Preview, #30: 5/2 vs. Dodgers

After the drama of the first two contests in this series, what will tonight bring? The opener gave us three home-runs from the National League Player of the Month, A.J. Pollock, while the sequel was perhaps even more heartstopping, as the Arizona Diamond-comebacks pulled out another late win, despite spurning opportunities for some much-needed insurance. The A-bullpen was taxed again, and as shoewizard noted in his Fanpost, our bullpen is currently on pace for some fairly epic - and likely unsustainable - workloads. If Zack Godley goes eight innings, and then hands a ten-run lead over to... oh, say, Jorge De La Rosa, I think we’d be happy with that. I know my digestive tract would be.

Good to see David Peralta back in the line-up again, and in his customary spot atop the order. Arizona has done very well out of the lead-off spot so far, with an .866 OPS there which trails only the Rockies .894 in the National League. This is almost entirely down to the Freight Train, who has started 24 of the 29 games so far, with Jarrod Dyson getting four starts, and then there was last night’s outing for Daniel Descalso. Which, of course, worked out about as well as every time Descalso gets slotted into an unexpected position, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs. But, hey: this is also the man with an ERA of 0.00...

With the series split already in the bag, I’d be fine with a split of the games today and tomorrow, sending the Dodgers out of Arizona two games further back than they were when they arrived, nine games down. But I’d also like to see Godley get back on track: while he got the W last time out, allowing ten hits and three walks in five innings is NOT a recipe for sustained success. With Walker and Ray now out of action, Godley’s importance has been magnified, and I’ll be happier when he’s back to the strike throwing groundball machine he can be.