Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 1: Beeps, Creeps, and Sweeps

Record: 37-35. Pace: 83-79. Change on Last Year: -2.

There was a time, when this blog was still fairly young, when facing the Cubs was a date circled on the calendar with blood. The Cubs of the mid-Aughts were a pretty good team, one that drew well and of course attracted the wild characters known as "misplaced Midwestern sports fans." You know the type, loud as a motorbike, but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight.

How things have changed. The Diamondbacks continued their winning ways against the lowly Cubs, earning their third sweep of the season. There were some hairy moments, but in reality the Diamondbacks were never in real danger of dropping back to .500. Hopefully the winning ways are here to stay.

If Wade Miley wasn't already on your shortlist for NL Rookie of the Year, this game is just another stake for his claim. He was flat out dominate for 8 innings, dropping a line of only 1 earned run off 3 hits, 1 walk, and 7 K's. The one Cubs run came in the top of the seventh when Alfonso Soriano bounced a ball off the top of the left field wall that Jason Kubel just missed catching. A few more inches, and that ball would have been an out instead of short home run.

Unlike last week against the Rangers, Miley didn't need to worry about it. The D-backs have continued their offensive surge, and didn't need to rely on a big inning. They started the runs early in the first, with a Gerardo Parra earning a leadoff walk. What is it they say about leadoff walks? Oh yes, they always come around to score, and Justin Upton did his best to make that cliche stand up. He drove a single to left-center, and Parra hustled home to give Arizona the lead they wouldn't abandon.

Matt Garza, starting for the Cubs, settled down from there, scattering 5 hits and 1 walk, alongside 7 strikeouts, over 7 innings. He was hurt by some bad defense, however, and the meat grinder that is the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In the 6th Parra again got things going by getting a 2 out triple. Aaron Hill, who has settled a little down to earth in recent games, managed an infield single, however, that plated another run. Then in the 7th Kubel led the inning off with a solo home run that went into the pool.

The scoring for the day would be finished in the 8th after the hapless Cubs bullpen, in this case Manny Corpas, loaded the bases with no outs. Justin Upton stepped to the plate with a chance to be a hero and not a goat. He delivered, with a hard shot ball to shortstop that Starlin Castro couldn't handle, plating 2 more runs. How far away the booing seems now.

JJ Putz was brought out in the 9th to get some work, and although he didn't give up any runs he still didn't look great. Reed Johnson earned a leadoff walk, and then was joined on base by Soriano, who hit a single. Putz locked it down after that, though, getting another strikeout and getting Geovany Soto fly out weakly to left to end the game.

Kimbra: Wade Miley (42.3%)

Marina and the Diamonds: Jason Kubel (7.6%), Aaron Hill (7.6%)

Rhianna: Johnny Mac (-5.4%)

Carly Rae Jepsen: Lyle Overbay (-4.5%)

A nice, little GDT today. Just a clip over a 1000 comments, with 33 users chatting away. Our Once and Future Commenting King, imstillhungry95, is still hungry for comments with 176. He barely pipped AzDbackfanInDc. They were joined by: hotclaws, onedotfive, Clefo, CaptainCanuck, txzona, SongBird, blue bulldog, dbacks25, Bryan J. Boltik, BattleMoses, xmet, JoeCB1991, soco, Rockkstarr12, asteroid, aricat, DbackCardsFan, dbacks79, azshadowwalker, Ridster09, rd33, Bryn21, Scottyyy, 4 Corners Fan, Lisalisa8, Augdogs, DivineWolfwood, Fangdango, blank_38, BulldogsNotZags, and Majabe.

Comment of the Day goes to Bryan J. Boltik, the Southern Gentleman, for reminding us to focusing on the present:

As much as we've talked about Trevor Bauer

The day belongs to Wade Miley

Wagner Mateo: 4 G, .188 AVG, 2 2Bs, 1 BB, 6 Ks for Visalia

by Bryan J. Boltik on Jun 24, 2012 6:23 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

The Diamondbacks are having some kind of a June. It's been almost 2011-esque. Sure, there were the series against two very good AL West teams, the Rangers and Angels, where the D-backs couldn't do much, but other than that things seem to be coming around.

Even better, the teams above the D-backs aren't doing so hot. The Dodgers lost again, 5-3, to the Angels, while the Giants were beaten by the A's on a 4-2 score. The Dodgers are 3-7 over their last 10, with a 11-10 June so far. The Giants are 4-6 over the last 10, but have done well for the month with a 13-8 clip. Your Diamondbacks, meanwhile, have been 7-3 over the last 10, and have a 13-7 record in June. Things are starting to look better, day by day.

Tomorrow is an off-day, so get your rest in before the D-backs head off to Atlanta to face the Braves. Word on the street is Trevor Bauer will start on Thursday against Jair "Jar-Jar" Jurrjens. Try to hold your excitement. No rioting, please.