Record: 22-21. Change on last season: -2. Pace: 83-79.
Quote of the day: "C'mon man, this is just baseball. There are soldiers dying over in Iraq, there are people in wheelchairs. I'm blessed to be able to play this game. How can I possibly get down. No way." -- Orlando Hudson, on whether his slump is affecting his attitude
Hey, look! We scored more than four runs! Wheee! First time in May! That's it, the offense is gonna roll now, who can possibly stop the Diamondba... Ah. Hang on. Eleven runs conceded, matching a season high? Yes, it'd probably be better, in the long run, if we didn't wait until we were down by seven runs before getting on the board. And does it count when no-one sees it, because the biggest cable provider in the Valley, Cox, have given up on the contest and are showing the Suns pre-game show - not the game - instead?
Okay, I admit, even we - who have no interest in basketball at all - did watch a good chunk of the game, until it was clear the Suns couldn't come back. There'll be much...well, however justifiable it is, "whining" is probably the best word for it, during the close-season, over how the Suns were robbed. Now they're out, however, I can 'fess up my dirty little secret, and admit I was actually rooting for them to get bounced. Call me fickle, but I like the fact that the Diamondbacks are the only major pro sport champions in state history. And, besides, after last night's little scheduling fiasco, the sooner it becomes all D-backs, all the time, the better.
Though I can't say I was too sorry to miss out on the second half of the game. Doug Davis proved vulnerable to a mix of long-ball (Nady's three-run homer in the third), loss of control (two walks to lead off the fifth, both scoring, plus a wild pitch) and softly-hit bloopers and bleeders (the four straight singles which followed, to make the score 7-0). Regardless of cause, the final line was downright ugly: 4.2 innings, ten hits, three walks and seven runs, all earned. You know it's bad when you have to be bailed out by Brandon Medders.
With Davis gone, the batters finally decided to show up, matching their previous game-high for the month in the sixth inning alone. Byrnes, Drew, Reynolds and Quentin all had RBIs, and we'd have had the tying run on base for Conor Jackson if Chip "The Windmill" Hale hadn't sent Quentin, only to see him thrown out at home. Another run was added in the seventh, and we got the tying run to the plate there, only for Reynolds to go down swinging. That was as close as we got: Cruz allowed an unearned run in the seventh, Peña three very earned ones on Doumit's homer in the eighth, and we went meekly down 1-2-3 in the last two frames.
Two hits for Drew, while Hammock and Hudson reached base safely twice, each with a hit and a walk. The former was pulled into service in the first inning, Chris Young tweaking his groin while stealing second base in the top of the frame. It's a similar injury to the one that kept him out for a while earlier in the season, but is in the other leg: he doesn't think it's quite as serious so is hopeful he'll miss hardly any time. Fingers crossed that's the case: with Hairston's status also day-to-day from the blow to his wrist, Callaspo (see below) likely rusty, and still no sign of DaVanon, we're very short on backup outfielders.
Not a bad turnout in the GameDay Thread, though there was some understandable grumpiness over the Suns' exit - it's okay, unnamedDBacksfan, it's good to vent. ;-) Frank, Wimb, johngordonma, cavscout, AZDarkKnight and singaporedbacksfan. About the only good news is, the Dodgers lost too: indeed, all the division bar the Padres did. The AL took an early lead in interleague play, winning eight of the 13 match-ups, so doesn't look like last year's dominance is going away in 2007.
Gameday Graph
[Click graph to enlarge, in new window]
Master of his domain: Stephen Drew, +6.2%
God-emperor of suck: Doug Davis, -23.3%
Interesting decision by the team announced, with troubled infielder (TM) Alberto Callaspo rejoining the team in Pittsburgh. Choosing his words very carefully, president Derrick Hall said in the official press release:
Callspo himself, in his first statement since the incident, said, "I look forward to putting this unfortunate matter behind us, and focusing on helping my teammates win on the field again. I apologize to the players, the organization and our fans for any distraction that this may have caused." In the light of that, have closed the 'Fate of Callaspo' poll. Most people (46%) wanted to wait and get all the facts, but there was definitely a swing in opinions towards sterner action during the week, as more facts came out. That made it apparent that his relationship with his wife was, shall we say, somewhat turbulent. As punishment, being sent back to the minors was an option supported by 26% of those who responded. New poll up to replace it, but see the diary for details on that.
A good week for the Diamondbacks Watch, which I've just updated. Livan Hernandez overtook Rodrigo Lopez once again in our bet with Purple Row, while our LF OPS is now ahead of Luis Gonzalez (.801 to .780). Chris Young overtook Josh Hamilton's average, though has some work to do to catch up in slugging, and Micah Owings, though not starting, saw his chief rival's ERA go above 4.00. Think I'll re-update Pwnings stats after today's game.