Sweep success? A look at Arizona’s odd success following being swept
Jun 15, 2015, 12:10 PM | Updated: 12:11 pm
Who knew getting swept would be a good thing?
This season, the Arizona Diamondbacks have actually put together better results after they have been swept.
Maybe this is just an example of first-year manager Chip Hale’s ability to get his team to bounce back, but perhaps it is also just pure luck of the draw and another one of baseball’s oddities.
Arizona has won each of its five series following a sweep including three sweeps of their own. Here’s a breakdown of each of their series:
Exhibit A(pril):
April 24-26: Swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates at home
April 27-29: Arizona takes two of three games at home vs. Colorado
Exhibit B(elieve it):
May 1-3: Swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium
May 4-6: Sweep Rockies in two games at Coors Field (First two games postponed due to rain; First game to be played later, second and third games played in Wednesday doubleheader)
Exhibit C(razy):
May 15-17: Swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in three games at Citizen’s Bank Park
May 18-21: Sweep the Miami Marlins in four straight games at Marlins Park
Exhibit D(on’t deny it):
May 25-27: Arizona goes to Busch Stadium and comes back empty-handed after being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals
May 29-31: The D-backs go to Miller Park and take two out of three from the Milwaukee Brewers, losing in walk-off fashion in extras in the series finale.
Exhibit E(verybody better believe this trend!):
June 8-10: Sound familiar? Arizona is swept in three straight by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
June 12-14: Arizona puts together one of its best three-game pitching stretches this season, sweeping the Giants at AT&T Park.
So next time Arizona drops the first two games of a series, you might want to hope they get swept. Hale and Co. might just get you back next series.
Is this a trend that can continue? Only time will tell.
