The Arizona DBacks' 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers was 'a crazy game.' And crazy TV

During one of the in-game interviews ESPN2 conducted during the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, Brewers manager Craig Counsell gave all the pat manager answers: “There’s a lot of baseball left,” that kind of thing.

But he also said, “It’s been a crazy game so far.”

He wasn’t lying. It would continue to be crazy, too, with insanely good defensive plays by Arizona’s aging Evan Longoria, enough runners left on base to staff a small restaurant and a couple of plays overturned on replay that bailed the Diamondbacks out of some sticky situations.

And something you don’t always hear: “Phenomenal job by the DBacks’ bullpen.”

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ESPN2's Doug Glanville and Jon Sciambi got off to a slow start

That was Doug Glanville, ESPN2’s analyst. He and play-by-play announcer Jon Sciambi got off to a somewhat workaday start, but Sciambi and Glanville dove right into the wacky spirit of the game eventually.

The best thing about baseball broadcasts is that the pace of the game lends itself to a lot more talk from the announcing team.

The worst thing about baseball broadcasts is that the pace of the game lends itself to a lot more talk from the announcing team.

The good and the bad were evident Tuesday. The Diamondbacks got off to a slow start, which mirrored that of Sciambi and Glanville. When Joe Mantiply came on in relief in the third inning and promptly walked the first batter he faced, for instance, Glanville noted, “That wasn’t the plan for the Diamondbacks.”

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You don’t say.

But both teams — the Diamondbacks and the broadcasters — improved considerably.

As for the Brewers, not so much.

Glanville came back with the observation that “Mantiply is my favorite baseball name, by the way. Sounds like an Avenger, or ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’”

I love stuff like that. It’s a reminder that this is, after all, a game. And it didn’t prevent Glanville from getting real about Mantiply’s rough start.

“Mantiply could not throw strikes,” Glanville said. “He just couldn’t get in the zone.”

Later, when Arizona’s Corbin Carroll reached first, he pulled on the giant mitt he wears when running bases. “Oven mitt,” Sciami called it.

“The cinnamon rolls are ready,” Glanville said. “Take them out, Corbin.”

You can call that stupid or funny. I vote both.

The two weren’t perfect, even after they got better. When replays showed that Milwaukee's Brice Turang had not, in fact, been hit in the foot by a pitch — it was obvious — neither Sciambi nor Glanville wanted to go out on a limb and say so. (The call was overturned.)

But they were solid when they needed to be. When Longoria made an unbelievable leaping grab of a rocket line drive to start a double play, Sciambi went all sound and fury.

“WHAT A CATCH! Oh my goodness,” Sciambi said. “Evan Longoria saves the day!”

Indeed he had. And he got his own in-game interview to boot.

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It was strange to see the Diamondbacks on ESPN2

It was a little strange to see the game on ESPN2. It’s been a journey trying to watch the Diamondbacks on TV this season. They started on Bally Sports Arizona, but when the company that owned it declared bankruptcy and missed payments, Major League Baseball took over broadcasts. And despite being one of the great turnaround stories in sports this year, this was not a team that enjoyed a lot of national exposure.

So it was a little weird to see, for instance, the different on-screen graphics. The strike count was hidden behind the speed of the last pitch thrown, for instance. Ugh. The count should always be available.

But that’s a small thing. Just not something we're used to.

The big thing is that the Diamondbacks are up 1-0, and they’ll have a chance to win the series on Wednesday night. Here’s hoping they and the announcers get off to a faster start, though I suppose if the results turn out the same, it all works out fine.

Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Replays, home runs and more: DBacks' win was 'crazy' and crazy TV