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Chris Snyder was activated off the DL this afternoon, following a six-game rehab assignment - three in A-ball, three in Triple-A - during which he went 5-for-20 with a home-run. However, in a shocking development, Montero was optioned to Triple-A and will go to Reno to catch tonight's game wit... Oh, who am I trying to kid? Of course, it was Luke Carlin sent back to the minors to make room for Snyder. C'mon: you didn't really believe otherwise, did you? According to manager AJ Hinch, "At this point, I think Miguel has won the majority of the games back behind home plate," but he wouldn't anoint him as full-time starter. Snyder will start tomorrow, for example, and it seems we could see something close to a straight platoon: Montero vs. RHP, Snyder vs. LHP. Audio clippage? Sure:
Audio courtesy of KTAR 620
Dan Haren takes the mound for Arizona, hoping to bounce back from an appalling outing last time - at least, by his high standards, five innings and four runs would probably lead to dancing in the streets from someone like the Petit Unit. But we'd been spoiled by the ten outings before that, over which he had an ERA of 1.44 - let's hope he returns to that level of performance, and this is not the start of the traditional Haren second-half slump [though if it follows its usual amount, that would only mean a drop-off from insanely great to merely very, very good].
Cole Hamels has been a bit variable, and has struggled particularly on the road, where his ERA is 5.82 and he has one win in eight starts. Mind you, that was a complete-game shutout in Dodger Stadium, for which he can only be applauded. You won't get many walks off him - his high is six for any month this year, and he has yet to allow more than two free passes in a start. Let's hope the team does better than last night, when their performance at the plate and with the glove was not acceptable.
Line-up
- Stephen Drew SS
- Ryan Roberts 2B
- Justin Upton RF
- Mark Reynolds 3B
- Miguel Montero C
- Chris Young CF
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Chad Tracy 1B
- Dan Haren P
Sprankton on the recap tonight, since I'm at IZW. At least, I think that's the case: I got a blank email from him this morning, in response to my reminder. So either he's good to go, or is tied up in front of the computer screen and can only type with his head. I'm hoping it's the former, but am looking forward to the recap, either way... :-)