Last night the Diamondbacks finally became the 29th MLB team this season to concede double-digits in a game, leaving only the St. Louis Cardinals without such a contest this year. It ended a streak of 66 regular season games allowing fewer than ten runs for the D-backs, dating back to two consecutive contests against the Marlins on September 22-23 last year - one a 13-11 win, the other a 6-12 loss. However, it was some way short of the franchise record, as in exactly half of it. For the D-backs went 132 games in a row without allowing ten runs, from July 2011 though the following June. Hopefully, a new streak will start tonight for the Diamondbacks!
They do have a fresh bullpen arm, with Jake Barrett having been taxied back down to the Aces, and Silvino Bracho making his eleven billionth (approximately) trip on the bus from Reno. I’m not exaggerating much: I believe this is Bracho’s sixteenth stint with the major-league club all told, since his debut on August 30, 2015. His numbers this year have actually been very good, albeit in a small sample-size. Silvino has allowed one earned run over 8.1 innings of work, with a K:BB ratio of 12:4 (albeit with three hit batters, perhaps making him the team’s designated enforcer!). We’ll see how long this stint lasts: with Randall Delgado heading on a rehab assignment soon, that might be the next bullpen roster change.
Tonight is the 2018 MLB debut of Madison Bumgarner, and I’m sure the Giants will be delighted to have him back. They have weathered the storm of his absence better than might have been expected, and welcome his return just 1.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. That has been with a pretty shaky rotation, whose ERA ranks 23rd in the majors, at 4.59, despite the benefits of a pitcher-friendly park like AT&T. Let’s not forget, he can hit, too. Indeed, he’s one of the best hitting players at his position in baseball. His 17 home-runs lead all active pitchers, and since the mound was lowered in 1968, trails only Carlos Zambrano’s 24. Keep it in the park, please, Patrick...