Preview, #24: 4/26 @ Phillies

I’m already feeling pretty damn grumpy this morning, as if this disturbingly early game wasn’t enough. Our elderly cat decided to jump onto the bed this morning. Nothing new there, except today, she didn’t quite make it, and tried to rescue the attempt by latching her claws into whatever anchor point was closest. Which, unfortunately, happened to be my right ear. Suffice it to say, I’m awake now. But I think we all learned some new words, while I stood before the bathroom mirror trying to staunch the blood. So, if this preview is rather more terse and sarcastic than most, you’ll understand why.

161 Diamondbacks games this season are being streamed on Fox Sports. This is the 162nd, and will only be available (to US residents, at least - not sure about the overseas contingent) by logging on to Facebook. Probably the easiest way to get to it from there is to go to the official team Facebook page, where I am reliably informed the broadcast will be pinned to the top of the page. You have fun with that. I’ll be resorting to less sophisticated methods of following the game, ones that don’t require me to wade through a blizzard of emojis and yelled comments, while mining my browser history for subsequent delivery to a Russian troll farm. Because Future.

Once again, it’s the rubber game. We should be used to this by now, with five of the last six having been decided in the final contest (the exception being the series in Los Angeles, where we took the first two). Thus far, the Diamondbacks are 5-0 in rubber games, so we’ve done well enough. But, as ever, I’m braced for the possibility that this will be our first series defeat - it would also be the first time the team has lost consecutive games. Getting 15% of the way through the season before that occurs would be quite a remarkable feat. However, I would naturally prefer it if Matt Koch and co can deliver a more positive outcome, and we can roll on into Washington with eight series wins under our belt.