SnakeBytes 5/31: End of the Month Edition

Hey, still in first place! For almost 48 hours. Feels good, man.

Recaps:

• [FS Arizona] Diamondbacks still riding the wave - An excellent title, and one that, I think, reflects what we should stick with as fans. Maybe this all comes crashing down around us soon, but let's just ride it as long as we can.

• [DBacks.com] Homecoming kings: Upton, Johnson lead rout - If we can get good Kelly Johnson from last year back, I think it'll help if some of our other high performing corner infielders start to regress.

• [AZ Central] Arizona Diamondbacks rout Florida Marlins in series opener - It seemed like the game might start on a much more disappointing note, as Joe Saunders loaded the bases with no outs in the first. But some great defense by Gerardo Parra really helped out.

• [Miami Herald] Marlins pitching staff shelled again in 15-4 loss to D’backs - The Marlins were already short on players to start yesterday's game- I'm sure having to go to the bullpen early on doesn't make them feel too excited about the rest of the series.

DBacks News:

• [D'Backs Central] After Big Night, Is Justin Upton Ready to Get Out of Funk? - Raising his batting average almost 20 points in one night is a pretty impressive move. If he can start producing like we hope he's able to, this team's future could look very different.

• [DBacks.com] Gibson, Trammell certainly on same page - We may have wondered about that hit-and-run attempt with Hector Blanco on Sunday, but Gibby was on board with it. Hey, whatever works.

• [Baseball Nation]Are The Arizona Diamondbacks For Real? - It's the question of the hour. Though I'd disagree with the idea that the DBacks did "nothing over the winter to (obviously) improve the team in some meaningful way". Signing J.J. Putz should get some mention.

• [FS Arizona] D-backs buy into Gibson's competitive style - As long as the wins keep coming, I'll keep buying what he's selling.

• [FanGraphs] Arizona’s Secret: No Scrubs - TLC approves.

Just as a sidenote, the DBacks wins finally mean they're making some movement in the power rankings around the interweb- Sports Illustrated has the highest ranking I've seen at 8, USA Today places them at 14, CBS puts them at 9, and Beyond the Box Score ranks them at 14.

Of course, then this jerk has them at 28. As it says, "You should get really angry about it. Send an e-mail! Send an e-mail to your editor! Send several! Because the more e-mails you send, the better your team will play. This is true with every power rankings ever. Science." Well, you can't argue with science.

Around Baseball:

• [MLB.com] First update shows close races in National League All-Star voting - Only Stephen Drew and Justin Upton get mentions in the early voting results.

• [Yahoo! Sports] The Colorado Rockies ‘Stars and Stripes’ caps again look awkward - Just ugly. The play and the hats.

• [ESPN] Florida Marlins president David Samson dismayed by Logan Morrison's R-rated tweets - Yeah, there have been a few things he's tweeted that I can see the Marlins front office wincing over. But what do you expect from a 23 year-old? Really, I'm surprised that there aren't more players out there doing it.

• [FanGraphs] Jo-Jo Reyes Wins - Just beating out history, Reyes picked up a win to avoid going 29 straight starts.

• [Yahoo! Sports] Backing mascot adds to Werth's feeling of futility - "'Why doesn’t Teddy get to win?' he asked." Uh, someone should explain how the race works to Jayson Werth. Or maybe he can buy off the other racers- he's certainly got the spare cash to do it.