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It seems almost as if, the better the pitcher, the better we play. So far this year, we've carved up Jake Peavy and Greg Maddux, but too often last year, we saw painful losses against pitchers with three career starts to their name. So we may end up in more trouble against Hill (23 major-league innings) than you'd expect from someone with an ERA of 9.13. He hasn't pitched in the bigs this season, but has been lights-out in Triple-A, with an 1.44 ERA in four starts.
Meanwhile, Cruz makes his second start, so we'll be looking to see him go past the 67 pitches he threw last time out, in San Francisco. He pitched very well there, allowing one run in five innings, without walking a hitter - that kind of control will be a big step forward to Cruz becoming a regular part of the rotation. While seven innings from Batista helped the bullpen, I imagine it's unlikely Valverde will be available, after nailing down saves three days in a row - wonder who they'd turn to? Lyon would be my first guess, probably.
Should be about for much of this. Mrs. Snakepit is making rumblings about being taken to dinner - and not a hot-dog tonight - so that will need to be worked around. Hardly a chore. The general attention of Arizona will, however, perhaps be focussed on Los Angeles, where the Suns try and stave off elimination again, against the Lakers. And they'll be doing without Raja Bell, whose clothesline of Kobe Bryant earned him a suspension for Game 6. But also several phonecalls from the WWE, wondering what he was doing during the offseason. ;-) I must confess, I hate basketball, but even I might be flicking over during the advert breaks.