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Preview, #50: Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers

The D-backs are a major-league best 9-1 over the last 10 games. How common has that been?

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Today's Lineups

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Chris Owings - SS Jonathan Villar - 2B
David Peralta - RF Eric Thames - 1B
Paul Goldschmidt - 1B Hernan Perez - LF
Jake Lamb - 3B Travis Shaw - 3B
Yasmany Tomas - LF Domingo Santana - RF
Brandon Drury - 2B Jett Bandy - C
Chris Iannetta - C Keon Broxton - CF
Reymond Fuentes - CF Orlando Arcia - SS
Zack Godley - RHP Junior Guerra - RHP

No other team is baseball is currently better than 7-3, and this is also the Diamondbacks first time with a 9-1 run since late in the 2011 campaign. From August 26-September 5, in fact, part of a streak when they won twelve games out of thirteen, and 16 of 18, to power away from the rest of the pack in the NL West. That 18-game run started with the team just one game up, and having just lost six road games in a row. Less than three weeks later, they were 9.5 ahead, and cruised to the division title. Coincidentally, their run differential over that Aug 26-Sep 5 run was +30 (59-29), exactly what it has been during the current stretch (55-25).

The 2007 title-winning team had a couple of similarly good stretches. The first was in late May to early June, but perhaps more interesting was the nine wins in ten games at the end of July. The run differential there was only +13, the team scoring 49 runs while conceding 36. Part of that was the close nature of the victories: they included three consecutive walk-off wins, and two other games won by a single run. The rest is that the only defeat was an utter blowout: after walking off the Braves in extra inning games at Chase Field on Friday and Saturday, the D-backs apparently gave up the ghost on Sunday and were on the receiving end of a 14-0 thumping that's still the worst shutout loss in team history.

We'll see how far the D-backs can push this particular run. The best fifteen game period in franchise history came in a season they didn't even make the playoffs. From June 14-30, 2003, they were 14-1, including a 12-game winning streak that also remains the best ever by Arizona. They started the run 10 games back, and finished it four down, but never got any closer the rest of the way. Perhaps that's a cautionary note for this season: a good streak doesn't necessarily mean you'll be playing into October.