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Today's words to pin to the noticeboard in the clubhouse come from True Blue LA: "The Diamondbacks have to start losing soon. They get blown out, then barely squeak out wins. Eventually, they have to start losing the close ones, and when they do, they'll tumble..." The transmission then faded out, the Dodgers vanishing from sight in our rear-view mirror: their loss to Rick Ankiel today drops them to 11-16 since the All-Star break, and 4-12 in the last sixteen. They've gone down in six straight series, including the sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks. Yes: keep telling yourself we are going to start losing... :-)
With them and the Padres both falling, we start today with a 3.5 game lead, and since we're sending our ace to the mound, facing someone who has exactly three major-league outing to his name. Now, we've seen before how this club can struggle against unknown lefties, but really - this is a game that we should win. Webb has an ongoing streak of 24 scoreless innings, and it'd be nice to see him run it up to thirty or more against the Nationals. It's a bit of a weird start time: 5:05 pm? It's supposedly to give fans a chance to still have an evening after the game, but I doubt that many of them will be hanging around downtown.
Taking the night off, myself. Going to hang with Mrs. SnakePit, maybe watch a film or two, safe in the knowledge that we won't lose any ground in the NL West today, and can only pick up a game. Good to have that feeling of certainty, and so I leave this one in your capable hands. Good luck to Chandler Little League, who'll also be playing tonight: a win would send them to Williamsport for the LLWS.