Road to NL West crown goes through Padres and Dodgers
Jul 11, 2011, 3:43 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
The Arizona Diamondbacks enter the All-Star break with a 49-43 record, just three games back of the first place Giants.
With eyes on their first division crown since 2007, Arizona’s schedule lines up pretty well in the second half of the season.
According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, 39 of the team’s final 70 games will be played in the friendly confines of Chase Field, while there are just 25 games left against teams with a record better than .500.
And that’s not all.
Noteworthy: Whether the Diamondbacks continue to press the Giants will depend a lot on their play against the San Diego Padres and Dodgers — they have 28 games against the Padres and Los Angeles.
Big Finish: The Diamondbacks end the season with nine consecutive home games.
The Diamondbacks have won just two of the five games they’ve played against San Diego this year and have only played the Dodgers three times (winning twice).
Still, the Padres and Dodgers, respectively, occupy the NL West’s cellar. Neither team has shown much life this year, and as the summer continues they may lack the motivation to compete with a team in the playoff race.
