SnakeBytes 9/7: Counting Down Edition

That game? Not so good.

Recaps:

• [DBacks.com] Rough eighth inning costs Collmenter, D-backs - "Rough" doesn't quite cover that inning. Seven runs given up? Ouch.

• [AZ Central] Diamondbacks blow late lead, fall to Rockies - And it had to be a home run to Tulo. Blech.

• [FS Arizona] D-backs looking to bounce back vs. Rockies - Today marks our last outing against the Rockies this year- we won't have to see them again until they playing at Talking Stick next spring. Whew.

• [Denver Post] Rockies rally past Arizona Diamondbacks behind Troy Tulowitzki - The Denver Post
  - "True to baseball tradition, the Rockies are doing what all disappointing teams do in September." What? No magical comeback planned? I'm disappointed, Rockies. (Not really.)

But let's keep some perspective here. Yeah, that was a bad outing. But one inning does not define the season. Our magic number is 15. The Diamondbacks and Giants have 37 games left- twenty apiece, including the three we share. That means we literally need fewer than half of those games to go our way to make it to the playoffs

Don't let one bad game drive you to panic. Even a really bad one.

• [AZ Central] Miguel Montero eager to remain with Diamondbacks - Miggy wants to stick around- and with the improvement he's shown this year, I am all for keeping him.

• [Modern Times Magazine] We Believe: The 2011 DBacks - Six months ago, everyone still expected this team to be one of the worst in baseball. Now?

• [Sporting News] Excellent!! From the Arizona desert rises a contender - Justin Upton respects the 2001 World Series team, but he thinks this year's roster is something pretty special, too. "I mean, they were a great team and I’m glad kids still have posters on their bedroom walls of Randy Johnson and (Curt) Schilling or whatever. Good for them. It doesn’t take away from anything we’ve got going.

• [Arizona Sports] The Diamondbacks finally have their first baseman in Paul Goldschmidt - He was highly touted for his slugging in the minors, but even Kevin Towers has been surprised at how good Goldschmidt's glove has been at first base. 

• [FS Arizona] 9/11 Reunion Weekend: D-backs did their part in lifting post-9/11 burden - It has to have been about the most cinematic World Series you're likely to see. And while plenty of people may have wanted the Yankees to win, well, they at least put up a hell of a fight.

• [Downtown Devil] New ‘Discover Phoenix’ series launches with discussion of D-Backs’ economic impact - What kind of impact will a playoff run have on businesses downtown? I'm filing this under "articles that probably will appeal directly to soco."

Around Baseball:

• [LA Times] Ni Hao! Time for Dodger Baseball! - $1.2 billion dollars. In cash. From the Chinese government. A little weird.

• [HardballTalk] Rainout announced, but MLB orders Nationals to go on with game - Because, of course, we need to do everything we can to make sure we get in a game between two teams that are out of the playoff race, even if that means inconveniencing fans.

• [FanGraphs] Defining Valuable - The question that arises every season- how do you award MVP?

• [Baseball Nation] On The Weird Season Of The Pittsburgh Pirates - Hey, Pirates. Remember when things looked a little brighter for you this year? Yeah, it seems so long ago, but it wasn't forever.

• [Big League Stew] Yankee Stadium all wet on proper replay angle for Cervelli homer - Oh seriously. That was a terrible call.

• [Beyond the Box Score] The Flip-side of RBI's: Run Opportunity Creators - The usefulness of RBIs as a stat is often in question- what if we look at the other side of the equation?

• [Denver Post] Spilborghs, Herrera out for the season - WE KNOW WHERE YOU'RE REHABBING, NUMBER NINETEEEEEEN.

Your Daily Strasburg:

• [The Washington Post] Stephen Strasburg pitches five scoreless innings in return for Washington Nationals  - When asked, the disembodied spirit of Cy Young described Strasburg as "the strasburgiest strasburg ever to strasburg on the strasburg mound."