|
|
Only five National League pitchers since 1992 have begun their careers with a double-digit streak of winless starts:
Angel Guzman: 14 games (2006-08)
Jay Bergmann: 14 games (2005-07)
Patrick Misch: 11 games (2007-08)
Cal Eldred: 11 games (1998)
Kevin Olsen: 10 games (2001-02)
One feels in particular for Bergmann, who lost only four of those fourteen games and on two occasions, was pulled when his team was ahead by three, but they couldn't hold on. It's of significance today, since this will be Max Scherzer's tenth start for the Diamondbacks, and he has yet to get a W beside his name. Today would be a nice opportunity to do so.
To do so, however, the Diamondbacks are going to have to beat another Cy Young winner - one who possesses perhaps a special interest in beating his former team. Yes, it's Randy Johnson, this evening going for win #297. He certainly had no problem disposing of Arizona for win #296 last weekend, throwing seven innings of shutout ball, with Augie Ojeda finally breaking up the no-hitter in the seventh, and providing the only knock for Arizona against their old ace. I certainly hope for better at-bats than we saw from our hitters last night, where there was a depressing tendency to do nothing more than foul off the fastballs, which then gave Lincecum full reign to carve them with the change or the rest of his arsenal.
Lineup
- Lopez 2B
- Ojeda SS
- Reynolds 3B
- Clark 1B
- Byrnes LF
- Young CF
- Upton RF
- Snyder C
- Scherzer P
Wow. Every single one of our batters from the alleged "clean-up" man down - six all told - have a batting average below the Uecker line, that starts with ".1". In the first series, that might be plausble, but during the third weekend of the year, after 16 games? Ouch. I know the whole thing about getting as many right-handed batters in against Johnson as possible, but Tony Clark hasn't had a single hit in two weeks, and is 0-for-14 with seven K's since his last knock. We'd better hope the top two get on and Reynolds homers, because I don't have a lot of confidence in the rest of the line-up. Hence, it's back to threatening defenseless animals.
Looks like Drew's hamstring is bothering him, and may necessitate a stint on the disabled list - yeah, the news keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? As well as Melvin talking about that, we also have Brandon Webb discussing his latest injury, with the best estimate being six weeks before he's ready to return, which will indeed take him into early June. Aargh. By that stage, any hope of us competing in the National League West could be nothing but a faint memory... Anyway, here's the clippage from before today's game:
Audio courtesy of KTAR 620
I am going to be at work for first pitch, and will eventually be heading up Seventh St. to Camelback, where Mrs. SnakePit is selling beads at a Hippiefest. Maybe we'll have dinner at the D-back Denny's, since that's in the area, though not having a ticket stub, we'll have to pay full price. Shocking... ;-) It may therefore be a little late, if at all, by the time I show up in the Gameday Thread. Probably for the best, as I'm not sure I would be able to stand the sense of doom and futility left over from last night.