Touch ‘Em All: D-backs swept by Cardinals

The night is always darkest before the dawn.

That’s what the Diamondbacks and their fans have to say to
themselves after their worst series of the season, a sweep
at the hands of the defending champion Cardinals.

Lets go ahead and start with Monday’s game…

Obviously, you don’t expect Joe Saunders to have a top-
five ERA in the Majors for the entire season. But you also
(I know I didn’t) don’t expect him to completely implode
on Monday. He had given up 5 earned runs in his first 5
starts… he gave up 5 earned runs in the first 12 batters
he saw on Monday.

Another thing you may not expect, especially with the way
the Diamondbacks had been starting out ball games early in
the season, was for the Snakes to be digging themselves
into big holes two games in a row. But that is exactly
what they did, as they fell 7-0 on Monday, and then fell
6-0 on Tuesday.

No team can realistically hope to come back from deficits
like that, even though the D-backs almost did on Monday.

For the third time this season on Tuesday, I’ve heard
these words come out of Ian Kennedy’s mouth, “I just
didn’t have it.”

I know sometimes players “have it” and sometimes they
don’t, but it seems like more often than not this season
Ian Kennedy hasn’t had it. Perhaps it is the fact that he
is now regarded as “the ace,” and teams give him their
best shot. That I don’t know, but whatever it is, Kennedy
needs to get his act together, because there really isn’t
a 1, a 2 or a 3 starter in this rotation right now, and
that is a huge problem.

But now for some good news, Chris Young took batting
practice Tuesday and looked pretty good. There still isn’t
an exact timetable for his return, but optimistically it
could be within the next few weeks.

One thing’s for sure… it can’t come soon enough.

Series Report Card

Record: F
The Diamondbacks were just swept. No game was particularly
close. Every game was ugly. This grade is really self-
explanatory.

Offense: D
The Diamondbacks offense was held scoreless in 23 of the
27 innings of this series. And although their 6-run sixth
inning on Monday tied a franchise record, their team
batting average has been hovering around the .250 mark for
a while now. It’s not a good thing when the two best
batting averages in Wednesday’s lineup were Wade Miley and
Lyle Overbay. Chris Young, get well soon.

Defense: B+
The defense continued to look good, as it has been the
only consistent bright spot for this team. The infield
saved the Diamondbacks from giving up more than the 18
runs they did with some nice double plays and a few great
individual plays.

Pitching: C
Joe Saunders came into the series with a 1.24 ERA. After
allowing 6 earned runs in just three and a third on
Monday, his ERA is now 2.50. Ian Kennedy came into the
series with a 3.23 ERA. After he allowed 6 earned runs his
ERA is now at 3.93. A few weeks ago, I was just worried
about the bullpen, now that Ian Kennedy has lost back-to-
back starts for the first time since 2010, I’m worried
about the starters too.

Managing: B
Kirk Gibson is doing what he can with his lineup. He’s had
a new one almost every single game this year. It’s not his
fault the team isn’t hitting, pitching or closing games.
But it will be soon if they don’t turn it around.

Series Awards

Play of the Series:
This series there is no play, but an inning that gets an
award. The sixth inning on Monday tied a franchise record
for runs and was the most alive I have seen the D-backs’
offense all season. The stadium was electric, and the way
the D-backs have been playing, that is something I haven’t
seen to much of.

The “Bye-Bye Baseball” Award:
This award goes to Cody Ransom for his absolute moon shot
of a home run in the sixth inning on Monday. The home run
measured at 452 feet and landed up in Friday’s Front Row.
Needless to say not too many players have hit the ball up
there. Kudos to you, Mr. Ransom.

Villain of the Series:
This series’ villain award goes to Cardinals right fielder
Carlos Beltran, his grand slam and 6 RBIs on
Tuesday single-handedly beat the Diamondbacks.

Kirk
Gibson Justin Upton Quote of the Series:
Usually I like to go with a quote from the skipper, but
this series no quote was better than what Justin Upton had
to say to reporters who were comparing this year to last
year’s D-backs team… “It’s not about last year, it’s about
this team this year going out and trying to win ballgames.
We can’t sit here and harp about last year about how well
we played and how we got ourselves out of a funk.”

Player of the Series:
With poor performances littered around the board, this
series will have a vacated player of the series award, as
I don’t feel that anyone deserves the award.

The “Dikembe Mutombo Finger Wag” Award:
This award goes to Cody Ransom. And before you say that he
got the “bye-bye baseball” award for his monster home run
on Monday, keep in mind that he struck out seven, yes
seven times on Monday and Tuesday. When I asked Kirk
Gibson about the struggles, he told me that
the Cardinals were just throwing a lot of sliders at him.
If Cody Ransom wants to even be considered as an every day
guy, he has to be able to hit a slider. But until he can,
I give him the Dikembe Mutombo Finger Wag.

Best Moment of the Series:
The best moment of this series was before first pitch on
Monday, when Lt. Col. Paul Aguirre who had been overseas
for over a
year caught, the first pitch from his kids and surprised
them with his return. It brought a tear to my eye and a
smile to my face. It was a great moment to behold.

The Road Ahead:
The Diamondbacks continue their short homestand with a
three-game series against the Giants. This series is
crucial for the D-backs, who have now lost 5 straight
games and are reeling at this point in the season.

Follow @Vincemarotta