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Snake Bytes, 6/1: Good Riddance to May

For the second season in a row,m May has been unkind to Arizona. With the calendar turning the page to June, the Diamondbacks hope to turn their own page.

By James Attwood

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New York Mets v Arizona Diamondbacks Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

Diamondbacks News

New York 5, Arizona 4

Jon Duplantier made the first MLB start of his career. The second inning was not kind to the right-hander who was on a pitch count. However, Duplantier settled in and completed five innings while surrendering only three runs while making only 77 pitches, 51 of which went for strikes, a promising ratio moving forward. Once again, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen was unable to shut the door. This time, it was Matt Andriese who surrendered two runs on four hits in the eighth inning, blowing Arizona’s lead and hanging them with their fifth loss in a row.

Late Inning Struggles Continue for Arizona

Even with a nine-man bullpen, Torey Lovullo is running out of arms that he can turn to in his bullpen. With Jon Duplantier on a hard pitch count limit, the Diamondbacks needed four innings of work out of the bullpen. That turned out to be too much, as the bullpen gave up the lead in the eighth inning.

Diamondbacks Drop Fifth Straight

On the plus side, Jon Duplantier had a solid first-ever MLB start. Christian Walker found his bat. The Arizona offense managed to score more than two runs. Unfortunately, the bullpen once again was victimized late, Matt Andriese giving up two runs in the eighth, sending Arizona to their fifth consecutive loss and their eighth in the last 11 games.

Weaver Injury Creates Opportunity for Duplantier

Luke Weaver has been examined by a number of doctors and the consensus seems to be he will avoid injury. However, he is still likely to be out until August. This has created a hole in the rotation which the team is looking to Jon Duplantier to fill.

Weaver to Attempt to Rehab UCL

Examinations have shown that Luke Weaver suffered a pair of injuries to his forearm. Fortunately for Weaver and the Diamondbacks, it appears that the hard-throwing righty might be able to correct the issue without the need to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Continued Losing Could Lead to Trade of Greinke

If the Arizona Diamondbacks continue to freefall in the standings, Zack Greinke could be on his way out.

Around Baseball

MLB Sets Record for Home Runs in a Month

Hitters across MLB managed 1135 home runs in the month of May, breaking the previous record for most home runs in a month by 16 (August 2017).

More home run silliness.

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