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Mount .500 suddenly looms in the team’s rear-view mirror, after four consecutive losses have dropped the Diamondbacks’ record to 25-24. It doesn’t help that the team has lost the last three by one run. I was surprised to see how often such a streak has actually happened in team history: it’s the fourteenth time the Diamondbacks have lost three games or more in a row by one run. [The record, should you care is five in a row, in May 2013] What is rather... annoying is it’s the second time this season, and the last time it happened, all three losses were also against the Padres. Arizona are 9-12 this year in one-run games overall, but are 0-5 in them versus San Diego, having lost as follows:
- April 11: L 6-7
- April 12: L 1-2
- April 13: L 4-5
- May 20: L 1-2
- May 21: L 2-3
We are 3-6 against the Padres, despite having outscored them 41-35, proving that when you score can be more important than how often you score. Indeed, against the other four teams in the NL West, the Diamondbacks have gone a collective 2-7 in one-run games, compared to 7-5 outside the division. That’s basically the reason why Arizona are 7-12 this year vs. the West, despite a run differential that is very close to even in those games, at just -4 (103 scored, 107 conceded). And that includes the opening series disaster in Los Angeles, where the D-backs were outscored by twenty runs.