Halsey (4-5, 4.22)
Schmidt (4-3, 5.40)
Another day, another tough opponent, as we face Giants ace Schmidt. Though this season, he has been anything but ace-ly: if you'd said on Opening Day, Brad Halsey's ERA would be better, we'd have advised you to put the crack pipe down. He did throw eight shutout innings last start, however, so clearly still has something left, and our past few times against top pitchers (Santana, Martinez, Peavy) have been pretty poor.
Then there's Brad, who has gone from a Rookie of the Year candidate to the goat of the rotation in three starts. He's sporting a nifty 9.82 ERA this month [compare: Russ Ortiz (6.52, 19.1 IP) and Claudio Vargas (9.95, 12.2 IP)], thanks to 29 hits in just 14.2 innings. The league has clearly figured him out and, as yet, Halsey has not made the necessary adjustments.
Perhaps of more significance will be whether Troy Glaus returns to the lineup; he's missed two of three games since spraining his wrist. If he sits this one out, it may indicate the problem is more severe than management are letting on - which would certainly be in line with previous injuries.
We're where I thought we'd be, splitting the first two games, but neither have gone as expected. On this basis, don't know whether to call a Diamondbacks loss, because that's what I believe, or a win, because I clearly suck at this prediction thing. I always say, when in doubt, err on the side of pessimism. That way, if we win, it's a pleasant surprise; otherwise, I can say, "Told you so." Therefore: D'backs to lose. :-)