Dead Tired
All the hype to this series touted that it would be a match-up between the top two teams in the National League West to decide who would have the upper-hand down the stretch run for the divisional title. Before the season began these two teams were picked to duke it out in what was expected to be the most difficult division in baseball. Instead what we have are two teams that look exhausted. They are both coming off road series against last place teams and both were just swept by those last place opponents. The Arizona Diamondbacks were just soundly beaten by the San Diego Padres while the Los Angeles Dodgers were just taken to task by the Washington Nationals. You could have easily made the argument that these teams were battling for the rights to the first overall pick in next year’s amateur draft and few people would have contradicted you.
So when both teams are playing as poorly as this you have to wonder if it is a question of who wants to win the division or is it more a matter of who doesn’t want to lose it? Both of these teams have been decimated by injury this season. The Dodgers have lost much of their starting rotation at one time or another and are now without the services of their starting shortstop. The Diamondbacks have also been hampered losing their starting left fielder, their number 5 starting pitcher, and now their gold glove second baseman. To their credit neither manager nor the players have made injuries a scapegoat to explain away the mediocre play that the teams have been exhibiting lately.
To the credit of each organization the general managers of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks have both gone out and attempted to help their club overcome the deficiencies that have plagued them. The Dodgers made the biggest splash before the trading deadline getting a starting third baseman and left fielder both of whom can provide the offense necessary to carry a team into the post season. The Diamondbacks countered by getting a end-of-game reliever to shore up their lagging bullpen and a power hitting outfielder to provide a true pop in their otherwise inconsistent offensive line-up.
When the game began tonight no one was quite sure what would happen. Would these two teams duke it out with an offensive barrage or would they whimper through the game struggling to get runners across the plate? For the first half of the game it looked as though it would be the latter rather than the former. But as the bullpens were called upon it was clear that the Diamondbacks had the advantage even if just for one night.
Arizona relievers allowed just one run over 4 innings of work shutting down the Dodger hitters. The Diamondbacks on the other hand touched the Los Angeles bullpen for 5 runs in 3 innings of work giving Arizona a 9-3 lead which extended their hold on first place. With the next two games featuring all-star pitchers Dan Haren and Brandon Webb the advantage definitely had swung to the Arizona side.
