Zack Greinke
|
Luis Perdomo
|
Jean Segura - 2B | Travis Jankowski - CF |
Chris Owings - SS | Jon Jay - RF |
Paul Goldschmidt - 1B | Wil Myers - 1B |
Welington Castillo - C | Ryan Schimpf - 3B |
Jake Lamb - 3B | Alex Dickerson - LF |
Yasmany Tomas - RF | Alexi Amarista - 2B |
Brandon Drury - LF | Luis Sardinas - SS |
Socrates Brito - CF | Derek Norris - C |
Zack Greinke - RHP | Luis Perdomo - RHP |
A mercifully earlier start for tonight's game in San Diego, beginning at 6:10pm, an hour sooner than the first two contests. It's not getaway day for the Padres, since they stick around in San Diego to face the Giants. The D-backs, meanwhile, will be flying across the country to take on the Baltimore Orioles. However, that series doesn't start until after tomorrow's off-day. I guess this fractional shifting of the start time here, will allow the Diamondbacks time to pack up their stuff and get to San Diego airport before it closes for the night? If so, let's just hope this one doesn't drag on into a lengthy, extra inning contest - as much for recapper Mr. Burt's sake as anything!
Welington Castillo back in the line-up for Arizona tonight, as they try to salvage one game of the final series at Petco. A loss tonight would also give San Diego the season series, which currently stands at 6-9 with four left to play. It would mean we only won the season series over the Rockies The last time we beat the Padres over a full year was 2014; for the Giants, it was 2015; and for the Dodgers, 2013. Overall, the team is still +14 in their history versus San Diego, but the gap has been closing of late, with the Padres looking likely to take the season for the fourth time in the past five years. Since the beginning of 2012, we are 41-49 against them.
That's very much the case. If you can't win locally, you ain't going nowhere. The best NL team with a losing record against their own division are the Marlins, who are 76-75, despite being 29-36 against the rest of the East. A somewhat related fun fact: the Cardinals are still very much in the playoff race, despite being guaranteed of a losing record at home - they're currently 33-41. The only team ever to make the post-season in a full year without a winning home mark are currently the 2001 Braves who went 40-41 before losing tio the D-backs in the NLCS. The Cardinals will tie that mark at best, and only if they win all their seven remaining home contests.