Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #115: 8/9 vs. Dodgers

The Diamondbacks losing streak had reached seven. Interestingly, that’s longer than they had and point in the 2022 season. Of course, it pales in comparison to the 2021 campaign, where the D-backs managed to lost 13 in a row - and then three days later, they started a 17-game losing streak. That shattered the franchise record of 14 losses in a row, set back in 2004. Indeed, few National League teams done worse in the past century. The 1969 Expos lost 20 in a row, and the 1961 Phillies 23. The last even to match the D-backs’ 17-game streak in the NL were the 1977 Braves. Which is a roundabout way of saying: losing seven games in a row should hardly cause a dent for 2023 D-backs’ fans.

That said, a loss tonight would be significant, in that it would drop the team below .500. The omens aren’t good, since the last time the team was there was after a loss on April 6th dropped them to a 3-4 record. That game was also at Chase Field... against the Dodgers... with Merrill Kelly starting for Arizona. Hmm. 107 games later, here we are. The D-backs have gone 54-53 to balance out their record, and the run differential is pretty close to even over that time. Runs scored: 515. Runs conceded: 519. It all feels as if the season is going to end up petering out into something which, at best, will be described as “Meh.”

The taco famine of 2023 continues, reaching 11 games in a row. Still a way to go until we hit the franchise record of 15, set in July 2007, when the team averaged only 2.8 runs per game, over a three-week period. The current pace of 2.3 R/G is lower, although the OPS is down on the record streak too (.578 vs. .644). Even on the rare recent occasions where the team has scored five or more runs, it has not been in a winning cause. The last three sets of tacos have tasted of defeat: we had losses of 6-10 vs. STL, 6-9 @ CIN and 5-7 @ ATL. You have to go back to July 19, when the Diamondbacks beat the Braves 5-3, to find the last time we could enjoy victory tacos.