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A win today for the Diamondbacks would be significant in a number of ways. Most immediately, it would get the team out of the basement of the NL West for the first time in a month, leap-frogging the Padres to the dizzy heights of fourth. It would also be our first sweep of the season; especially impressive since we haven't had Dan Haren this series. And it'd give us a five-game winning streak, something Arizona haven't had since April 12, 2008 - almost fifteen months ago.
I feel optimistic, as we have handled Gaudin very well the previous two times we faced him this season. His combined line is eleven hits, nine walks and twelve earned runs in only 10.1 innings, and it does seem control is an issue: while he has fanned more than a batter per frame this year, he has also walked 4.8 per nine IP. In contrast Max has allowed just two runs in 12 innings against the Padres this season, on nine hits and five walks, with sixteen strikeouts. Advantage definitely to Arizona as far as the pitching match-up goes.
The team has brought Doug Slaten back up from Reno to replace Tony Peña, giving us three left-handers in the bullpen, as he joins Scott Schoeneweis and Clay Zavada. I must admit, I'm not certain Slaten would have been the first recipient of a call-up, though having pitched only 5.2 innings in the majors this season, it's probably too small a sample size on which he can be fairly judged. Pretty sure he won't be seeing any high-leverage situations anytime soon.
Line-up
- Felipe Lopez 2B
- Stephen Drew SS
- Justin Upton RF
- Mark Reynolds 3B
- Miguel Montero C
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Chad Tracy 1B
- Chris Young CF
- Max Scherzer P
Azreous on the recap, and I'll be at work so don't expect too many in the way of comments from me for this one. See if you can take care of the winning streak without me. Oh, and vote for Mark while you're at it.