Record: 69-65. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -5
Magic number: 24. Playoff odds: 80.9%

For six and a half innings, that has to count among the most nerve-wracking baseball games I've ever attended. I was positive that the Diamondbacks were going to find a way, somehow, to screw this up. There were two moments in particular, where I would have bet several, fairly-major internal organs that the Dodgers were about to blow the game apart. The first was in the opening inning, where Doug Davis was as good at locating the strike-zone as... Well, my metaphorometer just imploded on that one: after 22 pitches, only six had been over the plate. He'd loaded the bases and fallen behind Loney 2-0. However, somehow, he got the Dodger batter to ground-out and posted a zero.

We'll get back to Doug's escapology later. Fast-forward, however, to the top of the seventh where Los Angeles had made it a one-run game against Cruz. Kirk Gibson - for reason, again, we'll discuss in due course, Bob Melvin was not about - pulled Famine and sent in the Equallsizer. However, he promptly allowed another single, to put the tying run in scoring position with only one out. I haven't checked the Gameday Thread yet, but I can only imagine 'Skins readying his explanatory diagram about the folly of using Qualls with runners on base. However, disaster - and a possible ninth loss for our reliever - were averted, with the aid of a 4-6-3 double-play that ended the inning, and proved also to end the Dodgers' last hope.

At that stage, I was still not looking forward to the last six outs. And just for clarification, that's "not looking forward to," in much the same way one would, for example, not look forward to exploratory root canal work, without anesthetic, performed by a chisel-wielding maniac with a grudge. The prospect of seeing Rauch and Lyon getting a vote of confidence, in the shape of one-run lead to defend, was actually making my stomach physically churn [though I admit the meatball sandwich and garlic fries probably didn't help in this area]. I would therefore like to thank the offense for saving my digestive system from further punishment, by putting up a four-spot in the bottom of the seventh, to turn this into a comfortable margin.

Good to see us get back the Max Factor, touching 98 on the radar-gun

Doug Davis. [Yeah, this report is going to be all over the place. I'm pretty much just writing down stuff as I remember it] In the middle of the fourth, this was still a 0-0 game, but that simply goes to illustrate how you can take two utterly-different routes to the same end. Davis's zero had been in spite of allowing five hits and two walks, with Los Angeles leaving six men on base, three of them in scoring position, Kuroda, on the other hand, had been perfect, retiring all nine men he faced. This being baseball, of course, it was Kuroda who got tagged first, Dunn doubling nicely down the left-field line to score Young, who'd ended the perfecto as the eleventh man up, with a clean single to center.

However, Doug's bullet-dodging came to a grinding halt in the fifth, and it was partly his own fault, as he failed to get over and cover first-base, on a ball hit down the line. By the time he got there, Ethier had got his toe on the bag first. Mandy singled him over, and then Ethier stole third - one of three successful SB attepmpts against Davis this evening, which is not his usual modus operandi. However, it looked like the runner should have been called out at third; not the only dubious call to go against Arizona this evening, though since we won, I won't be making too much of a fuss about them.

A sacrifice fly and a single gave Los Angeles the lead at 2-1, and the irritating Dodger fans [I particularly despite the ones in the 'Ramirez #99' shirts - yeah, that will be a good long-term investment...] were making their presence felt, though a clearly-gassed Davis got out of the inning without further damage, having survived five innings, thrown 98 pitches, allowed eight hits and three walks, but only two runs, both earned. It was far from his best performance of the year, but he did what he has done with a fair degree of regularity since coming to Arizona: keep his team in the game, despite a near-gridlock of opposing players on the base-paths.

The Dunninator takes a hearty swing

The game immediately swung back Arizona's way in the bottom half, after Tracy singled and Snyder walked. Ojeda went up there attempting to bunt, but fouled off the first two attempts. He then grounded into a potential double-play, but Nomah fluffed the throw badly, allowing Tracy to score and put two men in scoring position. Davis was pinch-hit for [while, yes, we should praise Melvin for making good decisions, this was not exactly difficult - after Tracy's hit, my first comment to Mrs. SnakePit was, "Good, Davis's spot will come up and they'll have to PH for him] and Salazar drove in the go-ahead run with a single. The amusing thing on that play was seeing Chip Hale at third, basically blocking Ojeda from going down the line - Augie having run through a rare Hale stop-sign a while ago. But The Littlest Ballplayer got to trot home on a Drew sacrifice fly, and we finished the inning back ahead, 4-2.

However it did end in interesting fashion. Jackson was called out for fan interference after a fan leaned over and caught a foul ball which James Loney was heading towards, down the right-field line. Now, there's no doubt that the fan was in the wrong, and was clearly leaning into the field of play. But from where I was sitting, I don't think Loney would have made the play, and that's also a deciding factor in whether or not to call fan interference. My instinct was, the umpire blew the call - and Melvin apparently agreed, coming out and arguing the point so vehemently, that the first-base umpire tossed him from the game, Bob's second ejection of the season. "That was a little bit of a misunderstanding," Melvin said. "I did say a bad word which would get me thrown out."

Sheesh, i'd better get this wrapped up. I think I've covered most of the important stuff. Justin Upton returned, and smoked a pinch-hit double in his first at-bat. Max Scherzer also came back, with a fine eighth innings. Romero and Rosales were the two people sent down to Tucson, though I suspect they may well both be back up in a couple of days, when the rosters expand. Two hits for Young, two and a walk for Dunn, Reynolds got a hit and a walk, and Snyder continued his impressive plate discipline with a pair of walks.

Game Notes

• I was surprised to see that were only 32,610 there - I'd have expected more, since that's almost six thousand less than the last Friday game at Chase against the Dodgers, just after the All-Star break
• Unexpected giveaway tonight, in the shape of a Diamondbacks travel mug, courtesy of Panda Express. And, of course, about forty thousand BEAT LA signs.
  
• That helped make up for the AC, which seemed to be struggling all night long, even down on our lower level. There hardly seemed to be any cold air flowing at all, though perhaps the humidity had something to do with that.
• There was an embarrassing failure of the scoreboard during our three-run rally in the fifth, with the board getting badly stuck. It at first refused to acknowledge we'd scored a second run, wouldn't move past displaying Salazar's stats and also couldn't perform basic math. Can you see something wrong with the following?
  
  The boxscore then vanished entirely, being replaced by 'Welcome to Chase Field', before finally settling down, no doubt after a frantic call to tech support.
  
• But that wasn't the only glitch - when they tried to go split-screen for the Sausage Race, the right-hand image, supposedly of Vanessa and the contestants, was all squished and distorted like a fun-house mirror, much to the host's disconcertion. Really, you'd think they'd have got the bugs out of the $10-12 million system by now.
• Tommy Lasorda was present, sitting a couple of rows behind the Dodgers dugout, but also getting his picture taken with fans, etc. I did see Vin Scully too, poking his head out from the broadcast booth above us.
• Yes, there did appear to be 'something' going on in the left-field bleachers in the late inning of the game. I'm thinking it was some kind of brawl, but it was too far away for me to see. However, the people at the front of the section had basically abandoned the game, turning their backs on it, so whatever it was, was clearly quite interesting...
• We tried chanting, "4.5 games up! 4.5 games up!" as we left, but it didn't quite have the same ring. Didn't even stay around for the fireworks tonight, since we have to get ready for tomorrow. I'm sure they were basically the same as the other six times we've seen them this season.

[Click to enlarge, in new window]
Master of his domain: Augie Ojeda, +16.4%
Honorable mentions: Dunn, +12.8%; Qualls, +10.2%
God-emperor of suck: Juan Cruz, -6.0%

Looks like almost 800 comments this evening, an impressive total despite my absence. Took me a while to plow through them, but it seemed like a lot of fun - beating our nearest rival does, of course help! Present were: Azreous, 4 Corners Fan, foulpole, DbacksSkins, kishi, unnamedDBacksfan, AJforAZ, garyho, azwebber17, LucaMaz3, Wimb, Snakebitten, TwinnerA, pepperdinedevil, Diamondhacks, Scrbl, Zephon, hotclaws, Gravity, luckycc, njjohn, srdmad and soco.

Obviously, a huge, huge victory for the team: this was the game in the series I was most concerned about losing, and to take the win gives us a great boost. The worst that can happen now is, the Dodgers leave town still 2.5 games back, and with Webb plus Haren going in the remaining two contests, I am hoping we will be significantly better than that. A split would put us 4.5 ahead, with the Dodgers only having 25 games left to catch up. I shall certainly sleep well tonight... Not much from me until Sunday. I've already written the Gameday Thread, so that should appear automagically tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully you folk will cope without me, and I'll wake up the day after tomorrow to read of more success.

Hiroki Kuroda RHP, 7-9, 3.87

Doug Davis LHP, 5-8, 4.63

Baseball-Reference.com preview [opens in new window]

It's going to be an interesting weekend. See the series preview from earlier today for more analysis of the matchups, which I figured I should so, since I don't know exactly how much I am going to be about between now and Sunday night. I have, in fact, already written the Gameday Thread for tomorrow's contest, as it's one less thing I need to do tomorrow - we have our Fear Film Festival, and I don't think I am going to be online from about 9am for the rest of the day. I probably won't even know if Haren has managed to get the W until Sunday morning. Azreous is on the recap for that one.

Tonight, we'll be at the game, toting our new digital camera: this probably means that the post-game recap will be long on visuals and short on actual words. We're just hoping that there isn't a repeat of last night's storm, because the roof might end up getting blown off Chase Field. As long as it's happening due to the cheers of Diamondbacks fans inside, that's fine. There is word that Justin Upton may be activated in time for tonight, but what that might mean for everyone else in the line-up, Melvin isn't saying. Max Scherzer is reportedly also back up, presumably for use tonight in case Davis needs a quick hook.

A victory would be a great way to start off the weekend: only once have we lost more than four games in a row this season, and it hasn't happened since May. Putting some runs on the board early would be a big help, settling our nerves and, we hope, hammering another nail into the Dodgers' coffin. However, I will likely be more nervous if our bullpen enters the game with the lead, all the way until the final out is recorded. It's time to win.

Link

In an effort to continue to bolster their bullpen, the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday announced they have claimed left-handed pitcher Wilfredo Ledezma from the San Diego Padres.  Ledezma will report to the D-backs tomorrow, at which time another corresponding move will be made.

With an 0-2 record and a 4.47 ERA (27 ER in 54.1 IP) over 25 games (six starts) with the Padres this season, Ledezma has struck out 49 batters and walked 38.  Ledezma is 15-22 with a 5.16 ERA (207 ER in 361.0 IP) in 152 career games (40 starts) in parts of six Major League seasons. He has walked 176 career batters and struck out 243.

That was quite a spectacular storm last night. Around 9:40, Mrs.SnakePit called me to the back yard to see the lightning show. Never seen anything like that in my life: a storm usually has gaps of several between the flashes. Not the one last night, which looked more like a disco inferno, even though it was at such a distance that you couldn't hear thunder from it. The overall effect was such, that I was beginning to think it wasn't actually natural: either a sub-station had blown up in Oldtown Scottsdale, or we had been invaded by Martians.

I was kinda hoping for the latter, but the TV informed me otherwise, reporting that the storm cell was towering above the city, reaching a height of 55,000 feet. That can't have been any fun for someone trying to land at Sky Harbor [perhaps including the Dodgers, he added hopefully?]. So we bunkered down and waited for it to hammer us. Around 11:30 pm, it did, a ferocious combination of rain, wind and hail hammering the house. Our poor dogs were terrified, and the noise sounded like Keith Moon was doing a drum solo on our roof. It dumped six-tenths of an inch of rain in our neighborhood in about thirtty minutes, before going on - that was small beer compared to some places, such as Van Buren and 40th street, which got 1.89 inches overnight.

As a result, the journey to work this morning was rough. Traffic lights were downed - not knocked out, but physically downed - on 40th street, and our access to the highway was blocked both on Cactus and Tatum. Mrs. SnakePit attempted to go around the damage, but that only made things worse, as everywhere we turned seemed to lead to further diversions, and the usual 25-minute trip stretched out to longer than an hour. On Seventh Street, we saw a whole series of phone lines which had toppled, and we also saw a billboard which had been torn entirely off its roof-top mounting. Word is, the Chase building downtown has also lost most of the windows on its lower floor too, and a lot of people are still without power.

Nice way to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town for what promised to be a crucial three-game series. Both teams have been slumping of late, and are a combined 1-for-13 in the past week. It looks like the power outage mentioned has also been affecting the bats of both teams:
    Arizona: .222/.294/.340 = OPS .634, 3.5 runs per game
    Los Angeles: .244/.314/.358 = OPS .672, 1.7 runs per game
Yes, you read that right. During their current losing streak, the Dodgers have scored more than two runs just once. And you though our offense was scuffling.

Los Angeles, now trailing by 3.5 games, really need to win the series because, coming in, CoolStandings.com currently gives the Diamondbacks a 75.0% chance of winning the division - our best figure since June 1 - while yesterday's loss dropped the Dodgers down to only 19.6% [The Rockies aren't quite out of it yet, at 4.9%, with the Giants picking up the balance] Even though we only won one game since the start of the Florida series, we still managed to add 1.5 games to our lead, and time is not on the side of those trying to catch up.

The Dodgers have 28 games left: if Arizona plays to their record and goes 15-14 in our remaining games, Los Angeles would need to have an 18-10 record to tie us. But if we take two of three here, we'll be 4.5 up on them: should we win half our remaining games [leaving us again at 83 wins], then Los Angeles would then need to go 17-8 down the stretch to match Arizona. With Webb and Haren going in two of these games, we should feel fairly optimistic - but Webb and Haren didn't exactly help us much in San Diego [though the latter hardly deserves blame for his performance]. Let's take a look at the match-ups for the series:

Friday: Hiroki Kuroda, RHP (7-9, 3.87)  vs Doug Davis, LHP (5-8, 4.63)
Some discussion whether we should go with Davis or Petit after the day off, but the experience of Davis was seen as outweighing the better recent performances of the Petit Unit. Kuroda has made three starts against Arizona and they appear to have been directed by Sergio Leone, as we've had The Good [one run in 7.1 innings], The Bad [four in 5.2] and The Ugly [six in two]. Overall, that's a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings, on a healthy 21 hits. Davis has bounced back after a shaky month, with quality starts in his last two outings, but has allowed 11 earned runs in only 10.2 innings against Los Angeles. Edge: Los Angeles

Saturday: Chad Billingsley, RHP (12-10, 3.15)  vs. Dan Haren, RHP (14-6, 3.10)
Billingsley has been perhaps the most reliable of the Dodgers starters, and hasn't allowed more than three runs in a game over eight appearances since the All-Star break. However, he is 0-3 against the Diamondbacks this season, with a 7.71 ERA: control has been his main problem, allowing eight walks in only fourteen innings. Haren has not enjoyed pitching at Chase lately, with Pittsburgh, Atlanta and San Diego combining for 15 runs in 17.1 innings. But he faced the Dodgers here just after the All-Star break, threw seven shutout innings, and has a 3.06 ERA in three starts against them. Edge: Arizona

Sunday: Derek Lowe, RHP (10-11, 3.81)  vs. Brandon Webb, RHP (19-5, 2.96)
The two sinkerballers face off again, and if that sounds familiar it's because this is the third such encounter since the All-Star break. The first was July 20, when neither pitcher featured in the decision, thanks to Brandon Lyon's memorable five-run meltdown in the ninth, which gave victory to LA. Webb and Lowe faced off again on the 31st - this time Webb came out on top, throwing eight innings of one-run ball and Lyon locked down a 2-1 win for Arizona. Webb hasn't lost in nine starts against Los Angeles since 2004, with only Lyon's blow-up stopping him from being perfect over that time: instead, he's "just" 8-0 with a 1.19 ERA. Edge: Arizona

Overall victory therefore appears eminently achievable, but I'd be a lot happier if the offense were to wake up out of their slump. Home has been good to Arizona so far - they bat .270 at Chase compared to .234 elsewhere and we score 5.1 runs per game here, a run better than on the road. It's not going to be easy, but I do think the Diamondbacks will get back on track, take two out of three and while not putthing them away, will leave the Dodgers' season in a very precarious position.

Arizona won't lose today: I can predict this with more confidence than usual, thanks to them not actually being scheduled to play. Somehow, however, I have a sneaking suspicion that the bullpen will still find a way to blow things and take the L. Random discussion and DodgerWatch to follow, with today's main topic being, "What the hell do we do?" I feel sympathy for Bob Melvin, since it seems that no matter which pitcher he throws up there, suckage follows.

Over the past couple of days, I've been trading emails with Jon Weisman of Sports Illustrated and the excellent Dodger Thoughts site, discussing each other's teams, in advance of the big series between them this weekend - which at least means one losing streak will come to an end!  Here's our discussion, to shed some light on the nearest rival, whom we'll be facing over the next three games - many thanks to Jon for the conversation.

Jon: Jim, the Dodgers have been nipping at Arizona's heels for months now, but haven't been able to do the leapfrog thing.  In fact, now the Dodgers are back under .500 and entered this week as far out of the NL West lead as they've been all summer. How confident are you guys feeling about winning the division?

Jim: According to coolstandings.com, we have a 69.8% chance of winning the division at time of writing, but you'd be hard-pushed to find any Arizona fan who feels anywhere near that confident. Obviously, being in front is the place to be, and every game where the Dodgers don't catch up helps the Diamondbacks: time is on our side, not yours. That said, I'd be a lot more optimistic if both teams were playing well: it's hardly comfortable when our team motto is no longer, "Anybody, anytime," but "Well, at least Los Angeles lost, too." The question is as much, how confident are you guys feeling about  not  winning it?

Jon: The Phillies series, which reversed the Dodgers'  four-game sweep of them earlier in the month, was as big a morale destroyer as I've seen all year.  But Arizona losing three of four during the same period just showed that, though Dodger fans shouldn't necessarily be confident, they shouldn't give up either.

Jim:  Both teams made post-deadline moves, acquiring sluggers in Manny Ramirez and Adam Dunn. Why did the Dodgers not put in a claim on Dunn, to stop the Diamondbacks from getting him? And do you think either team has a realistic shot at signing their player long-term?

Jon: The Dodgers haven't addressed the claiming Dunn question officially; the conclusion we're left with is that it was a non-issue for them, and/or they didn't want to deal with the potential  financial and roster implications of having him on the team.  Neither of those answers are particularly satisfying for a lot of us.

The Dodgers will have the ability to sign a top-tier free agent this offseason, so I think they have a shot at Ramirez, but I don't know if the will is there.  During the brief period in which Alex Rodriguez was a free agent last fall, the Dodgers didn't position themselves as serious contenders.  I'm not saying the situations are identical, but I don't tend to think that a Ramirez deal will get done. I have to admit, I hadn't even gotten to the point of wondering whether Dunn would be with Arizona in 2009.  What do you think?

Jim: While I'd like to see it, I'm doubtful we have enough room to make a competitive offer. It's a relatively thin free-agent market this year, and it's probable that we also have to replace Orlando Hudson at second-base. If we hadn't already committed to paying Eric Byrnes through 2010, I could see us moving Conor Jackson to LF permanently, and making an offer, but I think we'll take the two draft picks and move on.

Here in Arizona, we expect to see pitching phenom Max Scherzer added to the Diamondbacks roster as part of the September expamsion, though it's not sure if he will see playing time as a starter or strengthening the bullpen, which has struggled of late. Los Angeles have their own phenom in Clayton Kershaw, but there's some question as to whether he would be available in the playoffs, or even for the full season. How far do you see him going?

Jon: Part of the rationale behind the Greg Maddux pickup was to allow the Dodgers to stick to their plan of curtailing Kershaw's innings at about 170. You won't see Kershaw start in the playoffs even if the Dodgers have the opportunity, and I think he would be used sparingly in relief.  Chad Billingsley, Derek Lowe, Hiroki Kuroda and Maddux would form the postseason rotation.  It might be worth noting that James McDonald is another young starter who could see some action at least out of the bullpen in September.

I've noticed several commentators of late leaning toward Arizona because of their big three: Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Randy Johnson.  But Johnson's not exactly the pitcher he used to be. What's your feeling about the Diamondback rotation overall heading into the stretch run?

Jim: Johnson has been a second-half revelation. Many people expected him to flag, or be skipped occasionally to keep him fresh, but he hasn't missed a game all year - and has a 1.82 ERA, with a K:BB ratio of 53:7, in eight starts since the All-Star Game. He seems to have benefited from a side session he threw during the break, under the eye of pitching coach Tom House. Can he keep it up? Well, he could double that post-break ERA and still be a formidable #3. Personally, I'm more concerned about Doug Davis, who may be wearing down - understandably - after having his cancerous thyroid removed in April, or Yusmeiro Petit and his amazing .195 BABIP.

The Dodgers offense, even with Ramirez, is scuffling badly. The series opener against the Nationals made it eight consecutive games scoring three runs or less, tying an NL season-high. Is there a particular cause? And, perhaps more importantly for LA, a cure?

Jon: They're slumping, slumping badly. This is a challenged offensive team, reliant for the most part on stringing hits together, but clearly, if this is some record-high streak of ineptitude in the NL for 2008, it's not the Dodgers' usual behavior. They are leaving runners on base rather than not getting them on in the first place, which is usually a sign that a team isn't hopeless at the plate.  So the cure is time.  Whether that cure will come soon enough, or with enough time remaining in the schedule, I don't know.

And yet, there's Arizona, with a chance to go four up in the division, letting San Diego knock out Webb. Neither of these teams can really seem to get their act together.  Webb losing is obviously a fluke, but what is the Diamondbacks' biggest worry?

Jim: If anything is going to sink us, it's the bullpen. They have a second-half ERA of 5.34, and an 0-8 record after July 10. I've a nasty feeling manager Bob Melvin blew out Brandon Lyon's arm by using him in hard, back-to-back-to-back outings just after the break: his ERA before that was 2.43, but balloons to 12.75 since. Any apparent resulting lack of blown saves is largely because we've only had three in August - and Lyon had to be bailed out in one of those. While Melvin still professes confidence in his closer, I have little, and set-up man Jon Rauch, with his 6.19 ERA for us, isn't much more inspiring. We have good relievers - Juan Cruz and Tony Peña have generally been solid recently - but Melvin apparently dislikes using them in high-leverage situations for some reason.

Enough gloom and depression! Who - presumably outside of Manny - do you expect to step up and carry the Dodgers through the last month of the season?

Jon: Aside from Ramirez, I think it's really going to be up to the younger non-rookies - Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney and even Russell Martin, though he has logged more than 1,000 innings behind the plate, to have enough left to carry the offense. It's getting to be too late for Rafael Furcal to have much of an impact, though perhaps he might be able to offer occasional help off the bench in September. But overall, I think the key to the Dodgers winning will have to be pitching depth. Though Los Angeles can't match Arizona ace-for-ace, the Dodgers do have a solid staff top-to-bottom. There have been some blown saves, but I'm still confident in the group overall. I'm really hoping they can keep the muzzle on opponents in September.

And who will be Arizona's heroes, should they have heroes?

Jim: Justin Upton should return, and certainly has the chance - if he can regain his April form, where he batted 327/.372/.554. It's a big "if" however, since he hit below .200 after that. Third-baseman Mark Reynolds is notoriously streaky, so could get hot down the stretch too. But it's the rotation that has taken Arizona this far, and it'll be them that we need to keep us in games. In particular, I'd love to see Davis come through with some clutch performances: it'd be the ultimate feel-good story of the season, to go from being diagnosed with cancer to leading his team into the playoffs.

Looking into the post-season, how do you think the Dodgers would match-up against the other contenders? Who do you fear most?

Jon: I mostly fear the television industry making fun of the Dodgers even being in the postseason.  I can't even think about potential Dodger playoff opponents.  I just know that the pitching staff would have to come up huge, and the Dodgers would basically just need to get some of the luck that has eluded them since 1988.

Jim: I look forward to the ESPN angst if LA or AZ make the playoffs, and the Yankees don't, despite a better record! I feel the same about Arizona's chances - but once you reach the playoffs, the first 162 games become meaningless. That's probably the biggest thing either of our teams have in their favor.

Record: 68-65. Pace: 83-79. Change on last season: -6
Magic number: 27. Playoffs odds: 69.8%

There isn't much I can add to the above, posted in a paroxysm of rage after the game this afternoon. Harsh? Perhaps. But I've had enough of the failings of a relief corps that's a huge part of why Arizona has lost fifteen games where we were leading after six innings. That's tied for most in the majors, with the Cardinals; the Dodgers have only ten; the Cubs, just four and the Rays, three.  Here are the win percentages for the Diamondbacks when leading after each inning, compared to the overall major-league average:

What this shows is a particular struggle holding leads in the sixth through eighth innings, and it's the seventh inning where we fall down most - both compared to the rest of baseball, and to the Diamondbacks performance last year, where we had a win percentage of .890 when leading after six innings, more than a hundred points better. Put another way: in 2007, we won almost nine out of ten games where we finished the sixth ahead; this season, we are barely above three in four. Today was the twenty-second loss of the year for the bullpen, and they've now dropped eight straight decisions since their last victory, forty-one games ago on July 10.

Today, Chad Qualls picked up his major-league leading eighth loss in relief, coming in with a 4-3 lead and allowing two runs on three hits. The problem with such late deficits is, it gives Arizona basically no chance to come back, all the Padres needed to do to swipe this one is send Hoffman in, and he promptly retired the Diamondbacks in order, striking out the side. Game over, and we get swept by the same Padres side we swept back in Phoenix.

The offense basically only showed up in the sixth inning, where we had the majority of our nine hits, and all of our runs. There were RBI for Reynolds, Montero, Young and Johnson - the last-named had two hits in the game, the first time the Big Unit has done that since September 2003. Adam Dunn and Young also had two hits of their own, while Chris Burke reached on a pair of walks. However, we failed to do much in the other eight innings, not helped by Conor Jackson getting picked-off second base with one out in the fourth, and that came round to bite us, despite having a 4-0 lead at the seventh-inning stretch.

On the mound, Johnson was sublime up until that point, but surrendered three runs in the bottom of the seventh, the results of a triple, a single and a homer. Though it's now basically certain he won't reach 300 wins this season, it's hard to combine when the Big Unit gave Arizona his eighth quality start in a row. It says something about the Diamondbacks offense, that Randy's streak is only good enough to net him four victories, as Johnson received better than four runs of support only once in those eight outings, and has averaged just 2.9 per game. Today, it was three runs in seven innings, on five hits and just one walk, with nine strikeouts.

[Click to enlarge, in new window]
Master of his domain: Randy Johnson, +14.2%
God-emperor of suck: Chad Qualls, -51.8%
Dishonorable mention: Stephen Drew, -15.8%

An understandably-frustrated Gameday Thread, brightened for about an inning and half, then returning to the gloom whence it came. Thanks to 'charmer for getting it up there, as I got bogged-down at work: on the whole, however, it might have been better if she hadn't bothered! Present were kishi, DbacksSkins, snakecharmer, 4 Corners Fan, srdmad, Wimb, Azreous, unnamedDBacksfan, TwinnerA, jaydubsped, azwebber17 and Gravity.

At least the Dodgers lost, going down by a single run to the even-more woeful Nationals for the second day in a row. But don't look now: as a result of recent suckage by ourself and Los Angeles, the Rockies have picked up 3.5 games since Saturday, so are now only 5.5 games back. And at time of writing, Colorado are 1-0 up in the sixth against San Francisco, with Lincecum being out-duelled by - of all people! - Livan Hernandez. Welcome to Bizarro World!

An off-day tomorrow, so at least we can't lose. Hopefully the Dodgers will, fulfilling my expectations that they would do as well against Washington, as we did against San Diego. Each of us getting swept....not exactly what I had in mind with that prediction, admittedly. Here's hoping the team can come back to Phoenix and get their mojo rising in time for the weekend.

Brandon Webb RHP, 19-4, 2.74

Chad Reineke RHP, 1-1, 4.91

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Welcome to the big leagues, Chad Reineke. Not only is your second-ever appearance against the man who won the 2006 Cy Young, was second last year, and is the favorite this season...but your third appearance sees you facing the same guy. For your next start, I believe the cloning of an entire line-up of Babe Ruths for you to face, should be just about completed. Have fun.

Reineke didn't acquit himself badly last time, with a quality start and three runs over six innings. However, he might as well have been spitting at a supernova, because he was facing Brandon Webb, who delivered seven shutout innings of three-hit ball, on the way to his sixth straight victory. If he makes it seven tonight, he'll become only the second National League pitcher this year to reel off some many W's in a row. The first was also Brandon Webb - nine wins to start the year [as well as two at the end of 2007].

So, I feel pretty confident, as long as a) our offense doesn't totally suck, and b) the bullpen are willing to hold off extending their seven-week losing streak for another game. Neither are, admittedly, certain. I'm at IZW, so will be able to comment during the game, just not watch it. Azreous is on the recap, unless something totally heinous takes place, causing me to forget and write a blistering screed of criticism. Chip Hale, you have been warned. Dodgers have just started playing in Washington, so let's get this up early and hope they continue to suck, every bit as much as they did in Philadelphia.

This is slightly delayed, due to the scheduled SB Nation maintenances from last night - well-spotted by Charmer, so I was at least able to pop a warning into the Gameday Thread. Here's the diary of my thoughts, as the game unfolded last night.

Settling in, ready for our last comedy show of the summer at the Grand Comedy Tavern. Listening to the radio on our way here: it sounds like the Dodgers were losing to the Phillies, but I'm awaiting confirmation on that. It'd be helpful.

1st inning. Drew pops up foul, on a full count, but Young walks: a good start, it doesn't seem like Peavy is blowing anybody away. Looks like a hit-and-run with Jackson, which avoids the double-play. Dunn works the count full, and I'd have said he got hosed by the umpire on strike three. Ah, the out of town scoreboard shows the Dodgers did lose, 5-0. Interesting inning for Haren. There's a one out double, and the runner advances to third on a ground-out. He then gets Adrian Gonzalez on three strikes: looked like they were all fastballs, respectively high, higher and a threat to passing aircraft.

2nd inning. 1-2-3 go the Diamondbacks, with Reynolds staring at strike three, which looked largely down the pipe to me.  He seems to have been K-ing even more than usual of late, and I don't recall many homers recently, but I'd have to check that. [Confirmed: he's homerless in 59 at-bats since August 7, with 22 K's] Haren struggles a bit in the second, allowing two hits: he doesn't seem to be getting the call on balls down in the zone, though the umpire has a more generous zone inside to left-handers. He gets Peavy to ground out, and the threat is averted. So far, advantage Peavy: despite the scoreless game, he has looked better.

3rd inning. Haren tries to help his own cause with a single: he handles the bat better than any other pitcher we have and, personally, I like seeing his at-bats. He hardly ever gives his out away. I didn't seem much else of the inning, thanks to my weekly comics discussion with our comedy host: this week, the multi-threaded narrative which is The Watchmen. Nothing else happens for the Diamondbacks, and the Padres threaten again with a leadoff base-runner in the bottom of the third. Haren is falling behind a lot of the hitters, and this eventually bites him, a double to the outfield giving San Diego the lead. But the following hitters help out by swinging at balls in the dirt, and the damage is stopped there.

4th inning. Need to get the offense going. Jackson starts things off well, with a single to right. He takes second as Dunn fans on a full-count, and is in scoring position with one out for the D-backs. Tracy strikes out - the middle of the line-up is something of a K-hasm of late. Reynolds legs out an infield hit, and leaves it up to Snyder. He puts a long at-bat on Peavy - if nothing else, we're running his pitch-count up very nicely - and finally sends a 2-2 pitch back up the middle, scoring both men, Reynolds having stolen second earlier in the at-bat. Hard pounding, but we finish our half of the inning with a 2-1 lead. We need Haren to post a zero, but with two out and a man on first, another bloop single drops down the right-field line, moving the runner to third, and a hit ties the game.

5th inning. Nothing for Arizona. Absolutely nothing. Not much for San Diego either: he faces three batters, but doesn't quite manage a 1-2-3 inning, with another hit. A double-play ends that, and we rapidly move on to the...

6th inning. Jackson strikes out, but replays confirms that Peavy gets a very generous strike zone. That isn't enough to help him against The Treadmill, who does what he does and gets on base with a free pass. Tracy pops up, so nothing doing there and while Reynolds works the count full, he grounds out and the score remains tied. Four runs over a total of eleven innings for these pitchers: rather different from last week's encounter. Haren then makes it 12, and looks impressive in doing so, with his first 1-2-3 inning of the night.

7th inning. Peavy gone: that's a relief, and I think we're happy that he has left the game, and we are still level. No victory for him, but Haren is still in the game, batting for himself with two outs. Another fine at-bat there, and he drills a double to left-center for his second hit of the game. The Padres end up walking Drew intentionally, and Young has the big chance to put Arizona ahead again. However, he flies out, and the chance goes begging. Haren wanders from second to the mound. He is mowing them down and accumulates a season-high 11 strikeouts, around a single by Giles. I think the upcoming inning is probably his last chance of victory.

8th inning. Heath Bell in for the Padres: I am prepared to sacrifice my fantasy team for the good of the Diamondbacks, and let Bell concede a run. However, he refuses to co-operate, retiring Jackson, Dunn and Tracy without any major problems. Doesn't look like either starter will be involved in the decision: and given the last time our bullpen won a game was roughly back in the early Stone Age, I'm not exactly confident. Pena is up and his first pitch is slapped to right for a single, ending his hitless streak.

Drew then bobbles a potential double-play ball, and everyone is safe. Hoffman is warming in the Padres 'pen... We need a K, but instead a deep fly advances the runners to second and third: Reynolds thought he'd applied the tag. An intentional walk loads the bases, and this appears to be the game, right here. Nowhere to put him... Pena falls behind 2-0, but comes back to get a groundball to Drew, who doesn't muff this one and the game remains tied. On into the ninth, with everything to play for.

9th inning. The Padres have outhit us 10-5, which is pretty much how the first couple of games went last series: given the results there, that's not necessarily a problem. Hoffman is in for the ninth, the Padres going for the win at home, and Arizona has no luck against the all-time saves leader, being retired in order. Rauch in for the Diamondbacks: Hairston up as a pinch-hitter for the Padres. Rauch wins. An attempted bunt is thrown away by Reynolds, but the rebound off the fence is fortuitously straight back to Tracy, who gets the runner at second. That's particularly lucky, as the next runner singles, which would have scored the winning run.

However, Jody Gerut, who has killed the Diamondbacks utterly this year [now 12-for-28 with 3 HR and 6 RBI], renders it moot, hammering the first pitch into the bleachers for a walk-off home-run. Rauch gets the loss - apparently time to add him to the list of relievers we can't trust in a close game - our bullpen sinks to 0-7 since July 10, and Haren's solid outing is wasted, thanks to a lack of offense. But we remain three ahead of the Dodgers, one game better than we were on Friday, even though we have won only once since then.

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Master of his domain: Dan Haren, +20.2%
Honorable mention: Peña, +11.0%; Snyder, +10.4%
God-emperor of suck: Jon Rauch, -35.7%
Dishonorable mentions: Tracy, -13.7%; Ojeda, -11.5%, Young, -10.3%

In 16 games since coming to Arizona, Rauch now has a 6.00 ERA - mostly because he has allowed five home-runs in only 15 innings of work, responsible for seven out of the ten earned runs he has allowed. In particular, in six games since August 13th, with an admittedly small sample-size, his line is:
   Rauch: 5.2 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 HR, ERA 12.71, 0-3 record
We've lost three of the six games in which he has appeared: Rauch has taken the L in every one of those. I think I speak for most of us when I say we would rather not see him or Lyon appearing in contests we have any chance of winning at the moment. They should be consigned strictly to mop-up work, with Qualls and Peña being used in high-leverage situations. Particularly when Gerut is at the plate. 

Not had a chance to catch up on the Gameday Thread yet - by the time I got home last night, SB Nation was already down for maintenance. Seemed pretty busy though, so thanks to those who participated: soco, DbacksSkins, kishi, unnamedDBacksfan, emilylovesthedbacks, snakecharmer, Gravity, singaporedbacksfan, utahdbacksfan, Muu, TwinnerA, foulpole, srdmad, Scrbl, 4 Corners Fan, AJforAZ, Stile4aly, mrssoco, jaydubsped [welcome!] and Azreous.

Another quality start lost - I've given up counting how many of those we've had. However, facing Peavy was definitely the game I thought we were most likely to lose in the series, and I think we will still come back today with Webb and get him his 20th win, then take the series behind Johnson on Wednesday.