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Ok, even though he was the final one to start, who had Saunders in the "last member of our rotation to give up a run" sweepstakes? Not many, but he defied all his critics with seven shutout innings against the Padres, and it took a David Hernandez meltdown in the eighth to rob him of much deserved victory that day. Certainly, the schedule has been kind to him, following up an outing in Petco with a game at home against the Pirates. I was on the radio with a Pittsburgh station today, and they couldn't stress enough how bad the offense has been. And they're right: the Pirates line through nine games is .188/.235/.267, a .502 OPS, averaging two runs per game.
Hopefully, Saunders can keep that kind of run going tonight. Line-up and further thoughts after the jump.
- Willie Bloomquist SS
- Aaron Hill 2B
- Justin Upton RF
- Miguel Montero C
- Chris Young CF
- Paul Goldschmidt 1B
- Jason Kubel LF
- Ryan Roberts 3B
- Joe Saunders P
After a couple of days where members of the B squad seemed to be getting their starts, this look more like a normal line-up this evening. Bedard has been unlucky: you don't normally get an L in both your starts with an ERA of 2.25. There's not much sign of a split with him, lefties having a .681 OPS career against him, righties hitting at a .684 clip. The Blue Jay contingent have most experience, from the days when Bedard was an Oriole. Hill is 6-for-20, but has only one walk and no extra-base hits. Between them, he, John McDonald and Lyle Overbay account for more than two-thirds of Arizona experience against Bedard.
I'll be recapping this one, but might be a little late to the thread, as Mrs. SnakePit and I are going out for a celebratory curry. Indeed, we're probably there as you read this....