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Diamondbacks line-up
- A.J. Pollock, CF
- Willie Bloomquist, LF
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Martin Prado, 3B
- Aaron Hill, 2B
- Gerardo Parra, RF
- Chris Owings, SS
- Tuffy Gosewisch, C
- Patrick Corbin, P
Elimination number: eight
Division elimination number: six
We've been here before, but not for a while. Indeed, the last time the D-backs were at .500, was after the second game of the season, after we had split those with the Cardinals. We've been close since: indeed, seven times between then and last night, we had dipped to with one game above .500, but on all those occasions (most recently, winning the finale of the series against the Blue Jays), we had taken the next contest, to provide a bit more breathing room. There was no such escape last night, as we lost our fifth consecutive game against the Dodgers, ending the streak of consecutive games above .500 at 141.
Speaking of streaks, it was also the 13th consecutive game for the Diamondbacks where the offense has been held to four runs or less. That's the worst such streak since 2008, and trails a pair of 15-game streaks, one in May 2007, and the other in July/August 2003. What's particularly striking is that we've had only four home-runs in those 13 games: there are sixteen individual players with as many over the same period of time. The Nationals alone have three (Wilson Ramos, Ryan Zimmerman and Jason Werth). The Diamondbacks collectively are slugging below .300 over the last two weeks. Not sure this evening's line-up promises to do much better.
One wonders if things may be changing this winter, per these Tweets from Nick Piecoro.
Dbacks GM Kevin Towers thinks his lineup could use another "prototypical, corner bat."
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) September 12, 2013
One possibility, Towers said, is to deal one of their center fielders -- Pollock, Eaton, Parra -- for a more offensive corner guy.
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) September 12, 2013
Hmm. Could certainly be interesting, though remembering how well the last Towers' "prototypical corner bat" i.e. Kubel, Jason, did in Arizona, I'm not exactly enthused by this prospect, unless he's a good deal younger and more productive. Giancarlo Stanton it is, then... On a happier note, this evening will also be the 2,500th game broadcast by the Guvnor, Greg Schulte. While numerous TV commentators have come, gone and been swept under the carpet, Schulte has kept plugging away on radio, quietly and efficiently. If he goes for another 2,500 games, I doubt you'd hear many complaints.