Diamondbacks 2, Queens 1: A Quality Start!

TL;DR

The Diamondbacks defeated the Queens 2-1, with Merrill Kelly delivering a quality start after struggling earlier in the season. Kelly's performance included a strong showing against a tough opponent, Clay Holmes, who had an impressive ERA.

Key points

Merrill Kelly had a 9.95 ERA before the game
Diamondbacks won 2-1 against Queens
Clay Holmes had an NL-leading ERA of 1.69
Kelly picked off MJ Melendez during the game
Brett Baty hit an RBI double for Queens

Merrill KellyClay HolmesMJ MelendezBrett Baty

So today was Merrill Kelly’s fifth start of the season, after having his spring training cut short and then a lengthy rehab period to start the year. He entered the game carrying an unsightly 9.95 ERA, and while our broadcasters kept going on and on last Sunday about how he was “finally turning the corner,” he wound up surrendering 6 earned runs in while failing to complete five innings against the Cubs, which really didn’t support their oft-repeated thesis. Today, he was pitching at home, for a national audience because the game was being broadcast on Fox, and was facing off against Clay Holmes, who came into the game with seven starts under his belt and an NL-leading ERA of 1.69 (nice). So I for one certainly wasn’t feeling terribly optimistic, and I certainly didn’t expect a pitcher’s duel to break out.

But oddly enough, that was indeed what happened.

Merrill started things off with two quick outs, and then walked MJ Melendez, the Mets’ DH, on six pitches, which seemed to be a harbinger for control problems to come. No worries, though, at least not in the first frame, as Kelly picked Melendez off with a perfect throw to Ildemaro Vargas to end his inning with the minimum faced and only 11 pitches thrown. Because pickoffs don’t count as pitches. Sadly, however, Holmes retired our top three in order in the bottom of the first without breaking a sweat, and only 11 pitches thrown. It was eerie, almost.

We weren’t heading into the uncanny valley, though….Kelly recorded another two quick outs to start the second, then surrendered a single to Marcus Simien followed by a first-pitch meatball he left in the exact middle of the strike zone that Brett Baty sent out to deep center field for an RBI double. 1-0 Queens

We got some runners on base in the bottom of the second, thanks to a leadoff single by DH Adrian Del Castillo, and then a one-out walk by . The bottom of our lineup, though, were not going to cover themselves in glory today, though—collectively they went 0 for 11 with six strikeouts between them—as Holmes made short work of Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. and .