Recaps

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks fall to 3rd in NL West - “We’re not happy with what’s going on,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’re just not playing up to our capabilities, that’s the bottom line.” Losers of four in a row, eight of 10 and 12 of 18, the Diamondbacks have fallen from first to third in the National League West. They have sprung leaks in just about every facet of their game; most notably, they have stopped doing the things that had come to define them, the things most responsible for their winning ways. “I think it’s a good test for a young team that has not really experienced it,” Diamondbacks veteran third baseman Evan Longoria said. “We just have to figure out a way to get out of it.”

[dbacks.com] Lourdes Gurriel Jr. shines, but D-backs swept by Blue Jays - “When you have a couple of games where you struggle … everybody in the offense senses that and wants to be the guy to break the team out of that,” third baseman Evan Longoria said. Execution from at-bat to at-bat is more important, Longoria said. As a veteran in a clubhouse with several young contributors, he’s taken it upon himself to hammer home some positive messaging. “As the group goes, you go, and I think that our best mentality is kind of that,” Longoria said. “And so just trying to reinforce that every day. Not one person has to carry this team. We've proven that.”

[SI] D-backs Swept as Late Rally Comes Up Short - The D-backs had just four hits in the game and could not capitalize enough on the eight walks they drew. They were just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Among their many problems during this team wide slump, lack of situational hitting is pretty high up on their list. Since June 28th they've gone just 19-for-94, .202 in those situations. With this latest loss the D-backs have dropped to 52-42 and 3rd place in the NL West behind the Giants who passed them up today with a victory over Pittsburgh. They're now in the third wild card position and hanging on by a thread to a playoff spot.

Team news

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks say games could be on new TV channel within days - Diamondbacks play-by-play broadcaster Steve Berthiaume told viewers during Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays that a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday “may result in new channels for the games to be seen.” Interestingly, the statement was made on Bally Sports Arizona’s own airwaves. Diamond Sports Group, which declared bankruptcy in March, missed its most recent payment to the Diamondbacks in early July... The Diamondbacks said to check their web site on Tuesday for updated information on how and where to find their games.

LWOSports MLB Top 5: Arizona Diamondbacks Outfielders - This is the fourth in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for every Major League team. The focus of this article is all three outfield positions with the Arizona Diamondbacks, a franchise that began play in 1998. Left Fielders 5. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – Players who are in their first seasons with a team usually don’t end up on that team’s all-time greatest players list. However, left field for the Diamondbacks has three long-time starters and several one-year fill-ins. Arizona hopes Gurriel Jr. is not among the latter.

[SI] Chicago Cubs Complete Trade With Arizona Diamondbacks - The Chicago Cubs have re-acquired a familiar face to provide some catching depth in their organization, as they send cash considerations to the Arizona Diamondbacks for P.J. Higgins. The Des Moines Register reported the transaction, indicating that an injury to Dom Nunez at Triple-A Iowa may have necessitated the deal. Higgins signed with the Diamondback in the offseason but has not played with the D-backs this season. He’s been at the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno, where he slashed .317/.407/.473/.880 with six home runs and 46 RBI.

And, elsewhere...

[MLB]Is this the new longest name in MLB history? - When he makes his debut, “Christian Encarnacion-Strand” will become the longest full name on record in Major League history, according to research conducted by MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. Considering both first and last names (and including the hyphen within the latter), the Reds prospect gets credit for 27 characters. That easily beats out the Twins’ Simeon Woods Richardson, who debuted with a 22-character name in 2022. The research considers the name the player chooses to go by – so Trout is Mike, not Michael – and any spaces or hyphens either within the first name or last name itself, but not between first and last, are counted.

Tremors (1990)

Rating: A

Dir: Ron Underwood
Star: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross

I ended up having to check four different genre boxes for this one, which may be a record: action, comedy, horror and SF. What’s even more remarkable is that it works very well in at least three of those categories. The exception might be science fiction: it relies a little too much on hand-waving, as regard to the origin of the species. Various theories are put forward – “I vote for outer space. No way these are local boys” – but the writers, very consciously, opted to leave things unexplained. That’s a small complaint though, because the movie is such a barnstorming success in all the other genres.

I think the key is simply the characters, which come to life as a combination of good writing and good performances. I’m hard pushed to think of another movie with such a good ensemble set. Aliens might be about the closest, in terms of creating memorable roles in just a few lines. What this also has in common with Cameron’s classic is the relentlessly quotable nature of the dialogue. I think those two films, along with Shaun of the Dead, are probably the movies whose lines are most often to be heard echoing around the halls of SnakePit Towers.

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