PHOENIX -- Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb won the third base job during the spring training, so he admittedly was disappointed when manager Chip Hale chose to start veteran Aaron Hill in the season opener.
But a 5-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants could have been more disappointing if Hale, in his managerial debut, hadn't pulled the right strings with Lamb in his first major league Opening Day.
Arizona trailed 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Hale inserted Lamb to pinch hit for Chris Owings with one out and the bases loaded. Lamb sent the second pitch from Sergio Romo off Chase Field's center field wall for a bases-clearing double.
Lamb gave his locker room neighbor, catcher Jordan Pacheco, a little credit for coaching him through a relatively unexpected spot.
"He's one of the best I've seen at it," Lamb said of pinch hitting. "He just says, 'Got to be aggressive early in the count.' They like to throw fastballs. You can't miss those pitches. (I) took an aggressive hack at the first one, told myself he's probably coming with fastball again, so put a good swing on it."
Lamb learned of his reserve role behind Hill -- who himself lost his starting spot at second base this week -- only a day before the opener. Hale called it a matter of matchups with Hill facing San Francisco ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner, "if you can have good matchups against that guy," the manager hedged.
Once he got his shot, though, Lamb delievered in front of 49,043 fans at Chase Field, the ballpark's eight-largest regular-season crowd -- even if he was a disappointed sitting on the bench to start the night.
"I just like playing," Lamb said. "I was just a little bummed. I just wanted to be in the game. I got some runs for the team, that's all I can do."
Before the opener, Hale admitted the starting pitching rotation was his biggest worry. Would it get enough innings to keep the bullpen fresh?
One game in, the worry remains. But the bullpen, overall, showed well.
Starter Josh Collmenter lasted 4-2/3 innings and needed 89 pitches to get there, and Arizona went to Andrew Chafin, who began the spring in competition for a starting spot. He had a rough go immediately against a strong hitter against lefties, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Crawford laced a poorly-placed slider for double to score two.
"It spun a little bit, wanted it to have more bite than that, and it didn't and he was able to put it in play," Chafin said.
The reliever would calm down, going 2-1/3 innings while allowing one hits and striking out two.
"After that (first batter), he pitched fantastic, kept us in the game," Hale said.
Chafin was followed by Daniel Hudson, who enters this year as a reliever following double Tommy John surgeries. He went an inning, allowing two hits and no runs. Most impressively, the radar guns were consistently in the 95 mph to 96 mph range.
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