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I believe this season is over, but the Diamondbacks still have some fight in them. I likes it. This was a nice little three game sweep capped of with a 5-2 win over the Padres at Chase Field. Good job guys. diamondbacks.mlb.com

The win was the sixth in the last seven games for the last-place D-backs, who swept the three-game series from the first-place Padres, who have now dropped seven straight. “The guys are playing good baseball and hopefully we can keep it going,” D-backs outfielder Chris Young said. “It’s nice to know that you can make a difference. Hopefully the race can get a little closer for [the Padres] because that’s what’s fun to watch.”

You know who Brandon Allen is? Most people never heard of him before yesterday. People might remember his name after he hit a grand slam in the seventh! From azcentral.com

Sleep was the last thing on Brandon Allen’s mind when he learned late Tuesday night that he was being sent up the Diamondbacks for the first time this season. So he pulled an all-nighter, arriving at Chase Field from Triple-A Reno at 8 a.m. Wednesday. His adrenaline rush trumped sleep, and that paid off because manager Kirk Gibson, after discussing the situation with his staff, inserted Allen into the lineup. Allen hit a grand slam, and he made two terrific plays in left field, a relatively new position for the natural first baseman, powering the Diamondbacks to a 5-2 victory over San Diego Padres in front of 17,599.

The Diamondbacks are ending the summer on somewhat of a hot steak. Yes two in a row is considered a hot streak for this team. Dbacks beat the Padres 7-4 at Chase Field. That comes after a 7-2 win over the Padres on Monday. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

Ian Kennedy overcame a rough first inning to pitch the D-backs past the Padres, 7-4, on Tuesday night at Chase Field. The win was the second straight for the D-backs, who have won five of their past six games. The Padres meanwhile have dropped six in a row. Kennedy (9-9) won for the second successive start, both of which have come against the Padres. Last time out in PETCO Park, he allowed just one hit in seven scoreless innings. This time he allowed three runs over seven innings.

The Dbacks are looking to finish strong. The bats have come alive in the last few games, August have scene some decent offensive production. From azcentral.com

The win gave the Diamondbacks a 16-13 record in August, their first winning month since August 2009. “We’re getting good pitching from our starters, our bullpen holding their own and we’re putting up some runs, the past four or five games especially,” third baseman Mark Reynolds said. The Diamondbacks have been able to come up with big innings in recent games. In their past six games, they’ve registered eight innings of three runs or more. It was something Gibson was reluctant to mention. “I probably shouldn’t even say this because it’s a knock-on-wood thing,” he said. “We seem to be stopping a lot of the big innings, either through our pitching or not making mistakes. And we’re getting better at creating big innings on our own.”

I love visiting San Diego, the Gaslamp district, day drinking at Lahaina’s and the weather. Wow, its like paradise. Except for the Diamondbacks who have yet to win at Petco Park this season. The Dbacks dropped another one 9-3 yesterday. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

The loss was the third in a row and dropped their record to 0-8 this year at PETCO Park with just one more game left here. “We came out with a good attitude tonight,” said D-backs interim manager Kirk Gibson, who had a pregame meeting with his club. “We played poorly. This kind of game is very humbling. We didn’t pitch well, we made physical errors, we made mental errors, we didn’t have a good approach when we needed it, and we really didn’t give ourselves a chance to win. They made us pay for our mistakes.”

Our starting pitching wasn’t up to snuff. After having two really good starts for the Dbacks, Joe Saunders struggled. From azcentral.com

“I’ve got to start pitching better,” Saunders said. “This team made a trade for me. I’ve got to start proving my worth.” “It’s embarrassing to go out there and give up that many runs. Hats off to them. They’re a good ballclub. But the way I’ve been pitching, I’m making them look like (expletive) Babe Ruth out there. They’re a good team, but we’ve got to play better baseball.”

So he might win a Cy Young this year. Do the Diamondbacks care? Hell no! Showing no respect and a lot of fire, Justin Upton hit a two-run homer off of Ubaldo Jimenez at Chase Field last night. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

“It doesn’t make a difference at all,” Upton said of having previous at-bats, albeit unproductive ones, against Jimenez. “Every time you’re going to [see] an electric fastball, good breaking stuff. … It’s more of being able to wait him out. He’s a great pitcher. He’s not going to make many mistakes, but when does you really have to jump on them.”

And how about Barry Enright? He got the win and has been putting up some historical numbers this season. I like that we have a “Barry” on our team. Maybe he can redeem the name. From azsnakepit.com

Ten starts in, Enright has a 2.73 ERA, and has yet to allow four runs in a start. Let’s not understate what he has done. In over sixty years following the integration of baseball. in 1947, one other pitcher in the major-leagues has started his career with ten consecutive games throwing five innings or more, and allowing three runs or less. Steve Rogers of the 1973 Montreal Expos. No, let’s give this feat the prominence it deserves: SINCE 1947, ONE OTHER PITCHER HAS THROWN FIVE INNINGS AND ALLOWED 3 RUNS OR LESS, IN EACH OF THE FIRST 10 GAMES OF HIS CAREER. Barry Enright became the second tonight.

I have been watching highlights on my iPad and I can’t get over how much more fun, lying on my couch watching TV on the Internet is with this thing. And when I say “Internet” I mean “porn and Hulu”.

This season is like a bad movie that’s not going to end anytime soon. The Reds are a first place team with a killer instinct and they showed it Wednesday at Chase Field in front of 15 people? Oh wait 15,000 people. We still have people going to these games? Must be the free corporate tickets. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

National League Central-leading Cincinnati came back from four runs down in the eighth inning on Wednesday and broke the tie on a suicide squeeze bunt hit in the ninth before adding on to defeat the D-backs in an ugly, drawn-out 11-7 win. “You could see really in the first two games that we played these guys why they’re in first place,” Gibson said. “We had ‘em down. [Their comeback] happened quick, and we couldn’t stop it.” The D-backs’ consolation: Only 15,509, a franchise low, were there to see it. Those in attendance would be hard pressed to not pin the blame — yet again — on the bullpen. Afforded a 7-3 lead after seven innings thanks to a four-run fifth piloted by sluggers Justin Upton and Chris Young, D-backs relievers Sam Demel and Aaron Hellman would yield eight runs on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings. “When you have a lead like that … We need to win those games,” said Heilman (3-4), who was charged with four earned runs but was on the mound when six scored. “We think we should win those games.”

Awesome. I understand Kirk Gibson is starting to tweak the lineup. You can do anything at this point, it really doesn’t matter does it? Uhmm.. “Miguel Montero, your getting the start tonight”, and Daniel Hudson, you’ll be out in left field tonight.” From azcentral.com

When Miguel Montero walked into the Diamondbacks clubhouse Wednesday, he glanced at the lineup, didn’t see his name in the top five and figured he had the day off. Then he found his name, in the No. 7 spot. Manager Kirk Gibson wanted to make the changes to get a better balance of right- and left-handed bats through the lineup – and to shake things up a little bit. Surprises awaited several players Wednesday – notably Justin Upton, who batted second – and Gibson even toyed with the idea of putting Upton in the leadoff spot as a way to break a slump.

Losing a series against the Nationals, they have like 3 more wins than we do. So this series was a dog-fight. a dog-fight that the Dbacks lost. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

The D-backs were not surprised from what they saw from Nationals rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg on Sunday afternoon. That said, they could not find a way to hang a loss on the right-hander as they dropped a 5-3 decision at Nationals Park. In losing two of three to Washington, the D-backs dropped their first series since the end of July and finished their seven-game road trip with a 4-3 mark. Not bad for a team that was 15-37 on the road prior to this trip. “I’d like to be 7-0, but I guess it’s an improvement,” interim manager Kirk Gibson said. “We have been terrible on the road. We’re playing better, no complaints about that. It’s always frustrating when you lose, but it’s part of the game.”

The Reds are firing on all cylinders coming into town on Tuesday, The Diamondbacks have their work cut out or them. Daniel Hudson gets the start. I wonder if there will be any fights. I’m surprised the Dbacks don’t fight in every game, given that the season is over. Just clear the benches , once or twice a night , it will keep the fans in the seats. Just say’n.

Not a bad series for the much maligned Dbacks. The showed some spunk winning 3 out of 4 against the Brew Crew. Including the homer run derby on Wednesday. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

In the fourth, the offense rewarded Hudson for his composure. With one out, four D-backs belted consecutive home runs off Brewers starter Dave Bush, tying a Major League record and making Arizona the seventh team to homer in four straight at-bats. First baseman Adam LaRoche started the run of homers and was followed by Miguel Montero, Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew, all in the span of 10 pitches. “It was pretty cool to be a part of it,” Reynolds said. “Rochey and Miggy got things going there and tied it up. [Bush] hung me a curveball, so I was able to put a pretty good swing on it. Stephen came up and hit it in the bullpen, and it was pretty cool.” It was the second time in as many seasons that the D-backs hit three or more home runs off Bush in an inning at Miller Park. On May 3, 2009, Reynolds and Justin Upton went back-to-back to lead off the seventh inning, and Montero added a third with two out in the D-backs’ 4-3 loss.

However, the Diamondbacks couldn’t keep the fireworks going against the Brewers today, going down 8-4 in Milwaukee. From azcentral.com

Casey McGehee set a franchise record with his ninth straight hit, going 4 for 4 and leading the Milwaukee Brewers over the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 Thursday. McGehee had a solo homer, a two-run double, an RBI single and another single. His seventh-inning single off reliever D.J. Carrasco broke the team mark set by Ryan Braun in 2008. Randy Wolf (9-9) won consecutive games for the first time this season. He allowed four runs on seven hits, walked four and struck out eight in his 25th start. Working with a six-run cushion, Wolf faced 10 batters in the fourth as the Diamondbacks scored four times, highlighted by Stephen Drew’s three-run homer. Wolf stranded the bases loaded to end the threat.

Yep, just another back to back win streak for Thee Old Arizona Diamondbacks. Just an incredible show case of hitting prowess delivered on Thursday by getting 13 hits against the Nationals. Friday night it was an outing against the Padres. And another win thanks to a great performance by Daniel Hudson. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

Nobody told the new guy that the last-place D-backs aren’t supposed to mess with these first-place Padres. But would Daniel Hudson have listened anyway? Hudson tossed one-run ball for 7 2/3 innings in his home debut on Friday night, and Arizona snapped its six-game skid against National League West-leading San Diego with a 2-1 victory. The D-backs (42-68) have won four of their past six games, and credit the 23-year-old Hudson, who arrived with Minor Leaguer David Holmberg in the July 30 trade of Edwin Jackson to the White Sox, with two of those Ws.

Cool. I really hope we can finish out the season on a good note. Because who knows if next season is going to get any better. Seriously, does anybody want to sit through a season like this one again? And can you imagine paying more for it? How much would you pay to watch a team lose 60+ games? From azcentral.com

The Diamondbacks are losing games and slashing payroll. They’re also raising ticket prices. Many sections at Chase Field will be hit with increases from 50 cents to $2 per ticket per game in 2011, a pricing adjustment that comes at a time when the club is on pace for a 101-loss season and only days after the team dumped close to $50 million in player salaries via trades. Paul Nicholson, who has had season tickets for 11 years, says he is “99 percent” sure he will not be renewing. He said he hasn’t had a raise in three years and has seen increases in other bills, and while he doesn’t have a problem with the team trading some of its more established players, that doesn’t mean now is the time to raise ticket prices. “From what we’ve seen on the field the past two seasons, a price increase to me is just not justified,” Nicholson said. Bullpen Reserve and Bleacher seats (from $10 to $12) and Infield Reserve sections ($8 to $10) are increasing by $2 per ticket, which is a $166 increase for 81 regular-season home games and two preseason exhibitions.

This was a pretty depressing loss. I think the team is just “over it”. The shitty record, this ridiculous heat. Lets just end this thing already. From diamondbacks.mlb.com

It was a bad night all the way around for the D-backs on Wednesday. It wasn’t just that they dropped a 7-2 decision to the Nationals, it was the lackluster way they looked doing it. There was also the fact that third baseman Mark Reynolds was forced to leave the game in the seventh inning with lingering effects from Tuesday’s beaning. It was not a good night in the seats either as the attendance of 15,670 was the lowest in the franchise’s 13-year history. Even interim manager Kirk Gibson did not have a good game. “I didn’t think I had a particularly good game myself tonight,” Gibson said. “I made some mistakes. I wasn’t really on top of it. Humbling. Come back tomorrow.

And how about good old Mark Reynolds, how is he doing? I mean, if this were a war zone would he be headed back home or is suiting up for another tour in this dumpster fire of a season? From azcentral.com

Reynolds, who was not available for comment, was evaluated by a team doctor and is considered day to day, Assistant General Manager
“It was precautionary,” Woodfork said. “As we moved on in the game, he didn’t feel 100 percent right. It’ll be day to day. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about right now.”
Reynolds, who throughout his four-year career has a reputation for playing through just about any injury, mentioned during the pitching change that he felt dizzy, second baseman Kelly Johnson said. “We know Mark pretty well,” Johnson said. “He’s going to play through just about anything. If he finally comes over and says something like that, he’s not messing around.”

Take that New York Mets. Thats right you’re our bitch. This 39-66 team has got your number. Ahhh, that felt good. It feels good to take out a little frustration. From azcentral.com

The Diamondbacks might want to petition the league to see if they can add another series or two against the New York Mets for later this season. After their 14-1 trouncing of the Mets on Sunday afternoon, the Diamondbacks improved to 5-1 against New York, by far the best they’ve played against any team this season. In fact, the Diamondbacks haven’t beat another team since the All-Star break. They’re 0-10 against the Padres, Phillies and Giants and 5-1 vs. the Mets.

Is anybody going to recognize this team when they roll back into town? The Dbacks have got a lot of new players. Some new names to get used to. mlb.com

Scorecard sales should be high at Chase Field when the D-backs come off the road to kick off a week-long homestand with the first of four against the Nationals. So should enthusiasm among the home crowd, as Arizona returns after a rare road series victory and gets a crack at another struggling team with a sub-.500 record, which has been almost as rare, especially for interim manager Kirk Gibson. Five veterans who had suited up with the D-backs for their last home game didn’t return with the team, dealt away in the Trade Deadline fury that marked a significant stage of Arizona’s rebuilding efforts.

Yes it is called rebuilding. I guess you could call it a garage sale if you wanted. I remember back in High School/College, before every spring break I would start pawning off my belongings in order to afford a trip to Rocky Point. It was a short term solution to a financial problem. The payoff was that I would be able to afford a spring break filled with sex, booze and drugs. I don’t know what the payoff is going to be for the Diamondbacks. From azcentral.com

In trading catcher Chris Snyder (to Pittsburgh) and reliever Chad Qualls (to Tampa Bay), the Diamondbacks shaved another $5.9 million in financial commitments off their books, a savings that interim General Manager Jerry Dipoto said will benefit the team going forward. “We wanted to be in a flexible position,” Dipoto said. “We understand there is still a lot of work to be done. There are still holes to fill. The one thing that we’ve managed to do is we’ve maintained a core group of players that we believe have a lot of talent, and we’re going to build around that.” The club sent Snyder, Triple-A shortstop Pedro Ciriaco and $3 million to the Pirates in exchange for right-handed reliever D.J. Carrasco, infielder Bobby Crosby and outfielder Ryan Church.

You got to feel for Chris Synder. Going from the Dbacks to the Pirates, a team with the a worse record if you can imagine. Keep your chin up. And I guess that would be my advice to Diamondbacks as well. They lost another one to the Mets. From arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com

It was not the way D.J. Carrasco wanted to begin his time with the D-backs. Acquired earlier in the day from the Pirates in a deal that sent Chris Snyder to Pittsburgh, Carrasco was unable to hold
a seventh-inning lead against the Mets on Saturday night in a game the D-backs would eventually lose, 5-4. “It’s not how I wanted to debut here,” Carrasco said. “We had the lead and I blew it, but it’s part of the game and I’m ready to go tomorrow.”

I love silver linings. The more depressing the event, the lower that silver bar goes. This whole season has been a disaster so the fact that we got 9 hits against Tim Lincecum in yesterdays game is something to be celebrated. We just couldn’t do much else. From azsnakepit.com

Well, we got a fair number of hits.  Our nine hits off Tim Lincecum today is our best outing against him, and ties for the most hits he’s given up in a game this season, with his start against the Rockies earlier this month.  However, once we got runners on base, we found there wasn’t much we could do about it.  The only exception to this rule?  Again: Barry Enright.  Yes, our hard-pitching, hard-hitting, hard-working, hard-drinking* pitcher-slugger was the only DBacks hitter to solve the Lincecum Scenario, hammering a double to center with two on in the second, to give the team a 2-1 lead.  Other than that, our offense was pretty unimpressive.  No, I’ll upgrade that to full disappointing.

And Barry Enright got his first Major League Hit, so thats awesome. Why do our pitchers always turn out to be our best hitters? Whats up with that? Oh, happy Monday.

Dan Haren for Joe Saunders and minor league pitchers Right-hander Rafael Rodriguez and left-hander Patrick Corbin and a player to be named later. This is a big salary dump at best. Sure Saunders can be put into the rotation immediately but he has been mediocre at best the last two seasons. This is all about saving money in the short term. From sportingnews.com

Haren was one of the top available pitchers ahead of the July 31 nonwaiver deadline. L.A. was not considered one of the favorites to land him — the Yankees and the Phillies were — but it met one of Arizona’s reported conditions by providing a major league starter in return. Haren is signed through 2012, at $12.75 million per year, and his contract also includes a $15.5 million club option for 2013 ($3.5 million buyout). He is making $8.25 million this year. The Southern California native had said he’d prefer to remain on the West Coast if the D-backs were to trade him.

The success of this trade depends on “the player to be named later”. I hope the Arizona Diamondbacks get something worthwhile in return. From azcentral.com

According to a source, the Diamondbacks will select the player to be named from a list of prospects. One possibility could be left-hander Tyler Skaggs, a pitcher the Diamondbacks considered taking with a supplemental first round pick last season.

Does anybody know any cocktails you can make with 5 Hour Energy? I suppose you could replace any mixer with it, I just don’t want to have to experiment. That shit ain’t cheap. The reason I’m asking is I want something I can drink to get me drunk while I watch these Arizona Diamondback games but not passed out drunk. Just something to pass the time. Another good outing by Ian Kennedy is crushed by the bullpen in a 10-4 defeat to the Giants. From dbacks.com

On the other hand, when the lineup is scuffling and the bullpen bungles, Kennedy can pitch well and lose: Saturday opposing the Giants, he allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings but was charged with a fourth (thanks to the poor ‘pen) to cement Arizona’s three-game losing streak. Batters one through eight also didn’t support their starter in the club’s 10-4 defeat Saturday, its sixth straight loss to San Francisco. In fact, Arizona has done little damage since Thursday — when Matt Cain began the Giants’ roll — having gone 2-for-24 with runners in scoring position and plated just eight runs.

The win came at a cost to the Giants when outfielder Eugenio Velez got hit by a foul ball in the fourth inning and had to spend the night in the hospital. From azcentral.com

Bochy said Velez never lost consciousness, but was “a little out of it” after first being struck. He said Velez was speaking at the hospital, where he’s expected to undergo more tests overnight.

Oh boy, another loss, that makes 60 for the season. Man what a horrible season. At least Kelly Johnson gave us a good show by hitting for the cycle for the fourth time. From dbacks.com

But why was loss No. 60, of the 7-4 variety to the Giants, so disheartening? The mistakes marred a few good men and their stories: Major League Baseball’s statistically bad bullpen had thrown 10 scoreless innings entering the game, and during it, Kelly Johnson recorded the franchise’s fourth all-time cycle as he and his lineup mates powered the D-backs’ return from a two-run deficit in the sixth.

So this season is gone. What trades are going to be next? How much different will this team look at the end of the season. Even Dan Haren the hitting phenom is on the trading block. From azcentral.com

As the likelihood of a trade of pitcher Dan Haren seems to increase by the hour, the Diamondbacks’ vision heading into the future also appears to be coming into clearer focus. Rather than taking a package of minor-league prospects and starting a full-blown rebuilding effort, the Diamondbacks seem intent on acquiring major-league-ready pitching in return for Haren, pitchers they immediately can plug into their rotation and/or bullpen.