First of all, there is no truth to the rumour that Russ Ortiz strained a muscle in his ribcage carrying a large suitcase of money upstairs to his apartment, while laughing manically. According to Bob Melvin, "It's been bothering him for a couple of starts."
Well, the obvious question here is why the hell didn't he do something about it a couple of starts ago. Y'know, like before the last one (5.1 IP, 7 ER)? Oh, I forgot - that's pretty much business as usual for Russ this season.
So much for his durability. So much for him being an innings-eater. Best of all, "Right now, there's no certainty as to what it is," Ortiz said. As I've said before, the Diamondbacks have shown an uncanny knack to under-estimate injuries this season - anyone remember Brandon Lyon? So I would not be surprised if this turns out to be rather more serious than first thought.
The bad news is, we can expect more Claudio Vargas starts. The good news is, Estes has been so ugly thus far, that this will end up being something of a wash. With Vargas moving into the rotation, it makes room in the bullpen for Mike Koplove again. Herges also turns out to be the latest in our ongoing series of failed retreads, and gets put on waivers. Brandon Medders comes up - as mentioned yesterday, at least he has a future. And, with a 1.80 ERA in Tucson, after 27 games, it might be a bright one.
Two games to write about, but time has caught up with me. It is largely my fault for lying in bed this morning and watching Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy, a Sci-Fi Channel movie about a mad scientist (the ever-wonderful Jeffrey Combs) who injects shark DNA into his own son, and creates a monstrous killing machine. Which he naturally wants to breed with human women, to make a whole new species.
This was fabulously awful stuff. If ever I become a mad scientist, I will ensure barrels of inflammable chemicals are not left lying round with their tops open; that my guards are capable of beating middle-aged IT executives in hand-to-hand combat; and that I do not put my limbs near the mouth of any pissed-off, half-shark relatives I may have. And who knew nitrogen was so explosive? Good job it doesn't make up four-fifths of the atmos...hey, wait a moment!
Anyway, no opportunity for game reviews today. Looking at the boxscores, Webb and Estes both were good, but got no run support - three runs total in the two games. Heroes and Zeroes for the series, along with reviews of both games, to follow tomorrow. Boy, I hope I get out of work early tonight, Monday is looking like a major time-crunch...