. He ended his dominant performance by retiring six in a row, including a 1-2-3 seventh frame.

“I exceeded my expectations a little bit,” Collmenter said. “My goal was to give the team a win – whatever I had to do just to keep the team in the ballgame and give us a chance to win down the stretch.”

Collmenter did just that by giving his team a shot at winning. The D-backs cruised to an 8-1 win and forced a Game 4. Although the stakes were certainly high, the right-hander approached Tuesday’s start just like any other.

“No, no butterflies,” Collmenter said. “It wasn’t until you see the atmosphere and the fans all wearing red with their pom-poms and how exciting that was.”

When the D-backs were on the brink of elimination, it turns out the rookie Collmenter was just what they needed in a pivotal playoff situation.

“We talked about it before, he obviously has great deception,” Gibson said. “He obviously has great character. He was very composed tonight and threw strikes. He kept them off-balance and it’s what we needed. He deserves a lot of credit for the way he threw and the way he was composed tonight.”

Photo by Jordan Megenhardt

By Joe Gilmartin

Thanks to the Brewers for making this win necessary, and thanks (in no particular order) to Mr. Goldschmidt, Montero and Collmenter et al for turning what was advertised as a grim struggle for survival into a walk in the park.

The sellout crowd at Chase Field came prepared to sweat out a MUST win, but didn’t suffer even so much as a single spasm of real anxiety as the D-backs exploded early and often for an 8-1 victory that trimmed Milwaukee’s lead in the best-of-five NLDS series to 2-1.

The team’s M.O. all through this exhilarating season has been to strike late from behind. But given the urgency of the situation, opted to strike early, taking a 2-0 lead before their first at-bat was six batters old, and going on record a relatively rare (for them) wire-to-wire win.

Miguel Montero, held hitless in the two games at Milwaukee, was the point man in the early strike, driving in one run and setting up the other with a double off the center field fence. He also singled in a run in the third, and if I were the Brewers I would be very worried, because historically, when Miggy starts hitting it takes a week to get him out.

And Goldschmidt, who is not only developing into a budding superstar almost overnight, but establishing himself as a presence at the plate, sealed the deal with the first postseason grand slam in franchise history.

The reason I left Josh Collmenter for last was that, well, all he really did was just pretty much what he’s did during the regular season, namely tie Milwaukee’s big bats  into tiny, tiny knots. In consecutive July starts, he allowed no runs and six hits in 14 innings while striking out 10 and walking one. In Game 3, he did give up a run, but allowed only two hits in seven innings while striking out six and walking one. Pretty impressive for a rookie.

The romp not only kept their postseason happily afloat, but even better, did nothing to disturb the D-backs’ underdog status, a bit of karma they have clung to all year while the rest of the baseball world keeps insisting they couldn’t swim. This is a team that not only treasures putdowns but inhales them like life-giving oxygen.

Back in March they were solemnly adjudged the weakest team in the weak West. And in October they were unanimously dissed as the weakest team in the playoffs, East or West. And the beauty of it all is they enjoy all the perks of an underdog without actually being one.

Or to put it another way, when you look at a solid rotation headed by a Cy Young-worthy ace, a bullpen anchored by a first-rate set-up man and top-of-the-line closer, and an offense that is among the best in baseball at scoring runs and hitting homers, and you have to conclude that if this is an underdog, it is the most talented one in recent memory. (And I haven’t even mentioned their private conviction that they are absolutely bulletproof).

So, what does all this mean? 

Well, I wouldn’t say this within earshot of Kirk Gibson, who barks at scribes who have the temerity to even ASK if his team might win anything, but what it all adds up to for me is that while I admit to a qualm or two about Game 4, there is no way in heck the Brewers can beat Ian Kennedy in Game 5 back in Milwaukee — not with Miggie in the zone again and Goldschmidt growing more Bunyon-esque by the inning.

The bottom line: D-backs in cinco!

Photo by Jordan Megenhardt

By Greg Dillard

Josh Collmenter will treat it like any other start.

He’s going to employ a similar routine to what he used prior to all 24 of his regular-season starts. He knows the crowd will be electric at Chase Field, and it might feel a little different.

But for Collmenter, this is just another start.

In reality, Tuesday’s outing for Collmenter is quite different. He and the D-backs face a daunting 0-2 deficit against the Brewers in the National League Division Series. After falling in the first two games, the series now shifts to the Valley of the Sun and Chase Field.

Collmenter gets the starting nod against Brewers right-hander Shaun Marcum. Despite the circumstances, Arizona’s rookie hurler will draw on past experiences in which he faced Milwaukee.

 “It’s a team I’ve pitched against before,” Collmenter said. “Obviously the crowd and the atmosphere is a little more electric than in the past, but when it comes down to it, it’s still a baseball game and you have to do what you need to do to execute to win.”

Collmenter has in fact won against the Brewers already this season.

He took the mound at Miller Park on July 6 and tossed six shutout innings in a no-decision. Collmenter scattered three hits while striking out three Brewer batters.

In his very next start, Collmenter was even better, as he hurled eight shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out seven in the 3-0 Arizona win.

“I was able to establish the fastball, and I think that really kept them uncomfortable,” Collmenter said. “And as the game got on, I think them being such an aggressive team, it got them frustrated. And then you can flip the aggressiveness around on them, make them swing at pitches they’re not necessarily comfortable swinging at.”

The 2011 season marked Collmenter’s first in the big leagues. He was called up in May as a reliever and has never looked back. He made 31 total appearances, including 24 starts.

He posted a 10-10 record with a solid 3.38 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 154.1 innings of work. Now Collmenter gets his first taste of postseason play, but to him, it’s just another game.

“If you let anything make it bigger than it is, then those things start affecting you,” Collmenter said. “If you can treat it as any other game as best you can, I think you’re going to have better results. I’m trying to take it, it’s another game.”

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

By Josh Greene

For a team that’s been remarkably resilient all season long, the D-backs know they will need to be even more so on Tuesday for Game 3 of their National League Division Series vs. Milwaukee.

After a four-hit outing in Game 1, the D-backs tallied 10 in a losing effort Sunday in Game 2’s 9-4 loss to the Brewers. The Diamondbacks left 10 runners on base, now putting them one loss away from postseason elimination in the best-of-five series.  

“It’s no secret what our situation is,” shortstop Willie Bloomquist said. “The last thing you want to do is kick two games here and go home down 0-2. If there’s any team that’s been down before and come back, it’s us. We’re certainly not going to fold up our tents just yet. We’ll come out fighting Tuesday and see what happens. It’s a tough position to be in but we are comfortable with the uncomfortable. I have confidence in this team, and every guy in here has confidence we can reel off three in a row.”

D-backs centerfielder Chris Young collected three hits, including a fourth-inning home run – his third ever in NLDS play. With a pair of longballs vs. the Cubs in the 2007 NLDS, he now has six-career postseason RBI.

“We have to keep fighting,” Young said. “They played well tonight, and that’s what you are supposed to do at home. Now we get the opportunity to go home and play in front of our fans. All you can do is continue to push and continue to fight. We still believe in ourselves.”

 After a disappointing personal performance at the plate in Game 1, Aaron Hill rebounded for three hits of his own in his second-ever career playoff game Sunday. Although his time in the Sedona Red has been short since his midseason acquisition, he’s been in uniform more than long enough to see the spirit of the club in action.  

“We don’t give up,” Hill said. “We intend on sticking to the plan and just playing baseball.”

For tickets to Tuesday’s Game 3 at Chase Field, CLICK HERE.