Ugh. Yeah, I know Peavy was injured and missed a month, but he has allowed seven runs in 22 innings since he came back, so it's clear that whatever ailed him isn't a problem at the moment. However, in his last four starts, Doug Davis has allowed seven runs in 25.2 innings, so this one could be a lot closer than you'd have thought at the start of the season. Though if an unknown like Baek can no-hit Arizona until the sixth inning, we might see a perfect game from Peavy tonight. After last night's disappointment, I'm expecting nothing.
It's Native American Appreciation Night at the park, and Gila River Casino are giving out blankets to the first 25,000 in attendance. Yes. In Arizona. In July. I have to think this is some kind of cunning plan to inflict retribution on us palefaces, for when we gave the native Americans blankets. I am therefore staying away, and will be giving anyone at the game a wide berth for a couple of weeks, just in case. :-) It's one of those awkward 5:10 pm starts, so I'm not sure how much I'll be around - it largely depends on our dinner plans.
Welcome again to whatever we're calling these articles. I've decided that in addition to talking about one prospect in depth, I'm going to do that and touch on a number of related subjects.
Why am I doing these articles?
The minor leagues are pretty much a gray area for most Dbacks fans. They don't know who most of our prospects are, and they tend to have no idea what to expect from most of these guys. I don't think I'm going to make any groundbreaking insight when in comes to any of the players I talk about. What I do think I'm doing is educating and promoting discussion of the minor league players in the Diamondbacks' farm system. I also get a chance to practice my writing while getting regular feedback.
Pitching depth
There's a lot of solid prospects that are worth talking about right now. We've seen a lot of our young pitching this season already; Max Scherzer, Billy Buckner, Connor Robertson, and Leo Rosales have all seen action with big club. That doesn't even touch the amount of solid pitching depth the Diamondbacks have in the minors. I've already talked about Bryan Augenstein. I haven't talked about top prospect Jarrod Parker, or Cesar Valdez, Brooks Brown, and of course Matt Torra. There's also a surprising amount of relief pitchers having solid years. Reid Mahon, Josh Ellis, Evan Scribner, Kyler Newby and Chad Beck to just name a few. I'll go in depth on a few of these guys in the near future, specifically Valdez and Parker.
D'antona is having a great year in AAA, hitting 383/421/617 with 13 home runs and 28 doubles in 295 ABS. With the struggles of the team, he's been mentioned a lot as a guy who should be called up. His break out hitting is more than likely an unsustainable result of high BABIP. I respond to that statement with a simple duh! Of course his numbers are unsustainable and he's not that good of a hitter. However he would be an improvement over Eric Byrnes v. 2007, Chris Burke, Jeff Salazar, and Chad Tracy vs LHP. I'm honestly rather surprised he hasn't been called up yet. I plan on looking at him more in depth some time in the near future, as he is a rather interesting borderline prospect.
Bryan Augenstein
Just to update on RHP Bryan Augenstein, who I talked about in my first article: In his two starts since being promoted to High A-Ball Visalia, he's struck out two and walked one batter in each start, however he's had two very different end results. In his first start he went 5 innings, gave up 5 hits and allowed no runs. In his next start today he went 5.2 innings and allowed 9 hits and gave up 6 runs. I still want to know what his stuff looks like this year.
22 year old RHP Joshua Collmenter was already having a solid season going into yesterday's game where he was a walk short of perfect in his seven innings of work. Collmenter struck out seven while facing the minimum number of batters. The walk he gave up was immediately thrown out trying to steal second base. In his start prior to yesterday, he also threw six innings of shut out ball, giving up 2 hits and a walk, while striking out four. Collmenter has been solid through out the minors. In his 66.1 innings pitched for Yakima last year, he was 6-3 with a 2.71 ERA, and a 57:21 strike out to walk ratio. This year in 88.2 innings with South Bend, he's 9-4 with a 3.25 ERA and 75:31 strike out to walk ratio. He's definitely a guy to keep an eye on once he faces more advanced competition in the minors.
Collin Cowgill
There hasn't been any more signing since the Diamondbacks announced the signing of 12 draft picks on June 11th. None of the 12 picks have really done anything so far, except fifth round pick Collin Cowgill. The 5'9 left handed outfielder has been on an absolute tear since being signed. In his 68 ABs this season, he has 20 hits, 14 going for extra bases, and eleven going for home runs.. His batting line on the season is 294/400/838! He has 16 strike outs against 9 walks on the season. I have no idea if this guy will succeed in the Majors, but if he does, he can fill the pressing need for a scrappy white guy.
Now to look at RHP Matt Torra in depth...
Matt Torra is a surprisingly well known prospect, at least in the inner circle of Diamondback fans. The 6'3 225 lb native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts was the 31st pick overall in the 2005 draft. The 24 year old right hander was drafted out of the University of Massachusetts, and was coming off a season with 1.14 ERA , struck out 111, while walking only 16 in 94.2 innings pitched
Torra had a rather high pitch count with Umass, and the work load took it's toll. Five appearances into his professional career he tore the labrum of his throwing shoulder, and was sidelined for the next year. A lot of pitchers have trouble coming back from Labrum surgery, but Torra has come back strong. He's not the power pitcher he was when he was drafted, but he's altered his pitching strategy and become a more effective pitcher on the mound.
I'm not going to look too hard at Torra's stats before his first full season in 2007, where he pitched at high A Visalia. The small sample of 35 innings split between Yakima and South Bend are just not that relevant in comparison to his more recent statistics since. I suppose it's worth noting the 30 strike outs to just 9 walks, and the 1.80 ERA.
In 2007, the then 23 year old was assigned to High A Visalia. At first glance his 6.01 ERA wasn't too impressive,. However his month by month statistics tell a different story. Torra went 1-4 with an 11.57 ERA and .396 BAA in April. At the end of May he was 1-6 with a 9.87 ERA. Torra then rebounded with a 10-3 second half, posting a 4.05 ERA striking out 91 batters, while walking only 19. From August on, Torra went 5-1 with a 2.72 ERA. All together, Torra was 12-10 in his 28 starts with a 6.01 ERA,137 strike outs to 43 walks. and 158.2 innings pitched.
Once you take in the fact that Torra was recovering from a serious surgery, and facing advanced competition in a hitter's league, his 2007 was a very promising year.
Torra began this year in the pitching friendly Southern League playing for AA Mobile, before recently being promoted to AAA Tucson in the PCL. In his 13 starts with Mobile, Torra was 5-5 with one complete game. He had a 2.85 ERA and a 50:12 K:BB ratio in 79 IP. Since his promotion to Tucson, 1-1 in 4 games with a 3.86 ERA, and 16 strike outs to 6 walks in 23.1 IP.
From what I understand, Torra has five pitches: a four seam fastball, two seam fastball, curveball, change up, and a sinker. Before his labrum injury, Torra regularly threw in the mid nineties and featured a power curve. Since the injury, Torra has focused on developing his now excellent change up and started throwing a sinker. He did lose some velocity after the labrum surgery, but has slowly seen it return as he moves further and further from the surgery.
Matt Torra is probably our third best pitching prospect, after Jarrod Parker and Max Scherzer, of course. Torra's 2008 has been quite good, and he's getting very close to being ready to play in the Majors. He could see a call up when the rosters expand, and he should be competing for a spot in the starting rotation next spring.
Well, just to wrap things up, I'd like to thank you for reading. Any feedback is welcome.
Record: 43-44. Pace; 80-82. Change on last season: -4
Yuck. That's all I've got for now. I'm going to bed, and will fill in the blanks in the morning. At least we got to see things blowing up, to the accompaniment of the 1812 Overture. So that was nice...
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Dan Haren, +8.8% God-emperor of suck: Justin Upton, -13.5% Dishonorable mentions: Reynolds, -11.5%; Young -11.1%; Montero -10.7%
Happy Fourth of July, folks. Getting this up here early, since I've got nothing better to do today. Great, isn't it? And look! It's another National League West team! I'd almost forgotten they existed, since we'd been spending our time in exotic locations like Minnesota and Boston, hobnobbing with our country cousins ["What? You mean your roof doesn't open? How barbaric!"] and the New England Yankees respectively. Now, it's back to more familiar territory: beating up on the cellar-dwelling Padres.
How bad are the Padres? They just lost more games in barely 24 hours to the Rockies, than we have to Colorado all season. They have dropped 14 of their past 16, with both wins going to Heath Bell [my fantasy team thanks you]. You know how Davis, Owings and Johnson combined for one win in June? Well, in the Padres' rotation, none of their starters have seen a W in more than three weeks, since June 12. But the offense has been equally inept, scoring 52 runs in those 16 games - fifteen coming in one bizarro game at Coors. That makes 37 in the other 15, or less than two and a half runs per game. And you thought our offense was struggling.
Byung-Hyun Kim makes a return to Chase tonight, now operating under the pseudonym of Cha-Seung Baek. Or maybe it just seems that way, looking at the ERA and W/L record? He did have a couple of decent starts in June, but our offense seems to be clicking a bit. We've had double-digits in hits the past four games in a row, tying a streak back in April - you have to go back to June 2005, to find the last time we had a longer one. Baek would seem a good candidate to help us, with opponents hitting .289 off his this year.
We'll be there in person, and are looking forward to our D-backs t-shirts, if we arrive there early enough. Looks like the game is basically sold out - the team site refuses to cough up two tickets, in any section - so the place should be rockin' on through the fireworks show afterwards. We did contemplate taking the bus down, but the route goes right past Steele Indian School Park, where the Phoenix Fourth of July celebration is going on, so that will probably be a complete mess. Another time, perhaps. Forecasters also say there's a 20% chance of a repeat of last night's storm, which would make things interesting...
One name was notable by its absence from the dogpile around home-plate after yesterday's Matinee Miracle (TM pending). Eric Byrnes, who has not been seen at Chase since he tore his hamstring on Monday, as "he seeks further medical attention." Chris Snyder, on the other hand, was right back in the dugout, fractured testicle or not - an injury which would seem far more likely to me to have "further medical attention," written through it like a stick of Blackpool candy.
Oh, and it might - or might not - be worth flipping over to WGN for the Cubs-Cards game just before our first-pitch, as there is scheduled to be some, ah, additional entertainment, to celebrate life, liberty and the pursuit of...well, I'm not quite sure what. Though I have a sneaking suspicion nothing will happen, except the PayPal account of the participant in question will be increased by hopeful spectators. Still, the founding fathers of this great nation would be proud by such free enterprise...
Seriously, who are they? Are they the team that stranded 35 runners on base through the first 35 innings of this series? The team that, in the fourth, fifth, and seventh inning, had runners on first and second with no outs, but couldn’t score a run? The team that left us so frustrated and discouraged [...] - [Read more]
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Orlando Hudson, +31.0% Honorable mention: Conor Jackson. +21.5% God-emperor of suck, -17.9%
Woooo! Full report to follow, but I just wanted to get this one up there, for obvious reasons. Copies of the graph above, in a format suitable for framing, will be available from the Team Shop tomorrow. :-)
Running a little late with the thread here: I actually remembered it was a day game, but had to go in for my monthly chat with the boss. Survived that, so tossing this up quickly in my morning break. We need a win here, after the total disaster which was last night - Webb takes the mound, and after a couple of shaky outings, returned to normal form last time, with a quality start. However, Parra has an impressive record, and restricted us to one run over seven innings when we faced him in Milwaukee.
The offense has shown some signs of life lately, and has hit .302 in the past five games. However, last night proved that this isn't enough, by and of itself, to guarantee victory - not when defense, base-running and managerial incompetence all weigh down the other side of the scales. It's becoming abundantly clear that the team needs a short, sharp shake-up, and Melvin's team meeting wasn't it. Not much more I can add. Let's get the victory and split the series.
Record: 42-43. Pace: 80-82. Change on last season: -5.
I'm just about ready to burst. I wasn't able to post relevant comments in tonight's Gameday Thread, due to the prohibition on discussing the actual game. I really had to restrain myself, because this was the most hopelessly mismanaged and misplayed game I think I have ever seen. I hardly know where to start.
What about with our basepath psychopaths? Two innings into this game, we had five hits, two hit batters...and scored exactly one run. The "aggressive baserunning" beloved of Grace - and, it appears, Melvin - comes back to bite us with a piranha-like vengeance. First, Drew is gunned down trying to take third, and then Young is thrown out at home, trying to score from second on an infield single. Whisky Tango Foxtrot? That's probably two more runs we should have scored - at the time, I said to Mrs. SnakePit, "If that ends up costing us dearly, we know who to blame." And, oh, look what happened... :-(
The Petit Unit pitched very, very well. Retired the first nine batters he faced, and allowed only two hits and no walks through six innings, with just one run allowed. Heck, Micah might not have a job when he comes back. I'm wondering what Yusmeiro's future in the organization will be? We have the rotation largely sewn up next year as well [I'm assuming Scherzer replaces Johnson at this point], so there doesn't seem to be a spot for him. Still, he is young enough yet: only 23, and his birth isn't until November. Getting him for Jorge Julion definitely counts as one of JB's better trades. However, I think this is probably his last year of minor-league options, so we may be faced with some difficult decisions between now and next spring.
Chad Qualls should not be allowed into any game where the tying run is at the plate. He is just too much of a threat to cough it up, doing so tonight, even though he came into the inning with two outs and the bases empty. He allowed back-to-back hits for extra bases, a triple and a double. Mark Grace pointed out that both came on hanging sliders, when that is far from his best pitch. Maybe someone just needs to take the slider out of Qualls' repertoire? Good work by Slaten to get a pair of hard-hitting lefties, in Fielder and Branyan. Shame it was largely for naught. Why was Cruz - pronounced fit and ready to go before the game - not brought in? By just about any measure, he is the better pitcher.
I know I've complained before, but I'm going to keep doing it, while Melvin keeps asking his best batters to put down goddamn sacrifice bunts. Drew gets on with a single: Hudson, the second-best hitter on the team, is then asked to sacrifice. We've all seen how well that works, and lo, he fails to get the bunt down. With two outs, the bunt has to be taken off, and O-Dawg whacks a single into left-field. +8% to Win Probability: 8%. Then, Melvin asks the best hitter on the team, Conor Jackson, to sacrifice. CoJack does at least get the bunt down - even this, probably the best of all bunting situations, with two on and no outs, increases Win Probability by 0.6%. And the run still fails to score, as Reynolds and Young both ground out. I wonder how many times a bunt has let to us scoring any additional runs this year: I will have to check, but I suspect it's not many.
The Brewers immediately homered off Peña to take the lead, and though Upton tied the game up again with a homer of his own in the bottom of the eighth, more Melvin mismanagement murdered us in the ninth. Reynolds had pinch-hit for Tracy in the eighth, but stayed in the game to play first-base. That would be a position he has never played in the majors, and has a massive eight games of experience there, over his entire professional career. Seeing that, I was in absolutely no way surprised, when the first ball hit his way ate him up for an error - a base-runner which subsequently became the Brewers' winning run. Way to manage your bench, Melvin.
Of course, thanks to brilliant roster management, we had a bench of four. Connor Robertson - used for three innings last night, and so presumably a waste of space today (no offense, Connor) - could have been sent back down, with an outfielder like Romero called up. That way, even if Reynolds was the choice to pinch-hit, we could have moved Jackson to first and still had someone to cover the outfield. Mind you, on that front, some managers wouldn't send the team K leader to the plate, with the go-ahead run on third and less than two outs. Why not use Hammock – .a career 277/.328/.447 vs. LHP, and only a 13.2% K rate? Oh, of course: the ever-looming possibility Montero might go down with a fractured testicle too and we’d be left without a catcher… Sheesh. Dodged a bullet there, didn’t we? Melvin, however, is the Mad Scientist. Mad? Going by this performance, the men in white coats have given up on the drugs and gone straight for the frontal lobotomy.
We should have buried the Brewers. We pounded out twelve hits - but managed to push only three runs across home-plate. That's the first time we've had so many hits and lost because we got such a low return, since July 20th, 2005, when we scored twice on 12 hits against Florida, and were defeated 9-2. I guess the hits are something which is good to see. In games #41-80, we reached double figures only six times, but have managed to do it four of the past five games, so that's a recent improvement - and a small measure of comfort on a night where our lead over the Dodgers got slashed to 1.5 games, the smallest it has been since April 8. There is now a very real possibility we might not be in first at the All-Star break.
Four hits for Hudson - I was also very impressed by him taking second on an outfield fly in the ninth, though that went for nothing - plus two for Drew and Young. Ojeda, leading off [perhaps the only thing Melvin got right all night], reached safely three times, on a hit, walk and HBP. I also have to commend Young for a fabulous catch made up against the fence in left-center, to end the top of the ninth inning, which certainly saved a run. On the other hand, he also grounded into the double-play which ended the game, with the tying run just a bloop away. The baseball gods giveth, and the baseball gods taketh away... Tonight, it was almost all the latter.
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Justin Upton, +32.8% Honorable mentions: Hudson, +26.8; Petit, +24.1% God-emperor of suck: Chris Young, -30.2% Dishonorable mention: Lyon, -29.1%; Peña, -18.6%; Qualls, -17.5%
Pretty much all or nothing tonight, as far as Win Probability goes. I don't think I've ever seen us with three players about +20, in a loss, though the only other one in positive territory at all was Doug Slaten at +7.6%. Fascinating Gameday Thread; I think that the "non-discussion" concept proved a lot harder than most people expected! Lot of fun though, so thanks to Muu, DbacksSkins, Diamondhacks, 4 Corners Fan, mrssoco, kishi, emilylovesthedbacks, TwinnerA, luckycc, unnamedDBacksfan, IndyDBack, mr.tunes, hotclaws, aricat, dahlian, seton hall snake pit, ChandlerDad and soco for their contributions. Won't do that again for a while, I suspect!
As noted, it cuts our lead down to 1.5 games, and also sinks us below .500 for only the third day since the end of the 2006 season. To add to the woes, we may have lost Byrnes for the season. Melvin says, "Whether or not he has to have surgery will probably be the telltale. Right now, we're still trying to figure out how severe it is in there and how far the tendon is off the bone. We will decide if surgery is the way to go or if it's not the way to go. We're still trying to wait on that one. It becomes a decision on his part too, and whether or not he wants to do the surgery based on the opinions he gets after listening to all the proper personnel. There will be a lot of eyes on this one." The story also says Byrnes has not even been in the clubhouse since the injury, which is...interesting. There was some good news, however, in that Snyder does not require surgery on his fractured testicle. I think we're all relieved to hear that - Snyder most of all.
Oh, well: the first three games of this series have gone pretty much the way I expected. Hopefully the fourth will as well, with Webb taking the mound tomorrow. As a thought, I'm wondering if we'll adjust the schedule between now and the All-Star break. If we keep the normal rotation, he'll pitch twice before the break: tomorrow and on June 9th. But because of the day off we have on the 7th, he could pitch on the 8th, then again on the 13th, in the final game before the break - and then on the 18th, the first game back after it. That might well remove any chance of him pitching in the All-Star Game, but frankly, that feels very secondary to me at the moment.
This is the non-game Gameday Thread. No discussion of the actual game will be permitted, and any comments reporting on it will be deleted without warning. General baseball topics, other games and even team-related issues are permissible, as long as they do not relate to the evening's events. Here are some possible alternative topics for discussion.
Tattoos. Would you get one? If so, what and where? If not, why?
Injuries worse than a fractured testicle.
Hottest people in Hollywood
Most and least favorite foods.
What is on your iPod?
Favorite video game - arcade or console
Barry Bonds: antiChrist or D-backs savior? [Ongoing...]
Have you ever walked out of a movie mid-showing? What movie and why?
I think that should be good enough to start with...
Last night was just a bad night for the Diamondbacks, and it shows in the roster. Here’s a rundown of the casualties:
-Chris Snyder took a pitch to the groin on Monday night, so he’s suffering from a (wince-inducing) testicular fracture. He’s going into surgery on Wednesday, and will be going to the DL. They’re hoping [...] - [Read more]
Record: 42-42. Pace: 81-81. Change on last season: -5
Welcome back, .500. We barely had time to miss you. Not that anybody did, but still.
Randy Johnson was on the hill for the second game of the series, but his results continued to be disappointing. The Not-So-Big Unit struggled yet again, coming up short in another attempt at win 289. He gave up seven runs in just 3 2/3 innings, needing 93 pitches to get through that span. He was knocked around eight hits and three walks as his ERA ballooned up to 5.46. The killing blows were mostly struck by J.J. Hardy, who homered off Johnson in each of the first two innings -- but they were far from the only well-struck balls of the night.
The recently called up Connor Robertson was solid in relief, however, giving up just one run on two hits in three innings in an effort that kept the Diamondbacks in the game. In the process, he posted a Curt-Schilling-esque 32/9 strike to ball ratio. Rosales and Slaten also saw work and posted solid outings.
Despite the early deficit, the offense valiantly tried to claw its way back in the game. Down 7-1, the Diamondbacks picked up two runs in the fourth (Montero's RBI single and Ojeda's RBI groundout) and two more in the fifth on Conor Jackson's eight homer of the season, which cut the lead to a much more respectable 7-5. In the eighth, with the deficit back to three, Reynolds and Tracy started the inning with singles, but they could only manage to get one run back on a Chris Young RBI fielder's choice. An unlucky double play lineout by Montero later, they found their rally very much killed off.
The leadoff man reached again in the ninth when Ojeda was plunked by a Salomon Torres pitch. A groundout to the right side by Salazer moved him into scoring position, but that was as far as Augie would get. As the potential tying run, Upton and Burke both grounded out, and that was that.
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Conor Jackson, +20.5% God-emperor of suck: Randy Johnson, -41.0%
Ultimately, the early hole Johnson dug was just too much to climb out of. Jackson had three hits including the homer, and Reynolds, Tracy and Young added two hits of their own (Tracy also walked to reach base for a third time). On a number of days with our starting pitchers, six runs would have been enough, but not so today. On the flip side, Drew was 0-for-4 in the leadoff spot, which continues to be a puzzling (to put it nicely) decision.
Missing from the lineup for very understandable reasons was Chris Snyder, who apparently managed to fracture a testicle. No further discussion on the subject is necessary. Byrnes is still nursing the hamstring problem, and Reynolds took a sharp ground ball off his hand, although he stayed in the game and showed no ill effects. Considering the struggles right now, another nasty bite from the injury bug would seem to be the last thing we need. Robby Hammock literally showed up in the middle of the game, which only served to add to the feeling of watching the walking wounded. Robertson's 41 pitches would seem to imply that Owings will be able to make his start, although at this point it could also be whoever still has a working arm in the bullpen in a joint effort. Hard to say. In any case, it doesn't bode well for tomorrow's game.
Executive decision. The planned non-game Gameday Thread has been postponed until tomorrow. We've got IZW tonight and I completely forgot the laptop, so I won't be able to police it and make sure no-one mentions the baseball. We will therefore hold it over, for Micah or the Petit Unit tomorrow, and tonight's thread will be a normal one - albeit likely just as random. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. Continue to submit topics for discussion in the comments tonight: I'll come up with a list and will then throw them into tomorrow's thread as the need arises.
Still waiting for any word on what roster moves will be made. Someone will need to be brought up to replace Byrnes, but if Owings can't go tomorrow, they might add an extra pitcher for a few days instead, with Petit taking Owings' start. Snyder should be fine, I think, despite his "contusion" - accompanied by some swelling, apparently, though in his shoes, swelling would be the last thing on my mind. Montero usually catches Johnson's starts, so Chris will get likely the night off anyway, so can spend the night applying soothing lotion. :-)
Despite - or perhaps because of - last night's decent showing, runs might be hard to come by. Since April 26, Arizona have scored more than four runs on fourteen occasions. However, in the fourteen games immediately following those, we have averaged only 2.5 runs, and never scored more than four. Be nice if that streak of consistent inconsistency - as it were - came to an end tonight.
Record: 42-41. Pace: 82-80. Change on last season: -4
As this game wore on, it seemed the question was going to be, less whether Arizona would score enough runs, than whether they would have enough able bodies to man all nine positions. First, Eric Byrnes basically collapsed half-way between second and third, as he tried to steal a base in the second: he never even made it to third. Though he limped off the infield under his own steam, he went straight to the dugout, and it looks likely that he is going back onto the DL with a re-occurrence of the hamstring injury which kept him out for four weeks earlier this month. If it is the same problem, one has to wonder whether he came back too soon, before the injury healed properly - especially since it came basically the first time he hit full speed. If so, whose fault is it? Byrnes, for claiming fitness, or the Diamondbacks' training staff for not spotting it?
He was replaced in left-field by Jeff Salazar, and the game continued. However, in the fourth inning,. Chris Snyder also got taken out of the game - in rather unfortunate fashion. The Republicdescribes it as "an unspecified injury," but here's what happened. A foul ball ricocheted off the ground and up into... Well, let's be honest here: Snyder's crotch. Now, catchers do wear a protective cup, but that's designed to protect the family jewels from frontal assault. Judging by the way our catcher dropped to the ground like a stunned heifer, this ball managed to bypass the armor with a degree of accuracy that would have made Lee Harvey Oswald proud. Mark Grace was not exactly sympathetic, squeaking "I'm not quite ready yet!" in a high-pitched voice as Snyder got back down, somewhat uncomfortably, behind the plate. Chris toughed out the inning, but was replaced by Montero for his at-bat in the bottom of the fourth.
The fifth inning saw another bump at home-plate. We had men on second and third, when Jackson hit a ball to right-field. Hart successfully duped Ojeda, on third, into thinking he'd have to tag to score, even though the ball dropped in front of him. Augie scurried home, getting there at the same time as the ball, and ended up colliding with Kendall and going down in a heap. The ball got away, and Drew scored behind Ojeda as well, though there seemed to be a bit of a clinch going on between Augie and Brewers' catcher Kendall. Not quite sure who was to blame there, but Kendall probably needs to pick on someone his own size. No-one touches the Littlest Ballplayer and gets away with it. :-)
That play, and a subsequent RBI double by Reynolds, proved to be the turning points in the game, giving Arizona a three-run lead. Not that it was all chocolate and flowers from there on, the sixth inning being particularly interesting, shall we say. It started with Davis plunking Prince Fielder, presumably some kind of attempt by Doug to prove that, yes, he can hit the broad side of a barn. Two walks followed, and Davis was yanked in favor of - cue screams from the assembled masses - Mr. Inherited Runner, Chad Qualls. Yes, probably the last person we wanted to see with the bases loaded, and a mob with torches began to assemble in the foyer at Chase Field. He then walked in a run for Milwaukee, but with the tying run a bloop away, managed to get Weeks swinging for the third out. The mob decided to go to Chili's instead, and put away their copies of 'Skins visual aid regarding Qualls.
Mark Reynolds was the offensive force of the game, going 3-for-3 with a walk, and all three hits being for extra-bases - including his 17th homer of the year, matching his total from all of last year, despite 91 fewer at-bats to date. The three runs driven in gave Special K 52 in total, and he is currently on pace to become the first Diamondback to reach three figures for a season, since Luis Gonzalez had 104 RBI in 2003. Augie Ojeda had two hits from the lead-off spot, and scored both times he got on base. This makes perfect sense, since it's what the lead-off hitter is supposed to do, and his on-base percentage (.394) is second only to Jackson (.400). Certainly beats Drew (.297) and Byrnes (.272), though since he was only in the starting line-up to give O-Dawg a day off, expect normal service to be resumed tomorrow. Drew had two hits, and Montero a pair of walks.
Doug Davis picked up the win, but his control issues in the sixth meant he fell one out short of a fourth straight quality start. He began in somewhat wobbly form, falling behind 2-0 before retiring the second Brewer of the night, but buckled down from there. The only further damage was the run charged to him on Qualls' bases-loaded walk in the sixth: Davis's final line was 5.2 innings, with five hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Qualls came back out for the seventh and pitched around a lead-off double, while Pena came in for the eighth and Lyon the ninth. Be very interesting to see what happens in the event of a close game tomorrow, as both Pestileñce and War have now pitched in the past three games. Cruz to close and Qualls to set-up?
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Mark Reynolds, +25.8% Honorable mention: Stephen Drew, +12.8% God-emperor of suck: Justin Upton, -10.1%
Looked like it was going to be a low-key Gameday Thread early on, but just as the Diamondbacks did, participants kicked up their output in the middle innings, and finished strong - albeit somewhat off-topic. Dbackskins cracked the two hundred mark, while everyone else lollygagged in double-digits: also present were kishi, 4 Corners Fan, hotclaws, seton hall snake pit, DbacksSkins, soco, unnamedDBacksfan, mrssoco, emilylovesthedbacks, Muu, snakecharmer, LucaMaz3, DiamondbacksWIn and The Main Man, so thanks to all those who showed up.
Dodgers lost. Giants lost. Rockies lost spectacularly, coughing up an 8-3 lead to lose 15-8 to the Padres, for their eighth defeat in a row. The net result is that the standings in the NL West are basically unchanged from what they were on June 8, even though we've gone 8-12 in that time:
June 8
June 30
Arizona
-
-
Los Angeles
4
3.5
San Francisco
6
6
San Diego
7
9.5
Colorado
10
10
Finally, a quick note on Micah Owings, since injuries seem to be the theme of the day. It's still up in the air whether he'll make his scheduled start on Wednesday: He said, "We're planning on it right now, but we'll see how it feels after I do some more treatment... I wish I could explain it. When I went down for the ball, my lower right side and upper glute just locked up on me... I've never had anything like that happen." The Petit Unit looks likely to get the start if Owings is not ready to go.
Oh, and tomorrow is a special Gameday Thread, in which all discussion of the game in the comments will be prohibited while it is in progress. Marshals will be carefully monitoring for any violations of this condition and all violators will be punished harshly. Suggestions of alternative topics to discuss are welcome.
AZ SnakePit 1, Ignatius J. Rallies 8 Rallies cruised to a very comfortable win, getting two wins and seven K's from Buerhle, while Teixeira had three homers and seven RBI and Lowell had six runs and seven RBI. SnakePit's sole point came thanks to Phillips' three stolen-bases, and Nathan had three saves for them.
Douchebaggery 6, GregSchulteOverdrive 2 Neither side caught fire at the plate - they combined for only four HR and 28 RBI: nobody on either side drove in more than three. Douche had the edge, getting seven runs from Upton and five by Schumaker, took SB 5-0, while three pitchers got a save. Moyer notched 15 K's for Greg.
dbacktom 4, warlords 4 The Game of the Week saw the two sides totally deadlocked: SB and, remarkably, WHIP both ended level. tom led on offense, Crawford and Ankiel each homering three times. However, their pitchers had no wins and a 6.75 ERA. Papelbon had three saves for war, while Garland's 1.00 WHIP was crucial.
The Fighting Amish 5, last place 4 Amish had to fight hard for the win, after last took four of the five hitting categories: Quentin had two HR, 5 RBI and an SB. But Amish rode Lincecum to 11 K's and a zero ERA, and Santana added 12 K's. Their staff had a 2.06 ERA on the week, and Lincecum's win was enough for a split there, and overall victory.
Tucson Myth 8, Shenanigans 2.0 2 Delgado's nine RBI game in New York powered Myth's offense, helped by six stolen bases from Pierre. Shen hit .299 and got seven RBI from Cano, but a 7.62 ERA sunk their chances. Garza had a W and 10 K's for Myth, while Jones had a W and a Sv as they swept pitching on their way to an easy win.
7-2 Offsuiters 4, Kapsaicin Kids 4 A very even game: both hitting and pitching ended 2-2, with one category tied. 7-2 got seven RBI from Berkman, but Kids countered with three HR by Wright. Similarly, on the mound, Kids got 15 K from Lowe and three saves by Wilson, but Billingsley (W + zero ERA) and Bergman (W + 0.93 WHIP) were as good for Kids.
Adriano Rosario's 7, Crazy VIII's 3 VII's can count themselves a bit unlucky: three Wins and a 2.90 ERA were not good enough, Rosario getting four and a 2.62 ERA - Harden had a W and 11 K's for them, while Peavy had 12 K's for VIII. At the plate, Rosario got three HR and ten RBI from Longoria, and they took four of the five categories.
Desert Dingleberries 5, Blonde Streaks 4 Blonde might just have the best all-time pitching line: 6 W, 5 Sv, 42 K, 0.78 ERA, 0.89 WHIP. Wow. Brocail got two wins in relief, but Burnett had two wins and 18 K's for Desert. They also dominated at the plate, Beltre driving in eight and Victorino stealing three. Pedroia had seven runs and two HR for Blonde.
Desert Storm BC 3, Wimboes Barmy Army 7 Abreu was Wimboes' star, with 6 R, 9 RBI and 3 SB, as the team overall hit .298, to take all but one of the offensive points. Storm got two HR and seven RBI from Dye. Lackey had two wins and 15 K's for Wimboes, but Storm took both, with Rodriguez getting a win and nine K's.
Arizona Muugens 2, SHUperMen 7 SHU were hardly an offensive tornado - .261, 6 HR, 23 RBI - but took all hitting points, and that was the difference. Ramirez and Hart each had two HR for them. On the mound things were even, a W and 14 K for Sheets [SHU] being countered by 12 K's for Beckett [Muugens]. Neither side managed to save a game during the week.
Standings
Rank
Team
W-L-T
Pct
GB
Last Week
Waiver
Moves
1.
warlords
74-42-14
.623
-
4-4-2
8
12
2.
The Fighting Amish
73-49-8
.592
4
5-4-1
18
41
3.
dbacktom
69-50-11
.573
6.5
4-4-2
16
9
4.
Adriano Rosario's
70-52-8
.569
7
7-3-0
13
37
5.
Desert Storm BC
64-53-13
.542
10.5
3-7-0
10
10
6.
Desert Dingleberries
65-57-8
.531
12
5-4-1
11
18
7.
7-2 Offsuiters
61-53-16
.531
12
4-4-2
15
9
8.
GregSchulteOverdrive
63-55-12
.531
12
2-6-2
7
24
9.
Ignatius J. Rallies
63-59-8
.515
14
8-1-1
19
21
10.
Douchebaggery
58-57-15
.504
15.5
6-2-2
12
22
11.
AZ SnakePit
59-61-10
.492
17
1-8-1
9
14
12.
Crazy VIII's
60-66-4
.477
19
3-7-0
20
47
13.
Shenanigans 2.0
57-63-10
.477
19
2-8-0
1
1
14.
Wimboes Barmy Army
56-64-10
.469
20
7-3-0
5
26
15.
Tucson Myth
56-65-9
.465
20.5
8-2-0
2
-
16.
Arizona Muugens
53-62-15
.465
20.5
2-7-1
6
12
17.
SHUperMen
52-71-7
.427
25.5
7-2-1
4
4
18.
Kapsaicin Kids
51-71-8
.423
26
4-4-2
14
15
19.
Blonde Streaks
50-71-9
.419
26.5
4-5-1
3
9
20.
last place
45-78-7
.373
32.5
4-5-1
17
39
Week 14 Games
AZ SnakePit vs. Desert Dingleberries Douchebaggery vs. Ignatius J. Rallies dbacktom vs. GregSchulteOverdrive The Fighting Amish vs. warlords Tucson Myth vs. last place 7-2 Offsuiters vs. Shenanigans 2.0 Adriano Rosario's vs. Kapsaicin Kids Crazy VIII's vs. SHUperMen Desert Storm BC vs. Blonde Streaks Arizona Muugens vs. Wimboes Barmy Army
An even easier pick for Game of the Week, as the top two face off in a battle of the titans, Amish vs. warlords. Amish have put together four wins in a row, with a 27-12 record over that time, but warlords showed last week that they didn't get to the top just because of a weak schedule, holding dbacktom to a tie.Their outfield Red Sox duo of Ramirez and Drew have combined for 31 homers and 100 RBI already. However, Amish's 1-2 punch of Lincecum and Santana, with Sherrill's 26 saves, are a formidable opponent.
There's no place like home... After a 2-7 roadtrip, the Diamondbacks might be glad to get back to Chase, even though their record there of late has been close to the .500 mark. Still, we hardly have seen the home field at all in June: this will be only the eighth game of the month here. At least our players will get familiar again with Phoenix: after the home-stand comes the All-Star break, and we start the second half of the season at Chase too, so nobody - except perhaps Webb and Haren, who may be occupied in New York during the break - needs to go too far.
We dodge something of a bullet in this series, playing four games against the Brewers, but not having to face Ben Sheets. Overall, I think we have the pitching edge in the first and last game, while the visitors do in the middle two: it's therefore very important Davis performs well tonight, and sets the tone for the series. Could be a bit of a pitcher's duel: over the past three starts, Bush has allowed five runs in 21 innings, and Davis four in 20.
The offenses will be key, and in particular, which will be less sucky: Milwaukee and Arizona have both struggled on their recent road-trips: the Brewers have scored 3.5 runs per game in the six games so far, while Arizona averaged only 2.4 per game on their swing from Minnesota through Boston to Florida. The visitors swept Arizona during the first series between the teams in early June, taking all three games by a total of 21-5, so the Diamondbacks need to play an awful lot better to stay in this series.
Will probably be late to this one, since we've got to get replacement tyres put on the Snakepitmobile on the way home from work. Not sure how long that'll take, but I'll be home as soon as we get out of there, and will hopefully find us with a nice lead. Hey, optimism is a good thing, right?
There has been a certain predestined feeling that Brandon Webb will be the Arizona Diamondbacks' representative at the All-Star game next month in New York. He's the staff ace, and has more wins than anyone in the majors. But what about Dan Haren? Is he, perhaps, more deserving of being Arizona's representative? Let's take a look at the stats posted by the two pitchers this season.
Webb
Haren
Starts
17
17
Quality
12
14
Record
12-4
8-4
ERA
3.21
2.85
WHIP
1.125
0.967
K:BB
94:29
96:19
BA
.232
.215
OBP
.287
.254
OPS
.609
.603
Looking at their statistics side-by-side, it's apparent there's a strong case to be made that Haren, over the course of the season, has pitched better than Webb. That's been especially true in the month of June, where Haren has an ERA of 1.32, compared to Webb's 4.76. Now, it's certainly true that Webb won his first nine starts, posting an excellent ERA of 2.56 over that time. But the 9-0 record was as much due to our ferocious early offense: we scored an average of 6.2 runs per game in support of Webb over that streak.
In contrast, Dan Haren has received more than five runs of support from the hitters only four times over his seventeen starts - meanwhile, in his four losses, Arizona scored a grand total of seven runs. Not that Webb has fared much better, getting eight runs behind him, over his four defeats. But it's in the no-decisions where Haren has been hurt. Even though they've pitched almost the same number of innings [Brandon has recorded four more outs] Webb only has one ND; Haren has five, all of them quality starts, with an ERA during those games of 2.81. With a little more help from the bullpen and/or the offense, he could easily be 12-4 as well.
It's certainly great to have both of them on board for the Diamondbacks, and if - somehow - we make it into the playoffs, I don't think any team will look forward to facing Webb and Haren in the post-season. How far we get, will likely depend on their performances in October. However, it looks likely that we will have only one representative at Yankee Stadium next month - I can't see it being any of the hitters. So, who should it be? Webb or Haren/
Record: 41-41. Pace: 81-81. Change on last season: -5
This was a game which we would have won, if only... That sentence can be completed in a number of ways. If only Mark Reynolds hadn't made a hash of a ground-ball from Willingham, turning it into a double. if only home-plate umpire Brian Runge had been able to count - Orlando Hudson was denied a walk to lead off the fourth, despite getting ball four. If only Brandon Lyon hadn't allowed his first run in a save situation since April 6. If only Hermida's subsequent double had been six inches to the left, and so foul.
However, if wishes were horses, the Diamondbacks would be spending most of their time mucking out their locker-room, and the post-game buffet would consist largely of sugar-lumps. To no great surprise, the team failed to score enough runs to put the opposition away, and the bullpen coughed up three runs in 1.1 innings, allowing the Marlins to escape from a Win Probability of only 11.8%, after Lyon retired the first hitter in the bottom of the ninth. That was his only success; Ramirez homered to tie the game up, then Hermida doubled, advanced on a wild-pitch, and a single punched through the drawn-in infield, gave the Marlins victory.
Poor Dan Haren. He was, once again, incredibly solid, going seven innings with the only run allowed was an unearned one in the sixth, after Reynolds' fourteenth error of the season. Haren allowed five hits, two walks and seven K's, and left the game with a 3-1 lead, in line for the victory. Our bullpen took care of that, however; Peña gave up a walk, two hits and a run in the eighth, and then Lyon blew the save and took the loss in the ninth. I suppose we know Lyon's streak of saves was bound to end eventually: just a shame that it robbed such a deserving start by Haren of the win. I think there's no doubt Haren was player of the month for Arizona in June: he went six-for-six in quality starts during the month of June, with a minuscule ERA of 1.32, and certainly deserves more than three victories.
Oh, look: Arizona scored three runs or less, for the twelfth time in the past fifteen games. Two came on a homer by Drew in the third, after Haren had doubled [it's worth noting he has driven in more runs than Owings this year, and has the same number of RBI as Miguel Montero]; the other came courtesy of Chris Burke, who just got a hit to drop in front of the charging left-fielder, scoring Jackson from third with two outs. Jackson was lucky to be there: he should have nailed trying to turn a single into a double, but the throw from left bobbled past the infielder. Candiotti - whom I usually enjoy listening to - praised the "aggressive base-running," but I put it in the category of "psychotic" rather than "aggressive". See also our stolen-base percentage, now sitting at an inefficient 66%, compared to 82% last season. Jackson had two hits, Drew and Montero a hit and a walk.
The remarkable failure of Runge to give Hudson a walk after the fourth ball does deserve some more attention. It looked like Hudson thought it was ball four, but no-one in the Diamondbacks dugout seemed to back him up: was nobody over there keeping count? I know someone is supposed to be charting the pitches, often the next day's starter. Did Doug Davis not pick this up? I can understand the other umpires staying quiet - a cardinal rule is not to offer an opinion on another umpire's decision, unless asked for it. But someone from Arizona should have been willing to ask Runge to double-check. It's also worth noting, something Sutton brought up: the official record of the game on MLB Gameday was quickly censored to remove ball four. That's just wrong. I certainly hope someone speaks to Runge, as he had a horrible game, with a strike-zone that was more of a strike-shiftingamorphousblob.
Here's a startling section from the AP recap. "The Diamondbacks took fielding practice before the game after committing two errors the night before. Arizona has only taken fielding practice two or three times this season, Melvin said." Am i missing something obvious here? Do players stop practicing on their weaknesses once they reach the majors or something? Our defense has been a constant, obvious issue in the first three months, Arizona has allowed the most unearned runs in the NL - and our players have "only taken fielding practice two or three times" in the entire first-half? What, pray tell, have they been doing before the other 78 games? Taking care of all the ponies, it would appear.
The good news is, Byrnes, who didn't play today, "probably" won't be hitting lead-off on his return. The bad news is, the candidates Melvin keeps talking about rolling out there are Drew and Young, who both have on-base percentages almost at .300. It won't be O-Dawg, much though that idea has its appeal - not least, because it'd help stop him from hitting into so many double-plays, for which he is on course for another franchise record, smashing the one which he set last season. Melvin described him as, "Our most consistent guy. If you move him up to solve a problem, you might open up another problem." At this point, I think anything is worth a shot.
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Dan Haren, +32.1% Honorable mention: Stephen Drew, +18.7% God-emperor of suck: Brandon Lyon, -79.1%
Present in the GameDay Thread were; DbacksSkins, soco, mrssoco, unnamedDBacksfan, Zephon, luckycc, kishi, emilylovesthedbacks, hotclaws, TwinnerA, Wimb, srdmad, 4 Corners Fan, seton hall snake pit, dahlian, peeklay and garyho, so thanks to them for their participation. The road-trip ends on a downer: Arizona lost all three series, went 2-7 on the trip, and go back home with their lead cut to 2.5 games. Fortunately, the Dodgers were on the receiving end of a 1-0 game this afternoon, or things would likely be worse. However, we face another team over ..500, in the shape of the Milwaukee Brewers, who are in town for four games. I think taking two of those would be something of an achievement, based on the woeful output of our bats on this trip.
I hope you have your caffeinated beverage of choice ready for this one, since it begins at a crisp hour, especially for a Sunday morning. If I do not actually sound highly-caffeinated, that would be because I am actually writing this about twelve hours before any of you are seeing it. So, apologies if I seem somewhat disconnected. i am about to go lie down, watch a movie and then curl up with Mrs. SnakePit for a solid eight hours, rather than get ready to watch any baseball.
Haren has been our best starting pitcher in June by quite some margin, posting an ERA of 1.59 and with a 3-0 record in his five outings so far and a WHIP of just 0.76 this month. It'd be nice to get the win, and take the series, even if the best this road-trip can go is still only 3-6. The offense finally showed some signs of life yesterday, though Olsen is likely a significantly better pitcher than Miller. We did enjoy our first big inning in quite some time, and maybe - just maybe - we can do some damage today. Although, here is today's disturbing stat: the last time the Diamondbacks scored more than four runs in consecutive games was April 25-26. Ouch...
Record: 41-40. Pace: 82-80. Change on last season: -5.
That was somewhat better. We scored more runs in the sixth inning alone, that we had in the first four games this season against the Marlins, combined. That was, basically, the difference between the two teams today: after losing four games on this road-trip, basically as the result of one big inning, it was nice to put a series of hits together on the opposition.
It was particularly welcome, having once again, killed our own rally in the previous inning. We'd tied the game at one, thanks to an RBI double from Young, and a walk to Ojeda brought Webb up to bunt. However, he popped the ball foul, where the Marlins catcher bare-handed it, and threw to second, before Young could scamper back to the base. Things were hurled at the television set here in SnakePit Towers. Fortunately, the D-backs got a couple of breaks of their own in the sixth. After two walks, Jackson reached on an error to load the bases for Reynolds, whose shot down the line stayed just fair, driving in two runs. Young added a two-out, two RBI triple and Ojeda followed with a double of his own, to pile on with three unearned runs.
We definitely have Brandon Webb to thank, for keeping Arizona in the game long enough for the bats to awaken. The Marlins seemed to threaten almost constantly early on, having men in scoring position with no outs in both the second and third innings, and one out in the third. However, our ace bore down, particularly in the third, where he struck out Luis Gonzalez, Cantu and Willingham, after Ramirez led off with a single and then stole second [he should have been nailed, but Augie inexplicably dropped an almost perfect throw from Snyder]. The only damage was a single run, though we were helped by Uggla turning his ankle between first and second base, after his single led off the fourth - he was tagged out, trying to limp back to first.
Still, you take advantage of the luck, and Webb was solid through six innings. He was pulled after allowing the first two batters to reach in the seventh, and ended with a line of five hits, three walks, eight strikeouts and two earned runs. That is probably his best outing in a while, and the W ended his streak of winless outings at three. Interestingly, with two on and nobody out in the seventh, Melvin turned to Juan Cruz rather than Chad Qualls - it's nice to know he paid attention to Dbackskins' visual aid from the Boston series. Cruz did reasonably well: if he did allow a single, and one of the inherited runners scored on a sacrifice fly, he avoided any significant meltdown [a Win Probability of +6.2% for Famine today]. Peña and Lyon closed things out over the final two innings.
Having apparently got through to Melvin that Cruz is a better seventh-inning guy than Qualls, especially with runners on base, let's move on to the next component on our list of demands. Bold, italic and, oh, what the heck, underline, please: ERIC BYRNES SHOULD NOT BE BATTING LEADOFF He went 0-for-5 today, making him 2-for-22 with one walk and six strikeouts since returning to the lineup. His on-base-percentage for the year is now down to .269, the lowest of any position player on the roster. To put this figure into perspective, Randy Johnson has an on-base percentage of .250. This really isn't rocket-science. Put him in at #8 (assuming Micah isn't pitching), and let him earn his way up from there. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
While I appreciate we have few options in the outfield - well, ones not now playing in Oakland and Chicago - there is absolutely no reason for Byrnes to be leading off, regardless of how often he tumbles over the fence while making a catch. Even Eric is painfully honest about his current standing. "I (expletive) suck right now. Sometimes I have my timing, and I just miss balls. I have no explanation. I'll work my butt off. I know I'm better than what I've been hitting. Hitting-wise, the entire year, I've been terrible. It's not for a lack of effort or a lack of trying. I have just sucked. It goes back to the beginning, or whatever, but I'm not looking to make excuses. My legs feel great." But all is not lost! A new episode of The Eric Byrnes Show debuts on Tuesday!
Elsewhere, the bottom of the order was very productive today. Reynolds, Young and Ojeda all had two hits apiece, as slots #5-8 went 7-for-15 with all six RBI. Got to say, I was impressed with Reynolds being willing to speak to the media after the reaming from Melvin yesterday; maybe leadership in the clubhouse isn't coming from the veterans? "We can keep saying it, keep saying it. Hell, we've been saying it for a month now, and we haven't done (expletive) about it. We've got to grind out at-bats. We've got to be a tough out and try to put the ball in play and see what happens. Right now we're not doing that at all... Last year was last year. We see that we can turn it around like we did. There's no guarantees of that." Today was definitely an improvement - though as they pointed out on the post-game show, it's wise for Melvin to rip his team a new one, the day before Webb takes the mound!
[Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Mark Reynolds, +26.6% Honorable mentions: Young, +19.9%; Webb, +12.2% God-emperor of suck: Eric Byrnes, -10.0%
This is actually a quite pedestrian graph compared to some of the spectacular ones out there today. The Tigers blew a ninth-inning lead against Colorado, despite coming in with a 98.5% Win Probability; the Rockies then blew an 84.3% WP of their own and Detroit snatched it 7-6. The Astros-Red Sox game was similarly wild. The Red Sox led 4-0 in the third (WP=84.3%) and 9-6 in the sixth (85.2%), while the Astros blew a fifth-inning, 6-4 lead (79.5%). They finally held on 11-10, Valverde getting his 20th save, despite allowing a home-run. Meanwhile, the Angels have no-hit the Dodgers, but are three outs away from losing, 1-0. Go figure.
soco led all posters today, cracking the double-century mark between the two threads. Also present were: unnamedDBacksfan, kishi, mrssoco, 4 Corners Fan, dahlian, hotclaws, luckycc, TwinnerA, DbacksSkins, srdmad, emilylovesthedbacks, Zephon, Wimb, Muu, DiamondbacksWIn, Diamondhacks and LucaMaz3. A good time was had by all: I'm wondering if the picture of Angelina Jolie that accompanied the original thread, and our subsequent offensive explosion [well, by the standards of this road-trip, anyway] merits consideration for inclusion as a saint. Seems appropriate that the pic was from a film where she plays a hit-woman...
Edgar Gonzalez hit the disabled list today. It was kinda odd yesterday, that our long-relief guy pitched only one inning after coming in to replace Micah Owings for the fifth inning - especially after striking out all three batters he faced. However, he strained his right elbow, and that was enough to put him out of action. As a replacement, the Petit Unit was called up from Tucson; he arrived in Florida just in time for today's game [40 minutes before first pitch, to be exact] but wasn't needed. Petit last pitched for the Sidewinders on Monday, getting the win in his start against Las Vegas, so should be ready to go whenever needed.
Early game tomorrow; 10 am, Phoenix time start. I will be relying on the auto-posting of the Gameday Thread, and may be a little late to show up, if at all. :-)
