Lucky 13 in the 4th

By Chris Pollay

What the Hell is going on in Arizona?

During the first week of the MLB season, the D-Backs have been on an absolute tear... a veritable epidemic of home runs has invaded Chase Field, and most of them are coming from the home team.

Not only is the team tied for first in home runs in the entire league with 12 (the St. Louis Pujols... er, I mean Cardinals, also have a dozen), but Arizona managed to set a franchise record by scoring 13 runs in the 4th inning yesterday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.


How is that even possible? Actually, we'll look at that more in detail in a moment, but first let's talk about how well the team is doing. They have won both series against the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates so far in 2010 and are looking impressive.

Given, at 4-2 it's hardly time to reserve playoff spots, but consider this: last year, Arizona lost its first four series. In fact, they didn't even win their second series last year until April 29, yet, they already accomplished that feat 18 days earlier in 2010.

That's reason alone for fans in Arizona to be excited.

However, I have to go back to the 13 runs in one freakin' inning to illustrate just how fun this ballclub has been to watch.

So, what does it take to score 13 runs in one inning?

Well, besides bad pitching, it takes four walks, three singles, three homers, a double, a triple and throw in a wild pitch and a failure to get an out during a fielder's choice play.

Let's break it down further. Not only did Arizona pitcher Edwin Jackson hit his first home run ever (a 417-foot two shot) to cap the scoring in the inning, he had also singled and scored a run earlier in the inning.

Clearly, a lot can happen in three outs.

Arizona started out the inning down 4 to 2 and finished it up ahead 15 to 4.

Kelly Johnson and Chris Young both hit their third homers of the season in back-to-back at bats. Young had nine RBIs in the series against the Pirates.

Adam Laroche, Edwin Jackson and Mark Reynolds all scored twice in the same inning.

Sixteen D-Backs batted and everybody who reached base scored. When Conor Jackson struck out to end the inning, the bases were empty and 13 was already up on the board.

Finally, the eight hits in the inning for Arizona tied its regular season record for hits. The only time they had more hits in a single inning was in the 2001 World Series Game 6 against the Yankees when they tallied nine.