Arizona

D-backs sluggers Walker, Pederson overwhelm Angels in win

Published

2 years ago

June 14, 2024

D-backs sluggers Walker, Pederson overwhelm Angels in win

PHOENIX — Christian Walker’s bats smashed three home runs in an 11-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Chase Field on Thursday, but Walker was only responsible for two of them. The third was a grand slam hit by Joc Pederson, commandeering his teammate’s bat as he has been known to do.

“We had three homers with a Walker bat tonight,” Pederson said after the game, clarifying that it wasn’t the same exact bat.

“The only bats he doesn’t use are his own bats,” Walker joked postgame.

Joc Pederson used Christian Walker’s bat to hit a grand slam tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/xcf2ju29TS
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 14, 2024
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Pederson’s bat-napping earned him attention during his hot streak in the 2021 postseason while playing for the Atlanta Braves, when he was using the bat of former Chicago Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo.

“He’s a bat guy, we’re always talking models, we’re always messing around with stuff. When I’m between two models I go to him and make him tell me which one has got the hits in it,” Walker added. “That was an awesome swing (on his grand slam). … That sweeper came in and he did a good job staying back and coming through for us. Things like that, that break it open change the game big time.”

JOC POP: GRAND SLAM EDITION pic.twitter.com/yBuQmJEc3D
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 14, 2024

Manager Torey Lovullo called it a complete team effort, beginning with “patient approaches” to set up Walker’s first home run, which he said set a “downhill baseball” tone.

“I felt like it was an important win. You always want to win series,” Lovullo said. “I don’t care what the Angels’ record is, I don’t care what names are missing from the lineup, they’re a very stubborn team … we took nothing for granted.”

The D-backs (33-36) managed nine hits and six walks to only five strikeouts. In addition to the nine RBIs on four hits between Pederson and Walker, Kevin Newman had two RBIs on three hits, filling in for shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who is on a return-to-play program having played two straight games since returning.

Mickey Moniak drove in the Angels’ only run in a game they were held to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Brandon Pfaadt’s quality start

Starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt played with fire early, but he settled into a dominant outing that is welcomed by the Arizona pitching staff.

Pfaadt gave up one run on six hits in his 6.0 innings pitched, but he started with two Angels on base after a walk and a single. After Pfaadt navigated the inning with two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice, the Angels had two baserunners on at the same time only once the rest of the way.

“There were some sticky moments for him, it wasn’t perfect, so he had to grind a little bit early on but made pitches,” Lovullo said postgame.

Pfaadt’s Los Angeles counterpart, Griffin Canning, equaled him in length but wasn’t as effective, surrendering the two home runs to Walker, including the longest home run at Chase Field this season at 464 feet.

Behind Pfaadt, Arizona’s bullpen of Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald got through the final three innings without allowing a hit.

Lovullo acknowledged after the game it wasn’t a normal situation for those three to get the call with the game in hand, but he was pleased with their work.

D-backs’ homestand continues

Arizona, having won eight of its last 12 games, matches up against the Chicago White Sox (18-52) for a three-game set. Ryne Nelson (3-5, 5.96) will get the ball for the D-backs against Chris Flexen (2-5, 5.06) on Friday.

First pitch in the series opener is at 6:40 p.m. on Friday and can be heard on the Arizona Sports app, 98.7 or ArizonaSports.com.

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Arizona

No. 12 Oregon State baseball vs. Arizona: Preview, how to watch

Published

7 hours ago

February 14, 2026

Press Room

No. 12 Oregon State baseball vs. Arizona: Preview, how to watch

No. 12 Oregon State continues its weekend in Surprise, Arizona against Arizona Saturday afternoon at Surprise Stadium.

The Beavers lost Friday’s season opener to Michigan 5-3. Dax Whitney allowed one run on five hits and three walks and struck out six over 5.0 innings, but the bullpen relinquished the lead and OSU’s bats did not have a good day.

Bryce Hubbard and Jacob Galloway each went 2 for 3 at the plate and AJ Singer scored two runs.

The Wildcats also dropped their season opened on Friday, falling 10-7 to Stanford. The teams were tied at 5 after four, then the Cardinal scored five in the top of the sixth and the Wildcats scored two in the bottom of the inning.

Ethan Kleinschmit will get the start today against UA’s Smith Bailey.

No. 12 Oregon State Beavers vs. Arizona Wildcats

When: 1 p.m., PT Saturday, Feb. 14

Where: Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Arizona

TV channel: The game is not televised.

How to watch live stream online: The game will be streamed live by FloSports. Visit osubeavers.com for a direct link to the game and subscription information.

Radio: All games air on the Beaver Sports Network. Pregame starts 30 minutes before the first pitch. Affiliates include KEJO 93.7-FM & 1240-AM (Corvallis), KKNX 105.1-FM & 840-AM (Eugene), KCFM 104.1-FM & 1250-AM & 104.1-FM (Florence), KLAD 104.3-FM & 960-AM (Klamath Falls), KCFM 103.1-FM (Mapleton), KTMT 96.1-FM & 580-AM (Medford), KCMX 880-AM (Medford), KCMX 99.5-FM (Phoenix), KEX 1190-AM (Portland), KSKR 1490-AM (Roseburg) and KBZY 1490-AM (Salem).

Probable starters: LHP Ethan Kleinschmit (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Smith Bailey (0-0, 0.00)

Oregon State’s projected lineup

1. AJ Singer, 2B .250

2. Easton Talt, RF .200

3. Cooper Vance, SS .000

4. Bryce Hubbard, DH .667

5. Jacob Krieg, 1B .250

6. Adam Haight, LF .000

7. Paul Vazquez, 3B .250

8. Jacob Galloway, C .667

9. Nyan Hayes, CF .333

Arizona’s projected lineup

1. Tyler Bickers, 2B .667

2. Maddox Mihalakis, 3B .000

3. Andrew Cain, RF .400

4. Tony Lira, 1B .000

5. Beau Sylvester, LF .250

6. Roman Meyers, C .500

7. Carson McEntire, CF .500

8. Nate Novitske, DH .333

9. Mathis Meurant, SS .333

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Arizona

Arizona baseball falls to Stanford in season opener

Published

19 hours ago

February 14, 2026

Press Room

Arizona baseball falls to Stanford in season opener

SURPRISE—Arizona began last season with three consecutive losses but ended up making it to the College World Series. Something to consider when evaluating the first result of the season.

The Wildcats dropped their 2026 opener on Friday night, losing 10-7 to Stanford at Surprise Stadium. It snapped a 6-game win streak against their former Pac-12 rivals.

Arizona pitchers combined to issue seven walks, something they only did four times all of last season. Three of those were by starter Owen Kramkowski, a career high for the junior right-hander, who didn’t make it out of the 4^th inning.

Stanford also stole six bases, part of an inauspicious UA debut behind the plate for catcher Roman Meyers, who also was charged with catcher’s interference that led to the Cardinal’s first run.

“Those are things we’ve got to take care of,” said UA coach Chip Hale, who laid equal blame on UA pitchers not being quick enough to the plate. “We’ve got to be more accountable. Teams last year I think were a little leery to run on us with (Adonys Guzman) behind the plate, he had a good reputation. And Roman throws as well as anybody in the country, we just have to give him a chance.”

Arizona had 11 hits, its most in a season opener since 2019, but also struck out 15 times. The Wildcats had won 28 consecutive games when scoring at least seven runs including 24-0 in 2025.

Kramkowski, who is a projected high draft pick, allowed five runs (four earned) in 3.1 innings. He gave up six hits but three were not well hit.

“He threw way too many pitches in the first couple innings,” Hale said. “I think there was probably what, four balls that literally were squibbers, bloopers. It just adds up on his pitch count, and the first time out, we’re not gonna let him go past the 80-pitch mark. He was not at all as effective as he was last year.”

But Kramkowski was off the hook after Arizona scored three in the bottom of the 4^th to tie it at 5. Oregon State transfer Carson McEntire had an RBI single and Milwaukee transfer Tyler Bickers followed with a 2-run single.

Stanford broke it open with a 5-run 6^th against a pair of transfer relievers. Nolan Straniero walked three and allowed a 2-run triple, leaving down 8-5, then lefty Patrick Morris gave up a 2-run homer.

The UA got two back in the bottom of the 6^th on back-to-back homers by Meyers and McEntire, though Meyers’ shot was almost erased. Stanford appealed to second base saying Meyers missed the bag, with the 2B umpire calling him out, but Hale challenged and the call was overturned.

The UA couldn’t do anything else at the plate after that, despite three scoreless innings of relief from senior Matthew Martinez with seven strikeouts. The Wildcats got the leadoff man on in the 7^th and 9^th, doing so in all but two innings, but also struck out seven times in the last three frames.

“I think we battled, we gave ourselves a chance,” Hale said. “They threw a couple freshmen that we didn’t have any info on, and they did terrific. They outplayed us tonight.”

Bickers, McEntire, Meyers and Andrew Cain each had two hits, with Bickers and McEntire driving in two runs each. McEntire, a Peoria native, was playing on the same field where he made his collegiate debut last season with Oregon State.

“I thought it was a good game overall,” McEntire said. “There’s some stuff that we work on as a team, and me personally, that I will go down and talk to some coaches about and see what we can do better tomorrow.”

McEntire and his new team will be facing his old team on Saturday, as the Wildcats get the Beavers at 2 p.m. MT. OSU, which lost 5-3 to Michigan on Friday, regularly begins its season at Surprise Stadium and the vast majority of the 5,683 in attendance for the day were wearing orange.

“The Beavs come out and show this place out every year,” McEntire said. “This is a thing for them, and it’s awesome to see their fans.”

Sophomore righty Smith Bailey will start for Arizona against OSU lefty Ethan Kleinschmit.

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Arizona

Arizona lawmakers propose statewide air conditioning standards for rental units

Published

2 days ago

February 13, 2026

Press Room

Arizona lawmakers propose statewide air conditioning standards for rental units

PHOENIX — A newly introduced bill, SB 1608, would establish statewide temperature requirements for rental properties in Arizona, requiring landlords to keep units below 82 degrees.

The legislation, introduced by state Sen. Lauren Kuby alongside Attorney General Kris Mayes, comes after several documented air conditioning outages in apartment complexes across the Valley during extreme heat last summer.

The Attorney General’s office stepped in after a person died and another was hospitalized while living in a Phoenix complex that had a broken AC system.

While Phoenix and Tucson already have local laws requiring temperatures to stay under 82 degrees in rental units, it’s not statewide.

“It’s leading to illness and death and we need to take action,” Kuby said. “There’s a lot of good actors in the area landlords who do the right thing, but there are bad actors too, who are not cooling their rental units appropriately.”

The bill not only contains the temperature requirement, but also shortens the time allotted to get AC fixed or provide a temporary solution from five days down to two days before a tenant could break their contract. It would also prevent evictions in the hottest parts of the summer.

“Landlords can provide accommodations, so that can be putting somebody up in a different unit of the multifamily complex, or they could put somebody in a hotel or they could bring in a window air conditioner,” Kuby said.

The Arizona Multihousing Association said in a statement that Arizona property owners take safety seriously and already have clear legal guidelines and remedies if they aren’t followed.

“We remain committed to working with lawmakers and stakeholders to ensure policies that balance the needs of renters and property owners without creating unintended consequences for the Arizona housing market.”

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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