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Finally. Baseball is back, and I'm very glad to see it - right now, regardless of the outcome, but I reserve the right to change that opinion later in the day! However, at this point, we are tied for third in the NL West, just half a game back of the leaders, and will look to extend our unbeaten streak this afternoon against the Rockies. It's not going to be easy, make no bones about it, since in 14 starts against Arizona, Jimenez has a 2.72 ERA. However, he is beatable, with only a 5-4 record in those games. Kennedy has five appearances against the Rockies, and is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA, so not bad numbers there.
'charmer gets the honor of the Opening Day recap for the SnakePit, so will be tallying the attendees and awarding Comment of the Thread after the game. For now, we have the Diamondbacks' line-up and thoughts after the jump.
Diamondbacks' line-up.
- Willie Bloomquist SS
- Kelly Johnson 2B
- Justin Upton RF
- Chris Young CF
- Juan Miranda 1B
- Melvin Mora 3B
- Miguel Montero C
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Ian Kennedy RHP
The only significant name whose presence is a surprise here, is Gerardo Parra, getting the Opening Day start in left-field over Xavier Nady. Might be the presence of a tough right-hander, in Ubaldo Jimenez, on the mound for the opposition? Obviously, Drew hasn't recovered, so Bloomquist gets the start at short, and will also hit lead-off. I am also a little surprised to see Miranda as high as five, with Montero (also a left-hander) at #7 - I'd have been inclined to swap those two. We'll see whether this is something permanent from Gibson, or whether he's adopting the 'Mad Scientist' role and rolling the line-up dice.
The Diamondbacks have done well on Opening Day of late, not having lost since 2006. That was the last time they opened the season in Colorado, going down 3-2 in 11 innings - Brandon Webb dueled Jason Jennings to a stalemate, while Craig Counsell and Eric Byrnes each had three hits, but Jason Grimsley gave the Rockies a walk-off win in the eleventh. These first games are usually close-fought affairs: the last time one was decided by more than three runs, was the blow-out in 2005, when the Cubs clobbered Javier Vazquez, drubbing us 16-6. Here's hoping we avoid that today. Unless, of course, we're on the winning side!