Preview #80: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. St. Louis Cardinals

The defeat did cost the team the chance at their first 20-win calendar month since June 2003, when they went 20-6. But with two games left, their record still stands at a stirring 17-6. The resulting .739 win percentage is currently the second best ever for the franchise, trailing only that June, 14 years ago. Despite this pair of outstanding performances, June is not actually Arizona's best month. That title belongs to May, the only full calendar month where the team has a winning record, having gone 286-274. For the record, July is the worst, with the team at 235-258 there. So brace yourself for next month, I guess!

If the Diamondbacks only manage a split the rest of the way, between this afternoon's game against the Cardinals, and tomorrow night's contest versus the Rockies, June would still be the third-best. It would put them at 18-7, falling behind only September 1999, when the Diamondbacks had one win more for the month. Even no more victories, and a pair of defeats instead, would leave Arizona at 17-8. That would still make this the fifth-best month ever for the Diamondbacks, and their highest win percentage in over nine years. They went 19-8 in April 2008, and 20-8 in August 1999.

At the other end, you have the hell which was July 2004, which is almost entirely responsible for the entire deficit in our record, mentioned in the first paragraph. That month, the worst in the worst season we've ever had (we only got past nine wins once that year, going 10-17 in June), saw the D-backs got an abominable 5-23. That included a losing streak of 14 consecutive games, where the Diamondbacks scored more than three runs on one occasion. Or as we call it this season, "a good half-inning." May we never see its like again...