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At the tender age of four, Max Scherzer was probably still in pre-school when Randy Johnson made his major-league debut in 1988, but today the pair go up against each other. It's also the Big Unit's first major-league appearance facing the Arizona Diamondbacks - this completes the set, as he will now have met all 30 major-league clubs. He murdered his old team when they encountered each other this spring at Scottsdale Stadium, but we all know how meaningless that is. More importantly he has struggled badly in both his starts this season, in particular getting lit up by the Dodgers for seven runs in 3.2 innings last time out.
So, the Diamondbacks' feeble offense would seem just what he needs to get back on the track for 300 wins. Sanchez and Lincecum have helped completely handcuff the Arizona hitters in the first two games, restricting them to a line of .161/.235/.210, with a K:BB ratio of 22:6. Thanks to sterling work from Doug Davis (and a sympathy nod to Dan Haren), however, we split those games and - as in every other set to date - come to the last contest with a chance of taking the series. I'm pretty sure RJ will be fired up, but a win here would be big on a variety of levels. While most of our team have, obviously, never faced the Big Unit, both Tony Clark (4-for-9) and Felipe Lopez (4-for-8), each with a homer, have had success and are hitting third and fourth today.
Max Scherzer gets his second outing, and outside of one inning, looked solid in his first outing against the Cardinals - who are, undeniably, a better hitting team than the Giants. He did walk more people than he struck out, however, and that is rarely a recipe for sustained success. The rest of the line-up sees Ojeda hitting lead-off again, in place of the still wobbly Drew (look for an early Ojeda bunt against Johnson), and Ryan Roberts gets his first start of the year, giving Mark Reynolds a day-off at third. It promises to be an interesting game, and I look forward to watching this one. 'Skins on the recap for tonight.
Lineup
- Ojeda SS
- Byrnes LF
- Lopez 2B
- Clark 1B
- Young CF
- Upton RF
- Roberts 3B
- Snyder C
- Scherzer P