Record: 61-59. Pace: 82-80. Change on last season: -6.

The time has come for everyone in the Diamondbacks organization to admit that Chris Young is not a #2 hitter. Whatever his talents may be - and I love his defense, his speed, and his power - it's clear that the top of the order is not the best place for them. This was driven home, painfully, in the ninth inning of tonight's game where we had managed to claw our way back into the game, despite coming in with a two-run deficit. Ojeda walked, Burke singled - I repeat that, Chris Burke had a meaningful hit - and Drew singled, and advanced on the throw, to put the tying run at third with only one out.

So we didn't even need a hit from Young, a deep fly ball would have been fine. But, instead, he struck out on a high fastball for the second out. Things were thrown at the TV here in SnakePit Towers; the dogs thought they were being thrown at them, as usual [I think they believe their names to be Getoffthesofaorelse and Stopdrinkingfromthedamntoilet]. And though Dunn came up with the bases loaded and worked the count full, his ground-ball proved insufficient to salvage the game. The NL average on-base percentage in the #2 hole this year is .329; the worst is Pittsburgh at .302. That's still better than Young's career OBP, which is .298 - and batting second, it drops to an even worse .265. It's not really Chris's fault, just another example of lineup construction that seems to defy logic in a variety of ways.

It was a particularly irritating loss, the team having come back from three runs down, in a game which looked to be entirely lost at various points earlier on. In particular, the bottom of the sixth, where Doug Slaten made his first appearance back off the DL, with the score 4-2 to Colorado. He continued where he left off, allowing two hits to put men on first and third with no-one out - Rockies WP at that point, 91.4%. However, a nicely-executed double-play, with our infield looking the runner back to third before beginning the turn, helped dodge a bullet there, and Arizona leveled things up in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Clark, and a single by Young - who was thrown out trying to reach second. Yes, even when he gets on-base, he makes an out...

Still, tied game now. Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way for long, as our bullpen picked up their nineteenth loss of the season - matching their total from all of last year, with more than a quarter of the schedule left to play. Their record last season was 30-19 - this year, it's 10-19, which basically tells you about all you need to know. Jon Rauch was the victim tonight, with a lead-off double in the eighth, that was about a foot from being a homer, a sacrifice bunt [nice to know Melvin isn't alone in his insanity], and then a two-run bomb. Mobs with torches and pitchforks will be following him tonight. Mind you, since he's a heavily-tattooed 6'11", he's probably used to that... :-)

I didn't see much of the early part of the game, when Davis was pitching, but it certainly didn't sound like he was pitching very well. The umpire seemed to have a tight, but consistent zone; Davis was missing his spots, perhaps because in the thin mountain air, his breaking pitches weren't moving as much as usual. He lasted only five innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks - one of the runs was unearned, thanks to an error by Drew. Of the relief corps, Slaten and Rauch have already been addressed: Peña had a 1-2-3 seventh, which was good to see, though was undeniably helped by Taveras grounding out on what was obviously ball four.

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Master of his domain: Stephen Drew, +19.1%
Honorable mention: Mark Reynolds, +13.3%
God-emperor of suck: Adam Dunn, -34.3%
Dishonorable mentions: Rauch, -31.2%; Davis, -19.0%

A relatively short roll-call tonight, but good to see rookie ZonaBacks10 step up, with a three-figure number of comments. Also present were: Azreous, kishi, DbacksSkins, foulpole, J Up, TwinnerA, LucaMaz3, 4 Corners Fan, srdmad, Muu, Scrbl, seanprh, snakecharmer, emilylovesthedbacks and singaporedbacksfan. I was not present: we went out for a curry, then sorted through films for the Phoenix Fear Film Festival in order to get a final list, while watching the game. I couldn't even bring myself to look at the Gameday Thread for a while afterwards: it was just too depressing, especially as the Dodgers came back from 6-1 down against the Phillies, to win on a walk-off homer from Garciaparra. However, when I did, I found some rather disturbing comments: appropriate action has been taken, and I trust there will not be a re-occurrence. An apology from those responsible would be nice.

So, the second defeat in eleven games versus Colorado means that we're back to being tied for first again. Tomorrow is a day game, with Dan Haren going for us: I hope we get the solid pitcher we say in June and July, as the August version has been slightly less reliable. A win would give us the series and also clinch the season bet vs. Purple Row. So, for a whole variety of reasons: bring victory on.

Record: 50-50. Pace: 81-81. Change on last season: -2

That was, all told, a damn fine evening. Dinner, followed by two and a half hours exploring the surreal universe which springs from the mind of Eddie Izzard - he spent the first 30 minutes alone riffing on Phoenix and its Wikipedia entry, which he pulled up on his iPhone. The city is, of course, named after the mythical bird which came here, died in flames, and was resurrected - only to discover it was still actually on fire. Anyone who can slide seamlessly from giraffes to the noises made by tennis players inside five minutes is...someone who shares my mental wiring.

And then I come home to find out that the Dodgers lost (Kershaw got slapped about something awful) - and, more importantly, that the D-backs were doing their best Davey Crockett impression, and hunting bear at Chase. I did manage to catch a little bit of the game at dinner, as Yusmeiro Petit got Ramirez to fly out to the warning track, ending the third inning. It looked like the batter thought that one was out of here, as he trotted out of the box casually. Nothing better than seeing the shock on an opposing hitter's face as his home-run trot has to take a sharp right-turn towards his dugout. At that stage, we were only 1-0 up, thanks to Jackson's tenth homer of the year, so this was by no means over.

Jackson also scored our second run in the bottom of third, sliding home from second after a single by Reynolds. The Cubs got a run back in the next frame, after their #8 hitter tripled, but that was the only damage they managed off Petit, despite a few hard-hit balls and four free passes. Still, as far as spot-starts go, on less than 24 hours notice, we'll be more than happy with five innings of one-run ball, on three hits and with four strikeouts. Melvin after the game said that Petit may get another start, with Owings going full-time to the pen, presumably tiding us over until Max Scherzer is ready to return to the rotation. Said Petit, "This year I feel a little more comfortable. It's easier to make adjustments, and so far I've been feeling good about what I've done."

The game stayed close until the bottom of the seventh, when Hudson got his eighth homer of the year, a shot that made it a 5-1 game, after Drew scored on one of three Cubs wild pitches [they were also charged with three errors - so it is not just us!]. While the Cubs pulled one back immediately, Arizona poured it on in the eighth. They sent ten men to the plate on four hits and three walks, with the key blow a two-run double by Clark - after the Cubs had intentionally loaded the bases by giving Drew a free pass, in order to get to Jackson. CoJack continues to be on fire, with three hits and three RBI this evening: Drew, Hudson, Tracy and Reynolds all reached safely twice with a hit and a walk. We had five walks and only four strikeouts, a good ratio

After Petit left the game, he was followed by Rosales, Qualls, Peña and Rauch, with the only tally a solo HR off Peña. Rauch was one of two debuts for the Diamondbacks in tonight's game, and both proved to be successful. Jon Rauch, acquired from the Nationals in exchange for Emilio Bonifacio, pitched a scoreless ninth inning, though by that point, it was no longer a save situation, thanks to the four we scored in the eighth. He struck out the first two batters he faced, and though a single and wild pitch followed, he got Fukudome to ground out, clinching the game. connor Robertson was sent down to Tucson to make room for Rauch in the pen, and the departure of Bonifacio meant Jamie D'Antona made his debut, pinch-hitting for Qualls in the seventh. He promptly singled to left-field, in his first ever major-league at-bat. Here's to many more.

The chance for that might come sooner rather than later, thanks to a scary moment in the eighth, as our hottest hitter this month, Hudson, was hit on the ankle by Hart, dropping O-Dawg like a sack of potatoes. The fortunate thing is, there appears to be no permanent damage, with X-rays proving negative. I wouldn't be surprised to see him sitting out tomorrow, so he'll have a couple of days to rest thanks to the off-day on Thursday. Much discussion at BCB at to whether someone - possibly Micah 'Up & In' Owings, second in the majors for hit batters - will exact retribution tomorrow at some point. Romero was also plunked earlier in the game, though as noted, given the general wildness of the Cubs' pitchers, maybe they just sucked. :-) Sweeping them out of Arizona would, however, be far sweeter than engaging in pseudo-macho nonsense, much as I really want to see Chris Snyder in a brawl some day!

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Master of his domain: Yusmeiro Petit, +18.0%
God-Emperor of suck: Miguel Montero, -6.1%

Very busy Gameday Thread(s), with over 900 comments, even with the Chat Room operating [how did that go? I popped in when I came home, but there was just Emily and Phil left at that stage]. Present in the "formal" thread were DbacksSkins, soco, Scrbl, snakecharmer, Zephon, mrssoco, emilylovesthedbacks, TwinnerA, 4 Corners Fan, foulpole, AF DBacks Fanatic, Muu, kishi, hotclaws, DiamondbacksWIn, dahlian, AJforAZ and unnamedDBacksfan.

These have been a pair of very impressive performances, shutting down the most productive offense in the National League to only two runs in eighteen innings - games started by our #4 pitcher and a spot-replacement, to boot. Now, let's go for the jugular tomorrow and finish off the reeling and demoralized Cubs: they swept us at Wrigley earlier in the season, so turnabout will be very fair play.