No game for Arizona today, so here's the usual "chat about anything you want" thread for the day. Heard any good trade rumors? Think we'll make a move before the deadline? Want to predict how we'll do against the Giants and Padres? Here are the matchups

Fri: Dan Haren, RHP (9-5, 2.58) vs Jonathan Sanchez, LHP (8-5, 4.10)
Sat: Brandon Webb, RHP (13-4, 3.11) vs Tim Lincecum, RHP (11-3, 2.79)
Sun: Randy Johnson, LHP (7-7, 4.89) vs Barry Zito, LHP (5-12, 5.56)

Mon: Yusmeiro Petit, RHP (1-1, 2.78) vs Greg Maddux, RHP (3-8, 4.18)
Tue: Doug Davis LHP (3-5, 4.22) vs. Clay Hensley, RHP (1-0, 0.00)
Wed: Dan Haren, RHP (9-5, 2.58) vs. Cha Seung Baek, RHP (2-5, 4.94)

In non-baseball related news, the American Idol people are holding auditions tomorrow in Phoenix. Reality TV: televisual treat, or instrument of Satan? Or buth? Even if you hate the genre, are there any reality shows you find a guilty pleasure?

Or, whatever...

Record: 50-51. Pace: 80-82. Change on last season: -3

I was going to start with an analysis of the fifth inning, and how the game was decided by the difference in the respective performances of the two teams there - the Cubs executed solid baseball fundamentals, and the Diamondbacks didn't. I'll still get to that in a little bit. But that didn't end up being the turning point of the game. Far more decisive was the wild mismanagement of our bullpen in the eighth inning by Bob Melvin, which allowed the Cubs to score six runs, and rendered the three-run homer by Snyder in the bottom half, almost an irrelevance.

The choice of Owings for the eighth was somewhat puzzling to begin with, since it was still a one-run game at that point, and we were still very much in this. Ok, most of our 'pen had been used the previous night, but what exactly was Melvin saving Peña and Lyon for? Tomorrow's non-existent game? I'd have gone with one of our more high-leverage - or, at least, more experienced relievers. Certainly, not a converted starter making his sixth career non-start appearance, and his first ever in the major-leagues on less than two days rest. Or, if I did, I'd be sure to have someone else warmed up and ready to go, in case of any issues.

Not Melvin. Nooooo... It was clear from the start that Owings did not have his good stuff, walking Theriot on five pitches. Derek Lee then just missed totally crushing a pitch, and a hit by Ramirez put men on second and third with one out. That was the point where the other, warmed-up, experienced reliever should have come in, to keep the game close. Or maybe after Soto's single? No. Walking Fukudome on four straight balls, to load the bases? Leave him out there. It was only after four additional consecutive pitches had missed the zone, walking in a run, that Melvin deemed it necessary to go get Owings. His final tally: four strikes, fourteen balls. Then Rosales serves up a grand-slam to the first hitter faced, and the Cubs had turned a one-run lead to seven, in the space of just twenty pitches, our Win Probability evaporating from 25.9% to 0.5%.

Let's go back to the fifth inning though, as promised. We came in with a 2-1 lead, thanks to a two-run homer from Tony Clark - his first hit in his sixth game back with us. A single and a ground-rule double put men on second and third for the Cubs with no outs. With the pitcher up, Melvin opted to play the infield in, a decision immediately criticized as "risky" by Mark Grace. Score one for our former first-baseman, as Lilly bounced what would have been a simple grounder to third over the despairing grab of Reynolds and into the outfield. A run-scoring ground-out gave the Cubs the lead, and then Lilly stole third, Doug Davis apparently forgetting entirely that he was there. Only three pitchers in the majors have stolen a base this year, and it paid off as another ground-out allowed Lilly to score, making it 4-2.

Compare and contrast the bottom half of the inning, which started in great fashion, with a walk by Ojeda, who took second as the ball skittered away from the catcher, and came home on a triple by Hudson. That gave us the tying run on third, with no outs: surely, at the very least, we'd take care of business and basically reset the game. No. Mark Reynolds struck out, then Chris Young grounded to third and Jackson, going on contact, was caught on a rundown and eventually tagged. Finally, Young [who ended up at second during the rundown] was caught trying to steal third with two outs, a pointless exercise since he'd have been able to score on basically any hit. Instead of being back in the game, we still trailed, and by the next time we got anyone on base, we were trailing 10-3.

Doug Davis was ok: he allowed four runs over seven innings, on five hits and two walks, striking out six. It was basically one bad inning which undid him. At the plate, Arizona reached double-figures in hits, the same as the Cubs. Chris Young had three hits, all of them for extra-bases, while Drew reached safely twice, with a hit and a walk. Chris Snyder and Tony Clark each had home-runs, the latter a three-run shot in the eighth, that gave us a brief, feeble glimmer of hope - we even got the tying run to the on-deck circle in the ninth, but the final at-bat of the series was not one Chad Tracy will want to remember. We'll get to the Diamondbacks' offensive star of the game in a moment though.

[Click to enlarge, in new window]
Master of his domain: Conor Jackson, +26.8%
God-emperor of suck: Micah Owings, -21.2%
Dishonorable mentions: Reynolds, -15.7%; Davis, -12.8%

Not quite the turnout in the Gameday Thread seen for the first two games, though there were only minor contributions from a few regular participants, for one reason or another. And, obviously, there was a great deal of streaming for the exits towards the end of this one, as I'm sure we all found better things to do! Present were soco, unnamedDBacksfan, DbacksSkins, Diamondhacks, kishi, emilylovesthedbacks, AJforAZ, Wimb, snakecharmer, dahlian, NewJackCity, utahdbacksfan, Muu, Zephon, srdmad, AF DBacks Fanatic, hotclaws, Scrbl, TwinnerA, mrssoco and foulpole.

Speaking of the last-named, I have to say, this Gameday Thread also gave us what may be the most ridiculous comment of all time. In the eighth, after a single to left, Jackson threw to third to try and get the runner there, an admittedly ill-advised decision which allowed the batter to advance to second. The recently-returned foulpole pounced: "Where was CJ throwing there? He has a baseball IQ of negative i." [Sic] Needless to say, no acknowledgment was given to the fact that Jackson has played only 25 games in the majors at left, or was only there because the Face of the Franchise rushed back from the DL and wrecked his hamstrings. Nor was a single peep of approval heard from foulpole during any of the five times Jackson reached base safely during the game, on three hits and two walks. Let me be blunt about this: foulpole, if you've come back to spout the same BS as before, you might as well go away again. Thank you.

I think we'd all have been happy to take two out of three from the Cubs if it had been offered to us before the series started, even if we still haven't managed to win three in a row during a span of 59 games since May 16. The offense continues to score more runs - 57 over the past ten contests, which is back to around the level of production we saw in April, even if the wins aren't quite coming yet. After an off-day tomorrow, the Diamondbacks hit the road against the Giants and Padres, and I am looking for Arizona to take two of three in both those series - already eagerly anticipating the marquee pitching match-up on Saturday, between Webb and Lincecum.

Random Off-Day Thread and Lolback of the Week to follow in the morning.

Ted Lilly
LHP, 9-6, 4.49

Doug Davis
LHP, 3-4, 4.14

Baseball-Reference.com preview [opens in new window]

Some things never lose their comedic appeal. The Parrot Sketch is as fresh now as it was thirty years ago; Who's on First? is still comedy gold. And does any baseball fan - well, any fan whose team has won a World Series in the past 99 years - ever tire of seeing this?

No matter what may happen in the rest of Lilly's career - and he has actually been pretty good against Arizona - he will forever be remembered as a petulant Little Leaguer, throwing a temper tantrum. Wah! Wah! It just never fails to amuse.

Snark aside, Lilly actually did pretty well facing us last time [when I am pretty sure we posted the same pic] - he allowed one run in seven innings of work, and got the win. Not much track record against him for most of the team - Burke and Clark are the only ones with more than six at-bats. Clark will, I assume, get the start at first since it's a left-handed pitcher, even if his OBP against Lilly is a poor .238 [5-for-21, with no walks]. The most recent of those was back in 2004, however.

Doug Davis goes for Arizona, and we need a much better showing than we got last time out, where he lasted only three innings, though escaped with a no decision. We need him to go back to giving us quality starts, though the task is likely going to be made more difficult, with the scheduled return of Alfonso Soriano, who is only hitting .377/.403/.787 against lefties this year. That will be an undeniable boost to an offense batting .212 with an OPS of .610 in the five games since the break. More of that would be fine: the series is already in the bag, and we have another chance to put together our best winning streak in more than two months. That would be "three."

If Al can call Chase "Bank Holding Company Field", then I think we need to come up with an alternative name for Wrigley. That's especially since the naming rights will likely soon be sold - and wouldn't it be funny if they were bought by a bank? So, how should we start referring to Wrigley?
  Futility Field
  The House That Bartman Built
  Wanna Buy The Team? Park
  Century of Suckitude Stadium.
  Where Pennant Hopes Go to Die
  This Space for Rent Field
  The Theater oif Screams
Anyone got any more? And I have little doubt Al and his members will be able to come up with some more of their own for Chase!

Getting this one up very early - the Dodgers-Rockies game is already under way, since we'll be following that here as well. Colorado are 5-3 up in the fifth, so we hope for that to continue. I was actually offered tickets to this evening's game, but had to decline - I really need to get caught up at home tonight! Should be about to comment though, and hang out in the SnakePit Chatroom too.

You've probably noticed the Top 50 moments in franchise history that Fox Sports AZ have been running during the Diamondbacks games of late. I just got the list of the top ten - the order will be selected by viewer vote, through the D-backs site, beginning August 1st and running through that month.

Even the press release admits, "The number-one moment is undoubtedly a no-brainer," but how would you rank the others? And have they missed out any you'd think were worthy of mention?

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!

[Click to enlarge, in new window]
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.

Dbacks 5, Cubs 1. Going into the 8th inning. 'Nuff said. Close this one out, boys!!

Jason Marquis
RHP, 6-5, 4.44

Yusmeiro Petit
RHP, 0-1, 3.06

Baseball-Reference.com preview [opens in new window]

Huge win yesterday, as our number four starter shut out the Cubs, and combined with a converted starter and previously-wobbly reliever on a two-hitter. As measured by Game Score, Johnson's six innings of one-hit ball against Colorado, back in May 2007 passed it during his second term here. Curiously, over the four games since the All-Star break, we appear to have slid through a black hole and entered Bizarro World: we lose when we score four runs or more, and win only if we score three runs or less.

Today. we send the Petit Unit to the mound instead, with the decision that he will be replacing Micah Owings for today's start. Pwnings pitched yesterday in relief - though it seemed odd to burn him there [even pinch-hitting for him with Tony Clark] for one inning of work. One wonders if this is intended to be a semi-permanent move: Petit's only previous start also came as a spot one, in place of Owings, and he pitched very well, allowing one run in six innings against the Brewers.

Marquis is pitching on very long rest again - it's been eleven days since his last appearance, which came ten days after the one preceding that. It didn't seem to affect him last time, as he pitched seven shutout innings against the Giants. He faced us twice in 2007, getting one win and one loss, though the only D-backs with 10+ PA's against him haven't done too well. Tracy is 1-for-14, Hudson 1-for-10 and Burke 5-for-28. Chris Young, however, is 3-for-6 with three homers.

Somewhat prodded by the monumental off-topicness of recent Gameday Threads, we have introduced the SnakePit Chatroom, [no password needed] which will be running in parallel with the Thread. The aim it to offer a more "random" forum for the chit-chat, but it is not intended to divert people from the threads here [and if that ends up happening, we'll pursue another route]. There won't be any particularly  enforcement, but threads that drift too far from the game will be gently shepherded towards the chat room, where they can continue unfettered.

'Skins and 'Charmer will be about tonight, so hit them up with any questions. I won't be here, as we are off to see Eddie Izzard at the Orpheum Theater. I will therefore be relying on the thread for insightful commentary, beyond the box-score, which I can steal incorporate into the postgame recap. Let's hope Petit can be as effective as Johnson, and we can proceed to take the series, setting up a potential sweep tomorrow. That would be very nice.

The D'backs just traded Bonifacio to the Nats for P Jon Rauch. I just got the text from KTAR.

Link

[Tidied up and promoted to the front page. Here are my thoughts on the deal. Jim]

This looks to me like we just got Qualls v2.0. Before you cringe, let me point out that by this, I mean Rauch is a decent quality [ERA+ of 127, 117 and 144 over the past three years]  reliever, who throws a lot of innings and will be under our control for a relatively-long term.

In fact, he has the most innings in the majors of any "pure" reliever [90% or more of appearances in relief] since the start of 2006, and gives Arizona two of the top five:

The trade also means Randy Johnson is no longer the tallest player on the roster: if you remember the recent Washington series, you'll likely recall Rauch, who is listed at 6'11" and 291 lbs...

Losing Bonifacio does remove one of the major possibilities as far as replacing Hudson goes. If we don't re-sign the O-Dawg, we are going to have either to trade for someone or make a major shift in position for someone currently occupying another spot. But, for the moment, it certainly strengthens our pen, at the cost of someone who was only a fringe player on the current roster.

I got a couple of press releases today, announcing contests that might be of interest to folk here. Firstly:

Hey,  if you put on a good performance, you could find yourself in the bullpen by the end of the night. It goes on to say,  "Also available, for a limited time, is the See’s Summer Variety Box (1 lb. for $15.00) that includes Key Lime Truffle, Apple Pie Truffle, Cashew Brittle and more. This summer assortment will be a home run for summer hostess gifts or the ultimate sweet treat for tailgate parties." I can only presume this is intended for cooler climes than Phoenix: here, you would rapidly end up with a one-pound Variety Box of Key Lime, Apple Pie and Cashew flavored, sticky soup... :-) Chocolate and Arizona summers - not good for each other...

Also on the competition front, MLB.com is looking for a fan to guest host their The Dish program. Might be nice to get a Diamondbacks supporter on there - though I have a feeling we are probably relative long-shots, and it'll end up being a fan of the usual suspects, either the Evil Empire or the New England Yankees. Still, if you don't enter, you can't complain. Here is the info.