D-Backs Blank Cubs

Halsey's performance makes up for offense stranding 15

By Bob McManaman

The Arizona Republic

CHICAGO - As someone in the press box succinctly put it following Thursday's game at Wrigley Field, the Diamondbacks stranded another small army of base runners yet again.

But after getting another dazzling performance by one of their starting pitchers in left-hander Brad Halsey and just enough timely hits to pull away from the Chicago Cubs, the left-on-base issue that has been dogging Arizona this summer was tamely moot by comparison.

OK, so they left 15 men on base, a new season-high for a nine-inning game. 

The bigger numbers, however, were these: A 6-0 shutout victory - their second blanking of an opponent in as many games - and trimming first-place San Diego's lead in the National League West to just two games. That's the closest the Diamondbacks have been to the top since June 17.

The Diamondbacks lead the NL in stranded runners - a staggering 823 entering today's matchup between Javier Vazquez and the Cubs' Mark Prior.

Yet manager Bob Melvin keeps saying he can sense some relief.

"We left some guys on again, but we feel like we're running a deeper lineup out there now, we'll get some more hits and sooner or later, somebody will come through," he said. "I'm telling you, when we get this thing down and keep getting as many opportunities, it's going to break open for us."

With Halsey (7-7) and the Diamondbacks leaning on a 1-0 lead courtesy of Chad Tracy's first-inning home run off Jerome Williams (3-4), Luis Gonzalez ignited things. In the seventh he hit a two-run homer - just his 13th and his first in 61 at-bats - to give Arizona some breathing room.

It wasn't over by any stretch, not against an offensive lineup as potent as the Cubs'.

But after Halsey exited after six innings of four-hit ball, relievers Tim Worrell, Jose Valverde and Greg Aquino combined to finish Chicago off with conviction.

Arizona, meanwhile, got three runs in the ninth when Tony Clark scored from third on a wild pitch and Luis Terrero, a defensive replacement on a double switch, hit a two-run single.

Thursday marked the first game Melvin trotted out his reconfigured lineup, with Tracy starting in right field, Shawn Green in center, and Clark potentially now more of a regular at first.

Prospect Conor Jackson, promoted a day earlier from Triple-A Tucson in part to also see time at first base, made his debut, pinch-hitting for Halsey with the bases loaded in the seventh. He popped out to first.

"The bottom line for us is just winning games," Gonzalez said.

Halsey, who won his third straight decision after losing five in a row, stayed ahead of hitters and avoided issuing walks - just one on an intentional pass to Derrek Lee - and finagled his way out of a couple of jams between retiring nine batters in a row.

"I'm just commanding my fastball better and gaining confidence with each outing," Halsey said.