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Diamondbacks Lineup
- Gerardo Parra - RF
- Cliff Pennington - SS
- Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
- Miguel Montero - C
- Aaron Hill - 2B
- Eric Chavez - 3B
- A.J. Pollock - CF
- Mark Trumbo - LF
- Josh Collmenter - P
Well, I guess we did outscore the Dodgers 4-3 over eight of yesterday's innings... Yep, this is me seeking comfort where I can find it, after yesterday's promising start melted like a chocolate teapot, in a welter of bad pitching and worse fielding. Still, we come in to this final game with a legitimate chance at winning the series on the road against the Dodgers, and I would happily have settled for that situation when we arrived in Los Angeles. Much will depend on whether Collmenter can deliver a good outing: his first start may have been somewhat truncated, as he was still stretching out, lasting only four innings and 73 pitches. Should hopefully be equipped to go deeper here.
Bit of a different look to the line-up for Arizona: Cliff Pennington might need an oxygen mask for the unusual height he is in this afternoon's batting order. It's not entirely unprecedented: he has hit second on the starting card once before in his Arizona career, a game against the Marlins last June, going 0-for-4. But that's the only time since joining the Diamondbacks that he has been higher than #6, though he did play quite a lot at the top of the order when with Oakland, starting 98 games for the A's in the first two slots. It's the kind of mad scientist move which will either make Gibson look like a genius or an idiot.
Cody Ross gets the afternoon off after going 0-for-9 in his first two games back; Pollock returns to center, with Parra moving over to his regular spot in right. And the struggling Prado - a .552 OPS since the start of the last homestand, along with a key error in last night's implosion - is also given a mental health day, and Eric Chavez comes out of the cryotank to start at third-base. azshadowwalker is your scheduled guest recapper, and I'll likely be dipping in and out, as time and enthusiasm permits. A win would be nice, to get us heading off to Chicago in a good state of mind to take on the almost as woeful Cubs, in a battle for the worst record in the National League.