Preview: Game #109, Diamondbacks @ Red Sox

Randall Delgado RHP, 3-3, 2.85

Jon Lester LHP, 10-6, 4.27

Diamondbacks line-up

1. A.J. Pollock, CF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Martin Prado, 3B
5. Cody Ross, LF
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Wil Nieves, C
8. Gerardo Parra, RF
9. Didi Gregorius, SS
   + Randall Delgado, P

Latest odds to win the NL West, from bovada.lv

1. Los Angeles Dodgers 2/11
2. Arizona Diamondbacks 10/3
3. San Francisco Giants 30/1
4. Colorado Rockies 30/1
5. San Diego Padres 65/1

So, yes: according the sports books, it would appear the division all is over, bar the shouting, with the Dodgers now prohibitive favorites. And getting more prohibitive by the hour, as they're currently 5-1 ahead of the Cubs in the fourth inning, apparently well on the way to what would be their twelfth straight victory on the road. In stark contrast to that, since leaving Los Angeles on June 12, the Diamondbacks have played 18 games away from Chase, and are 5-13 over that time. However, I am amused to see the World Series champion Giants now at 30-1. Which actually seems generous, considering the Marlins and Brewers are the only teams in the NL with fewer wins.

Should you be interested - and I know Dan Bickley is, deeply - here are the top odds for the World Series at this point, now the trade deadline is behind us:

1. Detroit Tigers 6/1
   
2. Atlanta Braves 7/1
   Los Angeles Dodgers 7/1
3. St. Louis Cardinals 15/1
4. Boston Red Sox 8/1

We're back at 33/1, which is at least in some interesting company, since it's the same odds as both the Nationals and Yankees have at this point. Seems about realistic, and I don't think I'll be rushing to mortgage the dog on that particular wager. Speaking of which, the two-thirds update on the Place Your Bets series will be posted this evening, once your recap is up there. Tonight also sees TolkienBard making his recappage debut for the season, so looking forward to see what this promising rookie can bring, following his call-up from SnakeBytes. :)

Nieves back at catcher, something we'll probably be seeing a lot of over the next couple of weeks. And we get to see Kubel in the line-up against a left-hander. No way that can go wrong, though I suppose, we don't have that many other options to DH. The rest of the bench for this one is Cliff Pennington, a switch hitter who can't hit lefties, two other left-handers in Eric Chavez and Adam Eaton, and Tuffy Gosewisch. With all due respect to Tuffy, you don't see many NL players starting at DH in their second major-league game, though it has happened. So, Kubel it is...

We'll see what happens, but I'm beginning to come to terms with the feeling that 2013 is not going to our year. It sure beats stressing out over the bullpen, even though we haven't actually had a blown save since July 10. Of course, we haven't had all that many leads since then either.