Republic writer Bob McManaman sat down with Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young, one of the most tenured players on the team, for a friendly word-association game. The challenge: Seek thoughtful one-word descriptions on some teammates and coaches who shaped the 2011 season.

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How the 2011 D-Backs were built | Sizing up the Brewers | D-Backs’ postseason

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Question: All right, let’s start down at the corner over there. Ryan Roberts?

Answer: Passionate.

Q: The man right next to your locker, Justin Upton?

A: Confident.

Q: J.J. Putz?

A: Leader.

Q: Ian Kennedy?

A: Relaxed.

Q: Daniel Hudson?

A: Gamer.

Q: David Hernandez?

A: Gentle Giant.

Q: Miguel Montero?

A: Energetic.

Q: Henry Blanco?

A: He’s a leader, too.

Q: Kirk Gibson?

A: Commander in chief. . . . Or, intense.

Q: Alan Trammell?

A: Motivator.

Q: Don Baylor?

A: Big Bear.

Q: Eric Young?

A: He’s energetic, too.

Q: Stephen Drew?

A: Country.

Q: Gerardo Parra?

A: Underrated.

Q: Sean Burroughs?

A: Out there.

Q: Josh Collmenter?

A: Caveman. . . . No, wait. Witty.

Q: Aaron Hill?

A: Loose and free.

Q: How about you? Chris Young?

A: Me? Positive.

PHOENIX (AP) — Even down six runs after six innings, the Arizona Diamondbacks thought they would find a way to win.

This time, their rally came up a bit short.

“You’d like to win them all but we didn’t today,” manager Kirk Gibson said following the Diamondbacks’ 7-6 loss to the San Diego Padres. “We push through. There’s a saying about playing 27 outs, playing to the end. It’s something that’s been preached for a while. It’s part of their character.”

Henry Blanco homered and Chris Young added a two-run double for the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, who had won a franchise-record 15 consecutive home games. Arizona’s lead over San Francisco slipped to 8 1-2 games and the Diamondbacks’ magic number remained eight.

Backed by LeBlanc’s one-hit pitching over the first five innings, San Diego built a 7-0 lead against Josh Collmenter (9-9).

James Darnell drove in Nick Hundley with a single in the second, then hit a sacrifice fly in the third. Jesus Guzman had an RBI single and Anthony Rizzo drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to put the Padres ahead 4-0.

Hundley hit a two-run shot in the fifth for his eighth homer, giving San Diego a 6-0 lead and ending Collmenter’s day. Guzman added a run-scoring double in the seventh.

Then the Diamondbacks made things interesting.

Blanco, Arizona’s regular Sunday catcher, led off the sixth with a line drive over the wall in left. Reliever Zach Duke singled to center, Gerardo Parra reached on a one-out single and Paul Goldschmidt walked to load the bases and chase Wade LeBlanc (3-3).

Chris Young hit a two-run double to left off Erik Hamren, and Colin Cowgill brought home Goldschmidt and Young with a single to center that trimmed San Diego’s lead to 7-5.

“I thought we were going to pull it out again,” Young said. “Honestly, I thought we were going to find a way to win it.”

The Diamondbacks pulled within one in the seventh when Blanco singled, went to second when pinch-hitter Geoff Blum was hit by a pitch and scored on pinch-hitter Justin Upton’s groundout.

“It’s been our team all year,” Collmenter said. “Up, down, we play all the way through. It’s fun to be a part of a team like that and know that no matter how far down you are, they’re going to battle and give you a chance to win.”

Collmenter gave up six runs and seven hits, walked three and struck out two.

“I think I forced through some things,” Collmenter said. “I didn’t make some big pitches when I needed to. I left some balls up over the plate today and they were able to put the bat on.”

Hundley, Guzman and Darnell had two RBIs apiece for the Padres, who ended a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in seven games.

LeBlanc (3-5) went 5 2-3 innings and allowed four runs and four hits while snapping a personal three-game losing streak.

“No one in the clubhouse is too down right now,” Young said. “We showed a lot of fight tonight and the Padres know that.”

NOTES: The Diamondbacks have never rallied from a seven-run deficit to win. . Arizona’s previous home loss was on August 8, a 9-1 defeat against the Houston Astros. The Diamondbacks won the next three games of the series to begin a seven-game winning streak. … Darnell has driven in five runs in his past two games. . Young stole second in the second inning to reach the 20-homer, 20-stolen base plateau for the third time in his career. . The Padres dropped their formal protest of the Diamondbacks’ 6-5, extra-inning victory on Saturday.

PHOENIX (AP) — Even down six runs after six innings, the Arizona Diamondbacks thought they would find a way to win.

This time, their rally came up a bit short.

“You’d like to win them all but we didn’t today,” manager Kirk Gibson said following the Diamondbacks’ 7-6 loss to the San Diego Padres. “We push through. There’s a saying about playing 27 outs, playing to the end. It’s something that’s been preached for a while. It’s part of their character.”

Henry Blanco homered and Chris Young added a two-run double for the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, who had won a franchise-record 15 consecutive home games. Arizona’s lead over San Francisco slipped to 8 1-2 games and the Diamondbacks’ magic number remained eight.

Backed by LeBlanc’s one-hit pitching over the first five innings, San Diego built a 7-0 lead against Josh Collmenter (9-9).

James Darnell drove in Nick Hundley with a single in the second, then hit a sacrifice fly in the third. Jesus Guzman had an RBI single and Anthony Rizzo drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to put the Padres ahead 4-0.

Hundley hit a two-run shot in the fifth for his eighth homer, giving San Diego a 6-0 lead and ending Collmenter’s day. Guzman added a run-scoring double in the seventh.

Then the Diamondbacks made things interesting.

Blanco, Arizona’s regular Sunday catcher, led off the sixth with a line drive over the wall in left. Reliever Zach Duke singled to center, Gerardo Parra reached on a one-out single and Paul Goldschmidt walked to load the bases and chase Wade LeBlanc (3-3).

Chris Young hit a two-run double to left off Erik Hamren, and Colin Cowgill brought home Goldschmidt and Young with a single to center that trimmed San Diego’s lead to 7-5.

“I thought we were going to pull it out again,” Young said. “Honestly, I thought we were going to find a way to win it.”

The Diamondbacks pulled within one in the seventh when Blanco singled, went to second when pinch-hitter Geoff Blum was hit by a pitch and scored on pinch-hitter Justin Upton’s groundout.

“It’s been our team all year,” Collmenter said. “Up, down, we play all the way through. It’s fun to be a part of a team like that and know that no matter how far down you are, they’re going to battle and give you a chance to win.”

Collmenter gave up six runs and seven hits, walked three and struck out two.

“I think I forced through some things,” Collmenter said. “I didn’t make some big pitches when I needed to. I left some balls up over the plate today and they were able to put the bat on.”

Hundley, Guzman and Darnell had two RBIs apiece for the Padres, who ended a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in seven games.

LeBlanc (3-5) went 5 2-3 innings and allowed four runs and four hits while snapping a personal three-game losing streak.

“No one in the clubhouse is too down right now,” Young said. “We showed a lot of fight tonight and the Padres know that.”

NOTES: The Diamondbacks have never rallied from a seven-run deficit to win. . Arizona’s previous home loss was on August 8, a 9-1 defeat against the Houston Astros. The Diamondbacks won the next three games of the series to begin a seven-game winning streak. … Darnell has driven in five runs in his past two games. . Young stole second in the second inning to reach the 20-homer, 20-stolen base plateau for the third time in his career. . The Padres dropped their formal protest of the Diamondbacks’ 6-5, extra-inning victory on Saturday.

Hundley, Jesus Guzman and James Darnell had two RBIs apiece for the Padres, who ended a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in seven games.

“Anytime you can come out of here with a win you consider it to be a good day,” San Diego starter Wade LeBlanc.

San Diego had lost seven of eight games in Arizona this season, including the first three games of the series.

“We’ve got to stay positive,” said Heath Bell, who pitched the ninth for his 37th save in 42 chances one day after allowing two homers in the ninth. “We could have taken three out of four. I messed up yesterday and the second game we kinda blew it.”

LeBlanc (3-5) went 5 2-3 innings and allowed four runs and four hits while snapping a personal three-game losing streak.

“I thought he deserved to get the win,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “He had good efficiency, mix of pitches and changing of speeds, which all go into Wade’s game.”

Henry Blanco homered and Chris Young added a two-run double for the NL West-leading Diamondbacks. Arizona’s lead over the San Francisco Giants slipped to 8 1-2 games and its magic number remained eight.

“You’d like to win them all but we didn’t today,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “We push through. There’s a saying about playing 27 outs, playing to the end. It’s something that’s been preached for a while. It’s part of their character.”

Backed by LeBlanc’s one-hit pitching over the first five innings, San Diego built a 7-0 lead against Josh Collmenter (9-9).

Darnell drove in Hundley with a single in the second, then hit a sacrifice fly in the third. Guzman had an RBI single and Anthony Rizzo drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to put the Padres ahead 4-0.

Hundley hit a two-run shot in the fifth for his eighth homer, giving San Diego a 6-0 lead and ending Collmenter’s day. Guzman added a run-scoring double in the seventh.

Then the Diamondbacks made things interesting.

Blanco, Arizona’s regular Sunday catcher, led off the sixth with a line drive over the wall in left. Reliever Zach Duke singled to center, Gerardo Parra reached on a one-out single and Paul Goldschmidt walked to load the bases and chase LeBlanc.

Chris Young hit a two-run double to left off Erik Hamren, and Colin Cowgill brought home Goldschmidt and Young with a single to center that trimmed San Diego’s lead to 7-5.

“We got it the hard way,” Black said. “It looked as though we might have done it the easy way but it turned out to be the hard way.”

The Diamondbacks pulled within one in the seventh when Blanco singled, went to second when pinch-hitter Geoff Blum was hit by a pitch and scored on pinch-hitter Justin Upton’s groundout.

“It’s been our team all year,” Collmenter said. “Up, down, we play all the way through. It’s fun to be a part of a team like that and know that no matter how far down you are, they’re going to battle and give you a chance to win.”

Collmenter gave up six runs and seven hits, walked three and struck out two.

“I think I forced through some things,” Collmenter said. “I didn’t make some big pitches when I needed to. I left some balls up over the plate today and they were able to put the bat on.”

NOTES: Arizona’s last home loss was on August 8, a 9-1 defeat against the Houston Astros. The Diamondbacks won the next three games of the series to begin a seven-game winning streak. … Darnell has driven in five runs in his past two games. . Young stole second in the second inning to reach the 20-homer, 20-stolen base plateau for the third time in his career. . The Padres dropped their formal protest of the Diamondbacks’ 6-5, extra-inning victory on Saturday.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More: San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks

If by now you don’t believe in the magic of this baseball team there’s probably no convincing you. Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy might not be real but there’s no denying something extraordinary is going on with this 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks team.

On a day dedicated to honoring the heroics of the 2001 World Series team that came back on Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning to win it all, it was a member of that very team that came through with a game-tying home run off another great closer, Heath Bell and earned a game-winning RBI walk in the 10th inning.

Arizona was down 5-3 to the Padres going into the final frame. Starter Wade Miley gave up five runs and eight hits but to this team, it didn’t matter. Chris Young, who is showing signs of life after an extended slump, lead off with a solo home run to make it 5-4. Lyle Overbay, who was honored along with his 2001 teammates before the game tied it with another blast to send it to extra innings.

The D-backs weren’t able to seal the deal in the ninth but in the tenth, Justin Upton walked and then advanced to third on a single by Montero. An intentional walk to Blum brought up Chris Young with the bases loaded and one out. Young struck out which brought Lyle Overbay back to the plate with a chance to be the double hero. It wasn’t quite as exciting as a big hit, but the RBI walkoff walk got it done.

Manager Kirk Gibson said that former team owner Jerry Colangelo pointed out the coincidence of Lyle Overbay being called up in September of 2001 and coming up as the hero in this game. And oh, by the way, Overbay had another RBI double earlier in the game giving him three on the night and three hits. Not bad for a guy who was released by the Pirates and sitting home doing nothing when the D-backs called.

“It was a really special night. It was awesome,” Gibson said. “It was great to see all those guys. The ceremony was outstanding. I’d like to say the way we played tonight was very reflective of the way they played in 2001.”

With the win, the D-backs hold a half-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers and are eight-and-a-half games up on the Giants in the NL West.

Are you are believer now?

For more on the Diamondbacks, visit AZ Snake Pit.

 

Read More: David Hernandez (P – ARI), Arizona Diamondbacks

No worries here. The Diamondbacks are still 65-4 when leading after seven innings and David Hernandez has had all of four bad outings out of  67 appearances. 54 of those times he gave up zero runs. He’ll be fine and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who “fell” to five games ahead of the Giants will be fine as well.

More troubling than Hernandez, where the two guys who came in after him with two outs. Joe Paterson gave up a triple, a single and a walk and Sam Demel hit a guy and walked a guy before finally getting the final out of the eighth inning. These are guys the D-backs need or at least they need to know if they can be trusted and right now, the answer is no.

The D-backs are back at it on Wednesday to finish the series against the Rockies with Joe Saunders on the mound.

Az Snake Pit has a few other details of the game:

Diamondbacks 3, Rockies 8: Loooosssiing In the Rain – AZ Snake Pit
The Diamondbacks had their usual gaffes and ganders that are normally present: John McDonald lined a double before being thrown out trying to make it to third. Josh Collmenter threw a quality start without walking a batter. Chris Young continued to slump. Miguel Montero knocked in another RBI. Justin Upton mashed the ball some more and Aaron Hill hit, scored, and made that whole ‘not striking out thing’ look really simple.