Preview, #37: 5/8 @ Rays

Just a short preview here, given another horrendously early start. Though I was up disturbingly early myself: it’s all Florence and the Machine’s fault. The Welsh band are apparently playing some festival here in Arizona over the weekend, so have booked the studio where Mrs. SnakePit works for rehearsals. They’re quite the biggest “name” to have used the place, so Mrs. S wanted to be down there early in order to make sure everything is good for them. Hence, leaving the house at 7:30 am, and making our way across town in rush-hour traffic. Nice to be reminded every once in a while as to why we work off-hours. Can’t imagine dealing with that every day...

But, for today at least, it worked out kinda nice, since it means I am actually awake at a point where I would normally be stretching, maybe munching on a nicely-buttered biscuit, and waiting for the coffee to take effect. We’ll see if the D-backs can avoid being on the receiving end of their second sweep of the season, the first being the three games lost to the Padres at Chase Field from April 11-13. A defeat would also match the team’s longest losing streak of the season, at four games - that being the Padres series, plus the preceding game against the Rangers. Having been outscored by 18-4 over the first two contests, Arizona is going to have to play a damn sight better if they’re to prevail today.

It’s a Robbie Ray start today, so we’ll see what that brings. With the departure of Zack Godley for the bullpen, the honor of being our most inconsistent pitcher probably now belongs to Ray. He has won his past two starts, and got no help at all from his defense last time out, with only one of the five runs allowed being earned. But we’re still waiting for Ray to get an out beyond the sixth inning, something he hasn’t managed for a dozen consecutive starts. The last time was September 4 last year, and even then it was just one out in the seventh. We may just have to accept that Robbie is never going to go deep into his outings.