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The battle for...er, third-place in the West really heats up tonight: whoever wins this will enjoy sole possession of it. Yep: if we lose to the Rockies and their Justin Bieber cutout again this evening, Arizona will drop to fourth. That's not exactly a prospect I find engaging. Indeed, I find myself leaning towards "end of the season" thoughts if that proves to be the case, given it would leave the Diamondbacks with a better record than just the Astros, Padres and Cubs in the NL. With more than a third of the season gone, that'd be a mountain: not sure the last time a team 13th in the league after 56 games came back to reach the playoffs.
And if you're thinking about last year, forget it. The 2011 Cardinals and Rays weren't below .500 after April 20 and 23 respectively... Line-up and stuff after the jump.
- Gerardo Parra RF
- Willie Bloomquist SS
- Jason Kubel LF
- Miguel Montero C
- Chris Young CF
- Lyle Overbay 1B
- Josh Bell 3B
- Aaron Hill 2B
- Ian Kennedy P
Another "mental health day" for Upton, and he doesn't want to talk about it:
Justin Upton just buttonhooked us. Started to walk into clubhouse but thought better of it, headed back to an area off limits to media.
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) June 5, 2012
Hmmm. That's interesting. Admittedly, he hasn't been hitting much - but neither has Chris Young. Or anyone, really. Over the past seven games, the Diamondbacks have scored 18 runs, and hit a collective .223/.300/.358. The big surprise is that they are 3-4 in those games, because in those three victories, the pitching staff allowed a total of three runs. It has lately been the way that the team needs a really good pitching performance to win. We'll see if Ian Kennedy can deliver one tonight. Will be at the park with soco and kishi, for what should be a fun evening checking out Fox Sports new Game Connect feature - expect plenty of live Tweeting tonight! It'll be more fuin if we win...