Miguel Batista, RHP (4-2, 4.60)

Alay Soler, RHP (0-0, 3.00)

"Your attention, please. This is your captain speaking. There is no need to be alarmed. The shaking and juddering that you feel is perfectly normal. Every voyage will have its share of rough water; we should be through it shortly, and continue sailing on in the manner to which we have become accustomed. However, to make up for any inconvenience, you are all welcome to join me for drinks in the Titanic ballroom at 7pm. I'll bring the ice."

Events of the last couple of days have left me with a sense of unease. Does Valverde's struggles indicate that the over-achievement of our bullpen is about to come to a grinding halt? At least Melvin has made it clear that we won't see him tonight - albeit for "fatigue" reasons, rather than Kurt Angle-esque "You Suck" reasons. Be interesting to see who goes out there if it is a save situation: early returns in our poll seem to indicate Jorge Julio is the fans' pick as a replacement.

Don't know much about Alay Soler - it sounds like his name is Pig Latin. This is only his second start in the big leagues, and last time out he walked the first three batters he faced (I'm assuming nerves) , but settled down thereafter and delivered a quality start. It's probably an exaggeration to describe this as a "must-win" game, but with the outcome of tomorrow's game uncertain, even with Webb on the mound, I'd far rather go into it, 3-2 on this roadtrip, rather than sporting a three-game losing streak.

Some advance warning: I'm off to Burbank on Friday for the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention: hanging out with my homies, Bruce Campbell and Lance Henriksen. Well, actually, Mrs. SnakePit is going, in her role as VP of Press + Marketing for local horror company Brain Damage Films [there was a bit in the Republic business section about them last week], and I'm tagging along. We drive out Friday morning, back Sunday afternoon; unsure how to handle this, AZSnakePit.com-wise. If anyone fancies taking over the helm for the weekend, let me know; if not, I'll just post all the GameDay threads for Fri-Sun on Thursday night.