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The ninth inning last night left a bad taste in a lot of Arizona fans' mouths, as our pitching and defense imploded, making the final margin a good deal wider than it should have been. The good news is - as we saw with the lack of offense - good or bad, things like this generally don't carry over in to the next game. It's a clean slate, and we start afresh once again. Or, to adapt a quote from Run Lola Run, "The ball is round, the game lasts nine innings - everything else is pure theory. Off we go!"
No line-up at time of writing, but I am writing this earlier than usual - heading off for breakfast at Village Inn, then going to see Hanna, so I'm sure someone will kindly insert the line-up into this space:
ASU alumni Mike Leake returns to the state of his alma mater to play for the first time in the majors, after being drafted by the Reds with the eighth overall pick in the 2009 draft. Didn't take him long to hit the big leagues, making his debut the following April, after becoming the first player in a decade to skip that whole boring "minors" thing entirely. Coincidentally, he may end up facing the last to do so this afternoon, since he now plays for the D-backs: Xavier Nady. Leake had a very solid debut season for Cincinnati, going 8-4 with a 4.23 ERA; it doesn't seem like any of the current Arizona team have faced him.
Saunders will be looking to build upon a decent first outing against the Cubs, where he allowed two runs in six innings, though he still took the loss. He went up against Cincinnati twice last season after coming to the desert, but the end results weren't good, Joe going 0-2 after allowing four earned runs in each game (a 5.40 ERA). With the sides having split the first two games of the series, this one is the decider: needless to say, winning the series at home looks much better than losing it, just as a 4-4 record feels a significant improvement over 3-5.
I'll be drifting in during the middle innings, whenever we get back from the moving picture experience thing, and hopefully will be greeted with a lead. Better yet, for Arizona... pygalgia will be bringing you the guest recap after the game, so stick around for that.
Lineup:
1. Willie Bloomquist LF
2. Kelly Johnson 2B
3. Justin Upton RF
4. Stephen Drew SS
5. Chris Young CF
6. Juan Miranda 1B
7. Ryan Roberts 3B
8. Henry Blanco C
9. Joe Saunders LHP
(edit by DbacksSkins)