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As noted previously, with Los Angeles 6.5 games ahead of Arizona, not even a month into the season, it becomes crucial for the Diamondbacks to keep up with the Dodgers. The next couple of games, facing the lumpy and ineffective back-end of the LA rotation, present a good opportunity. Except, of course, Stults was neither lumpy nor ineffective when we saw him on April 11th, when he pitched 5.1 innings of one-run ball against us. That's the last time he has gone longer than five, with the three starts since lasting 12.2 innings and resulting in 19 hits, ten walks and a 7.11 ERA. Stults is hittable: whether Arizona can hit him...well, the jury's still out on that.
Going up against him is the man who is probably the biggest pleasant surprise on the Diamondbacks roster, Doug Davis. The team having a pair of starters with an ERA below three at the start of May is not a shock: but that one of them is Davis, definitely is. Improved control has helped immeasurably: his April WHIP of 1.176 was not unparalleled in his career, but similar months e.g. July 2008, 1.137, have previously been driven by things like a .235 BABIP. Davis's number there last month was .281, not far off the NL average to date of .296, so seems a good deal more sustainable. If I am not prepared to anoint him as our savior quite yet, shutting down the Dodgers will be another...well, I was going to put 'thorn in his crown,' but there's no possible way this can work, without the end result being my death at the stake, so we'll move rapidly on.
7:05pm start: these late West-coast games suck, as it probably means I will be up to 11pm doing the recap. I'm working out if I can grab dinner and squeeze in a movie before first pitch. If I'm a bit late, you know where I'll be.
Lineup
- Lopez 2B
- Young CF
- Jackson 1B
- Reynolds 3B
- Upton RF
- Byrnes LF
- Snyder C
- Wilson SS
- Davis P