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Diamondbacks post-season magic number: 13
Diamondbacks home-field magic number: 16
Diamondbacks division anti-magic number: 13
I guess we might as well start notating all three numbers above. The first is the combination of D-backs wins and Cardinals/Brewers losses (we need both today, since they have identical records) which will clinch us a wild-card spot. The second is the combo of D-backs wins and Rockies losses for home-field advantage. The third is the combination of D-backs losses and Dodgers wins which would eliminate us from winning the National League West. Coincidental that the first and third of these also match the number of consecutive wins posted by the team, who will be going for a fourteenth straight, against the Padres at Chase.
If it seems like a long time since we’ve seen San Diego... it is. Three months to the day, in fact, since we last played our divisional opponents. Since then, we’ve played 88 games against other teams, including 27 against the rest of the NL West - but none of those saw the D-backs facing the Padres. San Diego have not actually played badly over that time: exactly .500 ball, which is better than the Rockies over the same time (36-42). However, they have been outscored by 31 runs in that time, so are likely a little fortunate to have broken even. But it will still almost certainly be a seventh straight losing season for San Diego. So if they give up, we wouldn’t mind. :)
They certainly didn’t do so last weekend, however, taking three of four from the Dodgers. [Though even losing once to the Dodgers is not a concept with which the D-backs have been familiar lately!] It’ll be my first trip to the ballpark for a while, tonight being SnakePitFest (presented by the asteroids). By the time this gets posted, I should be suitably embedded at the Rose & Crown, enjoying a pint of Stella and their BBC sandwich. The way Patrick Corbin has been pitching, I’m hopeful this will be win #14, and we’ll tie Atlanta for the best National League regular season winning streak since the Giants had 15 in a row, overlapping the 2002-03 schedules.