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Six days ago, the Diamondbacks looked to be on the verge of a breakthrough. They'd had a 5-game winning streak the week before, they rebounded from the sweep by the Nationals by taking 2 of 3 from the Mets, and were sitting on the cusp of a sweep of the NL West-leading Dodgers. And then... Yusmeiro Petit took the mound. Less than 4 innings later, the Diamondbacks were on their way to a 5-game losing streak. Every man in the starting rotation was knocked around their last time out, and tonight we turn to Petit to try and right the ship. Yes, really, though one might expect this will be his "last chance" at staying in the rotation.
To turn our frowns upside down, to find the offense that has disappeared on the road, to help us look for the swagger that this team knows they have, we get... to face Roy Oswalt. Fabulous. Oswalt has struggled in his two starts off the DL, going 11 innings and giving up 11 earned runs, Of course, this means he's due for a good start, and I'm sure Arizona is just the team to give it to him. Most of our lineup hasn't faced Oswalt much at all - Stephen Drew is 7 for 17, but Chad Tracy is only 4 for 23 and Mark Reynolds 0 for 7 in his career with 3 Ks. Our young offense needs to look at Oswalt (and former teammate, closer Jose Valverde, who has 18 saves and a 2.37 ERA) like they are equals, like they are here for a reason, like can take on whatever is thrown at them. Come on, young team - go to the mattresses!
Lineup
- Stephen Drew - SS
- Gerardo Parra - CF
- Mark Reynolds - 3B
- Miguel Montero - C
- Chad Tracy - 1B
- Ryan Roberts- 2B
- Trent Oeltjen - LF
- Alex Romero - RF
- Yusmeiro Petit - P
The "usual" outfield is back out there, with Oeltjen in left and Roberts back in the infield. Gerardo Parra gets to learn about that strange hill in center, Tracy in the lineup for the struggling Josh Whitesell.
Will Oswalt go out and give a Petit Unit-like performance? Will Petit go out and give an Oswalt-like performance? Tune in tonight, at 5:05pm sharp, to find out!