Well, look at that. Another day, another series victory. That's what we needed, just to win the series, then get ready to face the next team. One game off the schedule, one more in the win column, and all of a sudden we've got nine left.
Solid win last night against a struggling Zito, though it was not without its bad spots. Doug Davis couldn't get out of the 5th, Mark Reynolds got picked off of 3rd, and the Dbacks stranded 10 runners. Still, our young guys got big hits and our stalwart bullpen held on for the victory as the Padres came from behind (ah Scott Hairston, how we miss ye) and kept our lead at 1 in the NL West. The Cardinals won to chip the Phillies down another step and the wildcard lead is at 3.5.
Let's see how the news shakes up on this lovely off day. (Though it's not lovely here in SF, it's cold. I actually turned the heater on.)
The AP recap is good for game action, if you missed it. I like the Republic's article better, though I don't exactly know why, aside from it obviously being Dbacks-focused. It's just a nice one to read. The Tribune recap focuses on Reynolds (and Snyder). MLB.com's recap talks mainly on the bullpen's great job yesterday. There's a nice quote from Zito in there:
Another good read is in the Mercury news, all about Zito and the Diamondbacks. (Maybe it's just a good read for me, being a tad bitter about Zito's departure from Oakland.) Interesting notes: The last time the Diamondbacks took the season series from the Giants was 2001 (sign?); apparently Zito and Conor Jackson are off-field buddies; Byrnes got his first hit off of Zito (he was 0 for 13) which partially comes from, y'know, being teammates with him for 3 years. And Bruce Bochy says we're "the surprise bullpen of the league." I don't know if that's a compliment or not...
Anyway, onto notes. MLB.com discusses walking to get on base, the upcoming starters (Webb, Hernandez, and Gonzalez this weekend against Los Angeles), the minor league stand-outs (by the way, Visalia lost to San Jose in the first round; San Jose went on to win the CAL championship), and a bunch of little things that are pretty neat:
The Republics notes also discuss patience at the plate, the rotation, and O'Dog's stint being mic'd up. He says he's going to stay away from TV after he retired... at the moment, I don't believe that, but we'll see. The Tribune also discusses the rotation, Byrnes' knack for stealing, Augie's playing time since the injury, and that weird Ball 4 play.
Two features from the Republic that don't tick me off today are from Bob McManaman discussing the lineup and Bob Young discussing... a bunch of little things.
No game tonight, we can all go out and have lives. Los Angeles finishes in Colorado at noon (then catches a flight to Phoenix), Pittsburgh's still in San Diego (who then travel up the coast to San Fran) at noon thirty. The Mets play Florida at 4, of interest for the battle for the top spot in the National League.