Snake Bytes

Snake Bytes, 5/4: Iron Man Edition

While Robert Downey, Jr. was assaulting the opening weekend box office record of another of his own films, the Diamondbacks took their ailing offense to San Diego. While the D'backs offense finally showed some life, Miley was once again merely mortal, and the Padres managed to hand the D'backs their 4th straight loss.

By James Attwood@JamesDAttwood May 4, 2013, 12:50pm EDT

Quick Quotes

"Just one of those days, two [starts] in a row now," Miley said. "Just trying to battle. I felt all right, I just wasn't executing pitches. I've got to watch some video tomorrow and go from there."

Miley after Friday night's 7-6 loss to San Diego

"His velocity was down; I was a little concerned about that," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. "He said he felt fine, just really not able to locate as good as he wanted to; that's kind of the big thing."

Gibson on Miley

"Sometimes today he was around 87 mph, so I think he was just trying to get a feel for it and trying to probably make the perfect pitch," Montero said. "He's not that type of guy. He's the type of guy that gets the ball and throws the ball and sees what happens."

Montero on Miley

Daily Diamondbacks Dish

Diamondbacks Drop Fourth in a Row

Despite some last inning heroics by Gerardo Parra, the Diamondbacks came up short in their series opener in San Diego.

Did the Fence Move Change the Game?

This past off-season, the San Diego Padres decided to bring the fences in just a bit at Petco Park. Did the fences coming in make a difference in the outcome of Friday's game?

Putz to Remain Closer

Putz will remain the Diamondbacks' closer, though Gibson and the staff will be monitoring his workload.

Around MLB

Reds to Auction a Bloody Ball?

Sure, it's a bit morose, but it's easy to see the historical asppeal of auctioning off Curt Schilling's bloody sock from when he helped lead the Red Sox to a World Series. But do we really need to auction off a bloody baseball? It's not even a significant event that bloodied the ball, nor is it a major player - we're talking Jeff Samardzija being cut in the course of a normal game here.

The Glistening Clay in Boston, Votto's Swing, and a Pitcher Named Harvey

Tom Verducci joins the national discussion in regards to the accusations that Clay Buchholz is doctoring the baseball; which has led to his only somewhat unexpected emergence as a dominant starter so far in 2013.

San Diego and the Sacrifice Bunt

Since the Diamondbacks are at the top of the heap this year in fielding and are facing off against the San Diego Padres this weekend, this might be a good time to look at the excessive use of the sacrifice bunt by the Padres so far this year.

Futility Watch

Houston Astros:

Record: 8-22 on pace to finish season 43-119

Strikeouts: 300 on pace to finish season with 1620 - establishing a new MLB record

Miami Marlins