Smart owners were grabbing Juan Gutierrez(notes) in mixed leagues Thursday night – and those same smart owners are probably dropping him now. The balls roll funny for everybody, kid.
We knew Arizona would give Chad Qualls(notes) the night off Friday at San Diego – he’s been busy and ineffective – and with that, Gutierrez, the No. 2 man, got the call when the Diamondbacks had a one-run lead in the ninth. Gutierrez quickly got in a jam by walking the leadoff batter, with a sacrifice and strikeout to follow.
One more out and Gutierrez is the hero, but not on this night. David Eckstein(notes) rapped a double over Geraldo Parra’s head, squaring the game, and two batters later Chase Headley(notes) hit a titanic home run to right field that probably hasn’t landed yet. Left-handed batters have been the problem with Gutierrez over his brief career (.269 BAA, 1.56 WHIP), and the pitch to Headley had "hit me" written all over it (adjust your set if you didn’t make out the lettering).
Gutierrez wasn’t the only bullpen goat in this loss – Bobby Howry allowed a run in the seventh and Aaron Heilman(notes) was a mess in the eighth, though just one run came out of it. Edwin Jackson(notes) (6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K) deserved a better fate.
That’s the lead item for tonight. Check back a little later and I’ll add 1,000 bonus words or so.