SnakeBytes, 5/21: Interleague/International Edition

Tonight starts interleague play for the Diamondbacks, as we get a visit from the only remaining non-American team, the Blue Jays. But, before all that, let's just take a few minutes to revel in the fact that we just swept a series from the Giants.

Recaps:

• [azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks rally past San Francisco Giants - "It's those little things that pay big dividends that all contribute to winning baseball," Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said

• [SFGate.com] Loss to Arizona gets wild late, then gets ugly - "You tip your hat," Affeldt said of the wild pitch. "He probably shouldn't have run right there. The ball wasn't that far from the catcher, but it worked. They were pretty aggressive."
• [mercurynews.com] Frustrating finish for Giants - "We pitched up in this series," Bochy said. "We had trouble getting the ball down and throwing quality strikes."

Some previews, some discussions about interleague play, and two evil empires clashing- all after the jump.

Previews and Team News:

• [cbc.ca] Potent Jays offence meets vulnerable D-Backs - The Blue Jays look to take advantage of struggling Arizona Diamondbacks pitching as they open a three-game interleague series

• [azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks open interleague play against Toronto Blue Jays - "I love interleague games. Bring it on," Diamondbacks pitcher Edwin Jackson said.
• [azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen: Better days ahead? - We can only hope.
• [yahoo.com] Arizona Diamondbacks - Team Report - Interesting for this quote from Hinch: "All bets are off as far as the bullpen goes. I've tried to remain as patient as I can, and it just hasn't really worked."

• [dbacks.com] Getting hit may have benefited Kennedy - Ian Kennedy is not looking to take a line drive off his leg in his next start, but the right-hander does think that getting hit by a comebacker helped him against the Giants on Wednesday night.

• [azstarnet.com] D-Backs game this weekend caters to people with peanut allergies - I've always wondered about this.

• [Dbacks.com] Webb relearning his mechanics - A lot of discussion of late about his arm angle, but I was reminded of this piece from almost four weeks ago. In it, Webb said, "My arm angle was really over the top, not three-quarters like it used to be. It didn't feel like it was like that, but you could see it on the video." So why was it now apparently a big shock?
  

Around the League:

• [SI.com] This could be the year the NL finally beats the AL in interleague - "AL superiority is about to be diminished, or even wiped out altogether. The NL has closed the talent gap on the AL and actually has a shot at winning interleague play, which begins tonight, for first time since 2003. Don't believe it? Guess which league has averaged more runs per game one-quarter of the way through this season?"

• [bizofbaseball.com] Memo: MLB Players Have Been Detained at Canadian Border Due to Past Crimes - So, players with a criminal past might not be allowed into Canada?  Interesting.

• [dailynews.com] More on cruising through 'Lasordapalooza' - Farther Off the Wall - What?  No, I mean, what?

• [centerworks.com] Going to Yankee Stadium? Don’t Bring Your iPad! - Okay, okay, I was kidding about the "two evil empires" thing!  Geez.  Or just pretend I meant Canada and the MLBPA, whatever works.

• [yahoo.com] Answer Man: Charlie Manuel talks Mantle, Japan and wrestling - Charlie Manuel: Loves the Amish, can't pronounce Spanish, and has a potentially embarrassing middle name. And I still don't like him.

• [espn.com] Brett Favre hangs NFL future on Southern Miss Golden Eagles - So, Favre is basing his decision to return to the NFL on the play of a college baseball team?  Bizarre.

• [SI.com] Yankees, Rays, get interleague edge while Phillies, Dodgers hurt - Hey, it's the start of the annual "Let's complain about interleague play!" season! Seriously, though, I understand the idea that the schedule is imbalanced, but good teams need to win no matter who they're playing. If the Phillies want to beat the best of the AL in October, why complain about having to beat them in May and June?

• [espn.com] 'Sports From Hell' by Rick Reilly book excerpt - In this excerpt from 'Sports From Hell,' Rick Reilly competes in the world's dumbest sport.  No, really, it's pretty dumb.  Probably not for the faint of heart.

That's all for this afternoon.  If you've got more time left before work your lunch break is over, head over to Google- in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, you can now play Pac-Man in the Google logo.  Um, that has nothing to do with why this SnakeBytes took so long to write, though.  Not at at all....