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Chase Anderson
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David Phelps
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| Ender Inciarte - RF | Dee Gordon - 2B |
| A.J. Pollock - CF | Marcell Ozuna - CF |
| Paul Goldschmidt - 1B | Giancarlo Stanton - RF |
| David Peralta - LF | Martin Prado - 3B |
| Yasmany Tomas - 3B | Christian Yelich - LF |
| Aaron Hill - 2B | Michael Morse - 1B |
| Tuffy Gosewisch - C | Adeiny Hechavarria - SS |
| Nick Ahmed - SS | Jhonatan Solano - C |
| Chase Anderson - RHP | David Phelps - RHP |
As with baseball, so it is at the movies. There's something to be said about experiencing it with a packed house, who are thoroughly into the event, but in terms of personal ease, there's a part of me that favors the stately splendor of a scant and sparse crowd. Parking? A breeze. Concessions? Walk up to whatever one you want. Seat? Pick one - an aisle seat being important consideration if you are attending with someone whose bladder appears to have an hourly alarm attached to it. And, of course, it doesn't really make any difference to your enjoyment of the event: it's the on-screen/field quality which matters.
After the pleasant surprise which was a win in a Jeremy Hellickson start yesterday, we now try and extend the winning streak to three, and perhaps even get Chase Anderson his first victory since our rotation included Trevor Cahill and Wade Miley (a distant time natives refer to as "the dreaming"). So far, our pitching staff have largely done a very solid job of keeping Stanton and the Marlins' other hitters in checks, with just four runs allowed in 22 innings of work, all of those coming on a couple of swings of the bat. They've needed to be solid, because our offense has continued to sputter on this road-trip, with a .610 OPS and averaging three runs per game, with a K:BB ratio of 36:7.
Pollock is rewarded for his pinch-hit success last night, getting a start in center, with Mark Trumbo being the odd outfielder out this afternoon. Chris Owings also gets a rest, as we go with a middle infield of Ahmed and Hill instead. I have to say, that bunt RBI single by Ahmed yesterday was one of the loveliest plays I've seen by a D-backs hitter all season, leaving the defense with absolutely no play. The ability to mix things up like that is great: Arizona no leads the National League in bunt hits (7), and is third for infield hits (49). The Marlins lead the latter category on 53, no real surprise, considering Dee Gordon has 16, the only NL batter in double figures.