|
|
Baseball-Reference.com preview [opens in new window]
Important to win this one, otherwise we are guaranteed to have a losing record going into the All-Star break. This puts a lot of weight onto the Big Unit's shoulder, as he goes for career win #289 #290 - sorry, force of habit, after it took him nine attempts to get the last one. I'm certainly hoping to see him go deep into the game, as the bullpen is stilll icing its collective elbow, after the burden of back-to-back extra-inning games.
The lineups are given above; some shakeup, with Drew batting leadoff, and Mark Reynolds returning to third-base after his "mental health" day of rest, which will hopefully clear his mind of the cobwebs which plagued him on Thursday. Again, however, the bottom half of the order is not one that strikes much fear in me; in the past three weeks, he's batting .186 [13-for-70], with only five walks. He has one home-run since the start of June too. He certainly isn't looking like the long-term solution in CF right now.
Should be about for almost all of this one. I like Saturday afternoon games. There will be beer, snacks and, let's hope, a Diamondbacks win, with Johnson continuing the return to form shown in his last start.