Wild throws by Montero, Parra cost D-Backs 2-1 - TriValley Central

Published: Wednesday, July 4, 2012 4:09 AM MST

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Associated Press

MILWAUKEE â€"â€" Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero knew he didn’t have time to jump to his feet while attempting to throw out Milwaukee Brewers speedster Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the ninth inning of a time game Sunday at Miller Park.

Montero threw from his knees and the ball skipped into center field as Gomez stole second. Gomez scurried to third as Diamondbacks centerfielder Gerardo Parra retrieved the ball. Parra’s throw sailed into the stands along the third base line, allowing Gomez to score, giving the Brewers a 2-1 victory.

“(The pitch) was down and away, so I didn’t have a chance to get up and throw,” Montero said. “I can throw from my knees. I’m not going to change anything because of one bad throw.”

Gomez ran for Aramis Ramirez, who led off by drawing a five-pitch walk from Patrick Corbin (2-4).

“I knew he was going to go,” Montero said. “He got a good jump, but it was a bad throw.”

Parra said he felt his throw to third base was on line.

“It was a good throw, but it hit Gomez in the helmet, I thought,” Parra said. “It’s a tough way to lose, but that’s baseball.”

Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said the end of the game “just didn’t work out” for his team.

“I had no problem with the whole play,” he said. “There wasn’t a lack of effort. We bounced a throw and couldn’t pick it up, and another one just got away.”

John Axford (2-5) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the victory.

Jason Kubel hit a tying homer in the eighth inning on the first pitch from Brewers reliever Francisco Rodriguez. It was the 12th consecutive game in which Arizona hit a home run, extending a season high.

Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo appeared as though he would run his record against Arizona to 7-0. He gave up three hits in 6 2-3 innings, walking six and striking out five.

He dueled with Diamondbacks’ starter Josh Collmenter, who gave up three hits and one earned run in six innings, while striking out five batters and allowing no walks.

Collmenter came into Sunday afternoon’s contest with a 1-0 record and a 1.17 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Brewers in his career.

He held the Brewers hitless through three innings, facing the minimum number of batters, before surrendering a lead-off ground-rule double to Norichika Aoki to lead off the fourth. Aoki advanced to third on a Collmenter wild pitch and scored on Nyjer Morgan’s groundout.

“I felt really good,” Collmenter said. “I made pitches when I needed to. They’re really aggressive, so you can use that against them and keep them uncomfortable in the box.”

Gallardo left with two outs in the top of the seventh after the Diamondbacks loaded the bases without a hit. After retiring the first two batters, Gallardo walked pinch-hitter Chris Young. Willie Bloomquist reached on a fielding error by Brewers second-baseman Rickie Weeks. Young advanced to third when Weeks threw wildly to first base. Gallardo then walked Stephen Drew. Brewers reliever Jose Veras took over for Gallardo and struck out Justin Upton, who swung and missed at a fastball.

Gallardo, who entered the game with a 1.21 ERA in six career starts against the Diamondbacks, managed to keep the Diamondbacks off the scoreboard despite somewhat inconsistent command. He threw 117 pitches, just 66 for strikes. He also threw a wild pitch.

“Gallardo is a great pitcher, but it seems like he’s even better against us,” Montero said. “He must really like to face us. He dominates.”

The game was delayed at the top of the second inning for an emergency medical situation involving a non-uniformed employee of the Milwaukee Brewers. The team didn’t release any immediate details and declined to provide an update following the game. Medical personnel could be seen gathered in the Brewers bullpen for several minutes before the person was transported by stadium ambulance across the outfield warning track to a tunnel leading out of stadium.

Following the game, Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun declined to discuss the game or his selection to the All-Star team due to the circumstances.

“In light of what happened today, I’m not really in place to talk about anything related to baseball,” Braun said. “I think it’d be inappropriate. There are constant reminders in life that there are things that are far more important than this game that we play and I think it’d be inappropriate for me to talk about baseball or anything else.”

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