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I was just thinking that I never watch a complete baseball game until the playoffs. Its weird. I have seen the beginning of one Dbacks game, the middle of another one and I have yet to see the end of one because I switch the channel when they blow it after the 7th. It turns out they are evolving. Learning new ways to lose. I guess there is enough blame to go around, it wasn’t just the bullpen this time! From azcentral.com:

“Not that the Diamondbacks, who managed just two hits, were having any luck against dominant Florida right-hander Josh Johnson, who overpowered them for seven innings. The bullpen didn’t give the club a fighting chance to get to Florida’s relievers, but that’s nothing new. In the sixth through ninth innings this season, the Diamondbacks have been outscored 118-61. They were outscored 6-0 in those innings on Tuesday. They’re 1-15 when trailing after six innings.”

Some more bad news, sorry, Adam LaRoche left the game with a knee injury. From diamondbacks.mlb.com:

“D-backs first baseman Adam LaRoche took a 91 mph cutter from Marlins starter Josh Johnson off the inside part of his left knee on Tuesday, and exited the game a couple of innings later. Manager A.J. Hinch said LaRoche was a bit sore in the area and wasn’t sure if he’d play Wednesday, when the D-backs open a five-game homestand against the Giants. “We’ll see tomorrow,” Hinch said after his club’s 8-0 loss to the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. “I may or may not give him a day [off] tomorrow.”

That was just an old fashioned butt kicking. It was ugly. Poor Edwin Jackson, he got the start and by the third inning the game was basically over. From arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com:

“Indeed, the Rockies scored early and often against Edwin Jackson as they cruised to a 12-1 win over the D-backs on Tuesday night in front of 24,112 at Coors Field. The Rockies never let Jackson (1-2) get settled in. They scored three times in the first, four in the second and four in the third to grab an 11-0 lead. Of those 11 runs, 10 were charged to Jackson, the most he has allowed in a game in his career. The right-hander’s previous career high was eight, which he allowed in a five-inning stint Oct. 2, 2009.”

“Like I said it was over by the third inning. The Dbacks were facing Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. The guy threw a no hitter against Atlanta earlier in the month. He’s kinda good. From sportingnews.com:

“Carlos Gonzalez finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Even he was in awe of teammate Ubaldo Jimenez. “He’s one of the most dominating pitchers in baseball right now,” Gonzalez said. Jimenez extended his scoreless streak to 22 1-3 innings with six shutout innings and the Colorado Rockies routed the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-1 on Tuesday night. Jimenez’s scoreless innings streak is the longest in franchise history by a starter. The previous record was 20 set by Denny Neagle in 2002, and matched by Franklin Morales in 2007. He has not allowed a run in his last three outings, starting with his no-hitter against Atlanta on April 17, the first in club history.”

We just won a 3 game series against the defending NL Champs. And it was a come from behind victory to boot. Impressive. The Dbacks were down 2-0 but rallied in the fifth inning and had a 8-6 lead by the ninth inning. From azsnakepit.com:

“There we found outselves, two run lead, going into the ninth inning- and Chad Qualls comes in to close.  As we all reached for our antacids, Qualls handled it well.  Ground ball, strike out, strike out, and the Diamondbacks had won the game and the series.  Not without some worry and concern, of course, but a win is a win. So, a good game from our offense- fifteen hits and six walks, with every starter except Upton with a hit.  The bullpen gave us three scoreless innings, and that’s just what we needed.  Leo Rosales picked up the win for his nerve-wracking eighth, and Chad Qualls got his fourth save on the season.  It was noted that Qualls seemed to be keeping his pitches down in the zone better, so maybe we’ve got room to be optimistic about him.”

Nice, a timely win right before a monster road trip. A game like that puts a little confidence in the old bullpen. From arizona.diamondbacks.com:

“This is huge,” right fielder Justin Upton said. “A good ballclub like that comes in and you take two out of three from them, this is the type of win that can propel a team.” The D-backs will take any added momentum they can get as they departed on a three-city, 11-game road trip to Colorado, Chicago and Houston following the game.”

And because of that win I am going to give something back to my readers. Because thats what I am, a giver. Enjoy.

On Friday night the Arizona Diamondbacks got a win behind some impressive hitting. The Dbacks hit 5 home runs and got a good outing from Kris Benson for a 7-4 win over the Phillies.  Fridays game was like a mini vacay, a little trip up North for the day to get away from the heat and frustration/disappointment of valley life. Well Saturday it was back to reality. Back to the Suck. The Diamondbacks fell to Phillies 3-2 thanks to the bullpen. Poor Ian Kennedy, he had one of his best starts ever, retiring 15 and pitching all the way into the eighth inning. From diamondbacks.mlb.com:

“I’m not much on moral victories. I want real victories,” manager A.J. Hinch said after watching the best game of Kennedy’s Major League career spoiled by Jayson Werth. “I was out there a long time; you don’t really feel how long until it’s over,” Kennedy said. “I gave us a chance to win, and that was my job. Then hand it over to the bullpen. I’m pretty confident when [Juan] Gutierrez goes out there.” But with two outs in the ninth, Gutierrez got the same treatment from Werth as Kennedy had seven innings earlier: home run — a deep home run — to center field.”

How bad is this bullpen? How much worse can it get? I really thought we would have learned our lesson last season. From azsnakepit.com:

“The horrible bullpen numbers that are sure to be floating around the articles tomorrow aren’t very pretty. Mentioned during the broadcast: in the past 13 2/3 innings pitched by the Diamondbacks bullpen, they’ve allowed 23 hits, 20 runs, and 8 home runs. Including tonight, the Diamondbacks have been outscored 22-7 in the 8th and 9th innings this season; 19 of those runs have come in the 9th inning for an inning ERA of 13.50. I don’t know if Arizona still ranks below Kansas City Royals and Washington Nationals in bullpen ERA, but tonight is just one more game (for a total of 7, I believe) that the bullpen lost for the team. Everyone here wants change, and we can only dream that after this week’s performances, change has to be coming.”

Wow, the Dbacks bullpen is awesome, how many more ways can they lose a game. The ERA’s are in the teens, and it doesn’t look like it is going to get any better anytime soon. From azcentral.com;

“For a day this week, the Diamondbacks bullpen got the job done. Literally. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday night, relievers Chad Qualls and Bob Howry turned a tie game into a 9-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the latest in a series of bullpen meltdowns that have been largely responsible for losses in six of the past seven games. In the past eight games, Diamondbacks relievers have allowed 28 earned runs in 26 1/3 innings with six blown saves. “It’s getting pretty ridiculous, to be honest, and it’s no fun to lose these games,” Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s hard. It’s hard to find new ways to describe late-inning failures where they scratch out not one, not two, but multiple runs to take us out of games.”

I really thought this problem was going to be addressed in the off season. Well at least there was some passion shown in that Wednesday night loss. Passion in the form of a bench clearing brawl….Well almost. The Diamondbacks Edwin Jackson hit Chris Carpenter on the arm, the second batter Edwin Jackson hit last night. From mlb.com;

“With a 1-2 count and one out in the top of the second, Jackson hit Carpenter on the left forearm, the second hit batsman by Jackson in the game. He also hit Ryan Ludwick in the first inning. Both benches and bullpens cleared after Carpenter took great umbrage at being hit by a Jackson pitch in the second inning of Wednesday night’s Cardinals-D-backs game. The verbal confrontation never turned into a physical one, and Carpenter said afterward that he regretted some of his actions. But he stood by his indignation at the pitch that hit him in the first place.”

I was just waiting for Albert Pujols to start throwing haymakers, that would have been a sight to see.

I can’t think of anyone more disappointed in the Diamondbacks performance this season than Dan Haren. This guy could have easily been a Cy Young Award winner if the team could actually play defense, fielding percentage is among the worst in the National League. He is definitely over it. From azcentral.com;“Personally, I’ve had a good year, but it’s not a lot of fun right now,” Haren said. “I’ve never been part of a team that has lost this much.” This season can not get over with fast enough. It will go down as one of the most disappointing in team history. The team had to deal with some unfortunate injuries but how it responded to adversity reflects on it’s skipper. I don’t know how much improvement can be expected with A.J. Hinch at the helm.

Webb hasn’t pitched since opening day. He has been experiencing stiffness in his shoulder and chose not seek surgery for it in early June. “He’s missed virtually the whole year and we’re trying to figure out the best course for getting back to pitching,” Diamondbacks General Manager Josh Byrnes said on a conference call with reporters on Thursday. It’s been a tough year for the organization but especially tough for Brandon Webb. It appears the surgery option is still on the table. Surgery sucks, it would be my last option too, due to my fear of surgical gowns. Webb obviously realizes after this surgery the odds of him becoming a dominate pitcher again are almost zero. I read an article about it on slate.com . “The leading minds in baseball medicine are flummoxed by the labrum. Doctors can’t agree on how to detect a tear, don’t know the best way to fix one, and aren’t sure why, almost without fail, a torn labrum will destroy a pitcher’s career.” Tough Year for the Dbacks, I wish Webb the best of luck. Read more about the story here

I was on Mill Ave during the Diamond Backs game against the Florida Marlins. In the time it took me to walk from Silver Mine Subs to Zuma Lounge the Dback’s gave up 10 runs. Yep, 10 runs in the 8th inning. It was the worse collapse in Diamond Backs history. It was historic. It was embarrassing. It was Amazing. The Dback’s were up 5 to zip at the end of the 5th inning. The Marlins put three runs on the board in the 6th inning, added one more in the 7th inning, then just exploded in the 8th inning with 10 runs. “When the wheels started coming off,” Hinch said, “they came off in a hurry.” From  azcentral; “The Marlins loaded the bases against reliever Juan Gutierrez, and Hinch summoned left-handed specialist Scott Schoeneweis, who got the left-handed hitting Ross Gload to bounce into a run-scoring fielder’s choice, cutting the lead to 7-5.” The 14-7 loss was the worst in franchise history. Like I said earlier, the All-Star Break could not get here any faster. I think one thing that needs to be worked on, is to get this team to “focus”. That responsibility falls on the manager. Read more about the ugliness at azsnakepit.com

Dan Haren and Justin Upton were selected for the National League All-Star Team. I am glad to see that Dan Haren’s season is being appreciated. This will be the third straight All-Star appearance for Haren who has a league leading 2.19 ERA. Justin Upton is having a great year, hitting 301 with 45 RBI’s and 14 home runs, and making his first All-Star appearance. According to the East Valley Tribune; “A third D-Backs player, infielder Mark Reynolds, is one of five players competing for the squad’s final spot, which will be decided by fan voting.” So lets take some of this seasons frustration out on the ballot box and vote Mark Reynolds in!! Read more about it at eastvalleytribune.com and Vote here

Way to go Haren! Dan Haren hit his first career home run against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. He also pitched 7 innings allowing only one run, improving his league best ERA to 2.19. The Dbacks won 6-2 snapping a 5 game losing streak. Haren is probably thinking, “Geez, does daddy have to everything around here.” Haren also won some money, he is taking part in some kind of hitting contest between starting pitchers, the amount of money is unknown. This guy will probably win a few more bucks before the season is over. Dan Haren leads all Diamondbacks pitchers in average (.286), doubles (four), sacrifices (four) and home runs. Read more about the win at azcentral.com

The Diamondbacks absolutely suck. I don’t think there is anyway to sugar-coat this disastrous season. The Dbacks could not avoid the sweep by the Angels , losing 12-8 last night. From the bullpen, to the manager , to the front office, the incompetence is amazing. Thumbs up there A$#es. As a fan there is only so much you can take. That frustration boiled over last night, with fans mocking and booing the Dbacks on the field. Justin Upton responded by fake-tossing a ball into the stands. From azcentral: “Fans sarcastically cheered when Upton caught a routine fly ball for the first out of the sixth inning. After he recorded the third out, he ran near the stands down the right-field line and pretended to toss the ball into the crowd but instead took it with him into the dugout.” That is exactly the kind of behaviour you would expect from a young talented player who’s is getting no guidance or direction from his manager or veteran teammates. Had he done that in a Yankees or Mets uniform the fans and the New York media would have crucified him. But here no one cares because no one is paying attention. Read more here

Diamondbacks Outfielder and valley fever sufferer, Conner Jackson, took a time out from his weekly eyebrow waxing to make a guest appearance on the day time soap opera General Hospital. Really? I mean who does this guy think he is, Keith Hernandez? It’s nice to see someone on the D-backs do some television acting, instead of trying to act like a baseball player. This organization is a lot like a soap opera, between A.J. Hinch’s hiring, Wally Backman’s non-hiring, the uniforms, Gonzo, DD’s cancer, Ric Schu, D. Baxter’s DUI, and Upton’s highs and lows, it feels like an episode of General Hospital. I guess if I was going to apply a T.V. drama to this team purely based on their record, it would be Lost.