SnakeBytes April 29, 2010: Afternoon Edition

[yahoo.com] Kennedy, LaRoche lead Diamondbacks past Cubs - Ian Kennedy pitched eight strong innings for his first victory in 2 1/2 years.

[chicagobreakingsports.com] Cubs Game Day: D'backs rout Cubs - "The wind is blowing out to left field at 27 m.p.h. this afternoon, so you'd think the Cubs offense should be able to get back on track against Arizona right-hander Ian Kennedy. Think again."

A whole roster of stories after the jump.

[www.westlinntidings.com] West Linn's Cole Gillespie makes The Show - Apparently they gave Gillespie some trouble before they let him know he'd been called up. "They asked me if I remembered taking a drug test in spring training. I told them yes and my manager said 'Well, do you have anything you want to tell me?'

[AZCentral.com] LaRoche productive in April - "For a player who is known for his slow starts and bad Aprils, Adam LaRoche hasn't exactly lived up to the reputation... Entering Tuesday night's game, he was hitting .286 with a .394 on-base percentage and .482 slugging percentage, numbers that are about in line with his end-of-year production averages."

[mlbtraderumors.com] Free Agent Hot Starts - Kelly Johnson is included on this list, and deservedly so.

[Beyond The Box Score] BtB Power Rankings: Week 4 - The Diamondbacks move up three spots to #9. Not bad for a team that just moved up to .500.

[sbnnation.com] The Perils Of Day Baseball - Jim wrote an article for SBN on the trouble of daytime games for most fans.

[azstarnet.com] Talks ongoing with 2 MLB teams - Pima County says they're in talks with two teams to move to Tucson for Spring Training, and about the prospect of bringing a Japanese team in for next season.

[yahoo.com] Rockies' catcher Miguel Olivo passes kidney stone, keeps playing - Passing a kidney stone during a game? That's pretty hardcore.

[wsj.com] New York Yankees: Not the Most Hated Team in Baseball - The Indians? I'm extremely skeptical.

[espn.com] All-Star Game changes: Rosters expanded, DH to be used every year - No confirmation to the rumors that Selig ordered a special All-Star Game Abacus because this time, it counts.

[yahoo.com] Dodgers problems worsen after GM Colletti picks on Matt Kemp - "Bill James has a saying that goes something like, 'Bad teams often focus all of the blame on their best players.' That's what Ringmaster Ned is doing, right or wrong."

[letsgotribe.com] Let's Go Tribe Simulates The 'Baseball Tonight' Experience For Non-New England Fans - Comedy or tragedy? You decide!

[Hardball Talk] MLB denies that Twitter crackdown but facts say otherwise - Sounds like this could turn into a full brouhaha. Walkoff Walk laments this may end their This Tweet In Baseball feature just as it begins.