SnakeBytes, 8/4: Colonel of Truth Edition

We gotta get more games like that.  Good pitching, nice offense- is this what it's like to be a fan of other teams?  You know, except for Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore, or- well, plenty of other towns.  Whatever.

Recaps:

• [dbacks.com] Reynolds walks away after being hit in head - Mark on the injury: "I've got a pretty good black eye. It makes me look better, doesn't it?"

• [dbacks.com] D-backs go deep; Saunders goes distance - "I'm here to prove my worth to the organization, and tonight was a big night." I know a lot of us were unhappy to see Haren go. But if nothing else, I think Saunders is bringing the right attitude to his performances, and we can use that.

• [federalbaseball.com] Washington Nationals Run Into Joe Saunders, Arizona Diamondbacks Win 6-1 - "All I could think [... was] "Why hasn't anyone been able to fix whatever's wrong with him so that the 96mph rising heater he throws goes where he wants it to?"" An excellent question.

• [azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Joe Saunders pitches complete game in win over Washington Nationals - The article notes that, after 28 games as manager, Kirk Gibson has not been ejected from a game.

• [washingtonpost.com] Collin Balester's repeat 'shaking' performance - "It's something about the way it comes out of his hand, and every once in a while it runs up and in on somebody. You can't have that." Once in a while? Two pitches to the head in nine days is far more often than once in a while.

Hit the jump for some more stories, including a lack of enthusiasm about an arbitrary milestone, some amazing defense from Japan, and a lesson that a dude with a carved foam head can still psych you out.

DBacks News:

• [KTAR.com] A year ago Webb underwent surgery - Sigh.

• [Diary of a Diehard] Diamondbacks Season Ticket Renewal Options - I've never held season tickets for anything, so I found this kind of interesting. Apparently the team is offering a thank-you gift to season ticket holders- the autograph session is cool, but the idea of getting to play catch at Salt River Fields sounds awesome.

• [foxsportsarizona.com] Saunders, Reynolds react to head injury (Video) - A good talk with Mark after the game, in case you missed the postgame. He says his first instinct after the HBP was to get up and run to first.

• [dbacks.com] Gibson non-committal on D-backs' closer | dbacks.com: News - "It could be anybody, it really could." Oh no. Is this a warning they're going to bring Grace out of the booth to close?  Or will we bring in the Randy Johnson from the Legends Race?

• [letgracewin.com] The Art of Intimidation - Speaking of the Legends Race- even made of foam, Randy Johnson is a scary dude, as the poster behind Let Grace Win found out.

Around Sports:

• [deadspin.com] Spider-Man Outfielder Makes One Of The Greatest Catches Ever - You have to watch this play. I demand it. Awesome.

• [mlb.com] A-Rod youngest in history to 600 homers - Obligatory link about the juicer.

• [montrealgazette.com] Delays stall auction of Rangers baseball team - The epic struggle continues, and we'll still wait to see if the bankruptcy court declares the Nolan Ryan group or the Mark Cuban group as winner.

• [espn.com] Zombies are loose in Seattle! More than 4,000 people turned out for the world's largest zombie walk, and Page 2 was there - Why is this on ESPN? I don't know. But it's at least kind of cool.

• [washingtonpost.com] Stephen Strasburg scheduled for Tuesday return at Nationals Park - If he pitches on Tuesday and sticks to a regular schedule, we'll face him in the last game of the Diamondbacks trip to Washington.

• [sbnation.com] Mark Prior Attempting Yet Another Comeback, This Time With Orange County Flyers - Another visitor to the Golden Baseball League, Mark Prior is making another shot at reviving his career.