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Armando Galarraga
RHP, 3-2, 5.29 |
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Jonathan Sanchez
LHP, 2-2, 3.55
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Maybe we can score tonight? Just a thought. Last night was certainly an enthralling pitching duel, especially over the sixth through eighth innings, where both starters were in supreme form. Chances of this one being scoreless as we go into the ninth inning tonight? There's a line from Army of Darkness which ends, "And Jack just left town," which probably sums up the chances there.
- Kelly Johnson 2B
- Ryan Roberts 3B
- Justin Upton RF
- Stephen Drew SS
- Chris Young CF
- Xavier Nady 1B
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Henry Blanco C
- Armando Galarraga RHP
Galarraga has allowed an earned run or more in 26 of the 27 starts he made since getting Joyce'd out of a perfect game, so odds against him here tonight. But with that line-up, there is perhaps a significant chance of the Diamondbacks not scoring any runs, especially with a man hitting .179 in the lead-off spot. On the subject of the Diamondbacks setting the table - or the lack thereof - I got an email from shoe, who wanted to chip in with the following
OBP from the top two Spots in the batting order:
| Btg Ord | Lg Avg | AZ |
| #1 | .336 | .309 |
| #2 | .327 | .286 |
He says, "Low OBP is a problem through much of the lineup, but it's especially critical to the D Backs chances of success to get better OBP from the #1 & #2 spots in the order in front of Justin Upton. He's just not coming to the plate often enough with men on base. Remember, that Justin is the 3rd hitter in the lineup, and should have MORE runners on base than the average major league hitter would enjoy. But he actually has LESS.
| Avg MLB Hitter | Justin Upton |
| With 149 PA's | 90 Runners on | 82 Runners On |
| % of AB W/ Runners On | 44% | 42% |
The key to getting the D Backs going is to get Justin Upton going, and the key to getting Justin Upton going is to get more runners on base in front of him so he can stop trying to hit a 3 run homer with two out and nobody on."
