SnakeLines, Week 22: Twin killings

Week 21 review

After the house took a pounding last week, it was time to recoup the losses, and clearly the "quiet word" we had with Kirk Gibson, in a dimly-lit Chase Field car-park on Wednesday night, had the desired effect. Paul Goldschmidt had only one RBI in the Phillies series, but knocked in two during the opening contest against the Padres and followed that up with another one off Ian Kennedy, giving him four for the week. With the line set at five, it would take one more to reach "push", where a double-payout would prove financially damaging. So Goldschmidt got a rest, sitting out the series finale, despite the opposing leftie starter, and Gibson's knee-caps will not be troubled. Everyone wins!

Well, everyone except most of this week's punters, who got pounded as hard as Miley Cyrus after the VMAs [of course, I mean, in a "court of popular public opinion" reaction kinda way...] It certainly won't take me long to update the standings this week.

• Winners (2): AJV19, preston.salisbury
• Sinners (13): Angry_Saguaro, azcougs, AzDbackfanInDc, AzRattler, frienetic, Gildo, GuruB, imstillhungry95, JoelPre, piratedan7, TimInTucson, walleye01, xmet

This result does move AJV19 into sole possession of second-place, just one point behind blank_38, with four rounds left (note that the final SnakeLines of the season will run over 10 days, since the season ends on a Sunday, and we'll be out of town on the Thursday and Friday prior to that, so won't be able to write up much anyway). Two points cover the top four, so plenty to play for down the stretch.

Standings

• 13 points
  blank_38
• 12 points
  AJV19
• 11 points
  Gildo
  grimmy01
• 10 points
  
• 9 points
  
• 8 points
  GuruB
  SenSurround
  TolkienBard
  
• 7 points
  Angry_Saguaro
  AzRattler
  JoelPre
  piratedan7
  xmet
  
• 6 points
  frienetic
  walleye01
  
• 5 points
  preston.salisbury
  rd33
  
• 4 points
  azshadowwalker
  BigLeagueAZ
  Craig from Az
  eel
  FlannelFlapjacks
  imstillhungry95
  Marc Fournier
  
• 3 points
  azcougs
  AzDbackfanInDc
  catbat
  TimInTucson
  
• 2 points
  bozzy35
  BrokeNBattleX
  Maizefed
  Songbird
  
• 1 point
  AZfan85308
  babakolo
  backtocali
  benhat
  BobRob12
  LiamNeeson
  Muu
  navyazfan
  porty99
  Shawnwck
  Xipooo
  
• 0 points
  azsportsfan31
  BattleMoses
  Daniel Corbin Jr.
  Diamondhacks
  hotclaws
  leemellon
  littleRoom
  PatrickPetersonAZ
  since_98
  Stumpy657
  Surksquatch
  

Week 22 line

We knew what we were getting into with Martin Prado: balls in play. Over the past three seasons, of those with 1,600 PAs, only Marco Scutaro has fewer strikeouts, and Prado doesn't take that many walks either. The problem with this approach appears when he shows up with a runner on first: particularly if he's batting behind the likes of Eric Chavez or Miguel Montero. With over a month left,. Prado has already hit into a franchise-record 24 double-plays, three more than the previous highest. He has a shot at reaching 30 in a season, which has only ever been done by three National League players since they started tracking the stat.

It's not just him. Goldie is at 17, almost twice last year's tally, and even Josh Wilson managed to hit into half-a-dozen twin killings, despite having only 65 plate-appearances. All told, we've had seven games this season where the Diamondbacks have had three or more double-plays, one off the record of eight, set in 2004. Bizarrely, it doesn't seem to have hurt us all this much, as Arizona have a 6-1 record in those games. I guess baserunners are better than no baserunners? Again, with a month left, the 123 total is already most by the team since 2006: both that (136) and the single-season record (137 in 2004) have to be under threat.

So what will happen over the next seven games? We have a three-game set against the Giants at Chase, then welcome the Blue Jays to town for three, and next Thursday, we start a four-game set in San Francisco - only the first game will count for this round. So, that's seven games in all. Numbers?

• GIDP per game: 0.93
• GIDP per game (home): 0.86
• GIDP per game (road):1.00
• GIDP last seven games: eight

Diamondbacks GIDP: 6½

Usual rules. Will the team be over or under? Tell us in the comments, by first pitch Friday night at Chase Field (6:40pm). Get it right, and get a point - results next week!