Record: 61-58. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -6

Tuesday night's game was another case of business as usual lately. Just enough offense to win, another victory for the Big Unit, and the occasional fundamental mistake. But that's why we love this team, right? The one big switch was a particularly noticeable one: Adam Dunn's debut in a slightly different red uniform. If nothing else, the recent additions of Dunn and Jon Rauch should ensure that no team wants to charge the mound and risk getting in a brawl with us anytime soon.

Randy Johnson picked up win number 294 for his career, although it did involve a few hiccups along the way. Meanwhile, Dunn delivered just about what we would have expected: a couple of walks, a couple of strikeouts and a double. But damn if he doesn't clog up those base paths...

The offense staked Johnson to an early lead in the second, thanks to a homer by Tracy after Reynolds reached to start the inning. Young singled next, but Snyder grounded into a double play and the threat was over. The Rockies quickly recouped their losses though, with a solo shot by Chris Iannetta and consecutive doubles by Barmes and Stewart, as Randy seemed to struggle to find the strike zone with his slider. But he escaped the inning without harm and locked in the next two innings, setting the side down in order in each (and striking out the side in the fourth).

The Diamondbacks probably should have gotten the lead back in the fourth or the fifth, but wasted opportunities in each. In the fourth, Dunn walked (we should be seeing a lot of that), and Tracy singled to put two on with one out. Young grounded into a fielder's choice, though, and while Snyder walked to load the bases, Johnson wasn't quite ready for hitting heroics just yet and struck out to end the inning.

The more glaring gaffe was in the fifth, where Stephen Drew started things off nicely with a double. Melvin again played the wrong odds (especially in a game at Coors Field, where one-run games are infrequent unless they're something like 12-11...but I'm sure Jim will chime in on this one) by sacrificing him over the third, which was a problem when Conor Jackson grounded to short. Drew seemed to get caught in no-man's land and was out. Dunn, the very next batter, doubled, which couldn't score Jackson but certainly could have scored Drew. Reynolds struck out -- shocker! -- and the threat was abruptly ended with the score still tied.

Johnson continued to cruise, however, and in the top of the sixth the offense finally scratched through against Jimenez again. Young and Snyder each doubled with one out to make it 3-2, and then Randy Johnson, he of the .124 career batting average, singled to get another insurance run. Good times. There was a momentary scare when his back seemed to stiffen up as he stood on first, but he came back in for the bottom of the sixth and showed no ill effects. Hopefully the same is true tomorrow as well.

Once Johnson was gone (with another quality start and solid line - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), the bullpen's effort was enough for just a handful of minor heart attacks. Qualls gave up a walk and a hit with one out to put runners on the corners. But he got Taveras to ground into a double play to escape the jam. Rauch seemed to struggle a little with his control, but worked around a base hit to Holliday. And Lyon slammed the door shut in the ninth nicely, keeping the Diamondbacks in first for at least one more day.

Master of his Domain: Randy Johnson, +15.5%
God-Emperor of Suck: Conor Jackson, -12.2%

Every starter had at least one hit, with Young chipping in two and Tracy leading the way with three. Johnson's efforts at the plate ended up being largely inconsequential: the RBI single was good, but the K with the bases loaded was not.

A lively Gameday Thread and overflow, with more than 800 comments, only about 20% of which were by Skins. Present and accounted for were utahdbacksfan, kishi, DbacksSkins, NewJackCity, soco, J Up, Zephon, ZonaBacks10, Muu, emilylovesthedbacks, Jim McLennan, TwinnerA, snakecharmer, Scrbl, foulpole, AZWILDCATS, pepperdinedevil, hotchixsnake27, singaporedbacksfan, AJforAZ, dahlian, Shums, srdmad, seanprh, 4 Corners Fan and dbacksbj.

The Phillies failed miserably at beating the Dodgers, coughing up a lead and losing 4-3. That wasn't anywhere near as bad as the mess the Red Sox tried to create, scoring 10 runs in the first inning only to find themselves behind 16-14 at one point, then managing to squeak out a well-pitched 19-17 victory. David Ortiz hit two three-run homers in that first inning, and one can only imagine Big Papi stomping up and down the dugout as the lead collapsed, wondering what else he could possibly do.

Doug Davis takes the bump tomorrow, which could mean we're in for a rocky ride. His last two starts have been disastrous after he flirted with perfection in the previous one. Francis has pretty much struggled all season though, and with Coors as a backdrop, we could see a result similar to the Boston/Texas game tonight...