AZ Snake Pit, an Arizona Diamondbacks community

We had a chance to interview Barry Larkin during the All Star break. Barry talks about pitching, coaching, and the NL West.

The Diamondbacks completed their preseason with a 10-2 victory over the Tigres of Quintana Roo. Armando Galarraga threw four perfect innings, and Chris Young drove in three runs for Arizona.

The Diamondbacks rolled to an easy victory over their Mexican League visitors at Chase, 11-4, and made some roster moves after the game. However, closer JJ Putz was merely ok, and there was worrying news about Stephen Drew.

The Diamondbacks shattered their team attendance record in their first year at Salt River. But around the much of rest of the Cactus League, news wasn't so good.

The Diamondbacks finished Cactus League offensively strong, pounding the Cubs, 15-8. However, Joe Saunders had a poor outing, allowing all eight runs in 3.2 innings of work.

Daniel Hudson pitched well, giving Arizona 5.2 shutout innings, but the Diamondbacks were on the receiving end of a ninth-inning comeback by the Rangers, and lost 6-4.

Aaron Heilman did his chances of making the rotation no good this afternoon. He was tagged for eight runs in two innings, and the Reds beat Arizona 9-6.

The last Saturday game at Salt River Fields, saw a sellout crowd, but Arizona lost to Kansas City, 9-6. We were there, applying sun-block and yelling at right-fielders.

Veteran pitcher Mike Hampton announced he is retiring. We look back at the highs and lows of a career which began all the way back in 1993.