Diamondbacks vs Mets Series Wrap-up

The Diamondbacks finished up their 10 game road trip yesterday in New York with a 3-1 loss. It’s time for the ‘Good, Bad and the Ugly.’ The team finished this stretch with a 5-5 record, losing the last two series facing the Nationals and Mets. Their overall record falls to 14-15, 4 1/2 games back of the division leading Dodgers.

GOOD: The Bullpen. Working 8 2/3 innings over the 3 game set, the bullpen gave the Dbacks offense every chance to get their bats going- allowing 0 ER over that stretch. This includes Collmenter’s first relief appearance of 2012 with 3 scoreless innings after Patrick Corbin struggled to get out of the fourth. Collmenter did give up a 2-run single to Andres Torres-both runs charged to Corbin- but worked very effectively otherwise.

*The bullpen had a 1-2 record working 22 innings over the 10 game road trip allowing 8 earned runs- including a walk-off RBI single by Hanley Ramirez and a walk-off 2-run HR by Ian Desmond. Out of the 8 earned runs given up, 6 of those came in the Marlins series. Hopefully the recent success of the bullpen-9 2/3 scoreless streak- will carry over this week with two big series against the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals and division rival San Francisco Giants.

*Cody Ransom continues to cause problems for opposing pitchers going 3-6 with a 2-run HR, 3 RBI, and a run scored in the two games he played against the Mets. Ransom is hitting .344 on the season with 3 HR and 10 RBI. He has 7 RBI in his last five games played.

*John Mcdonald has also been swinging the bat very well, going 3 for 4 Saturday. He was 6 for 13 on the road trip and carries a .342 average into the upcoming homestand.

*Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan Roberts. I think we’re seeing a turnaround from these two. While Goldschmidt only had two hits over the weekend, they were critical. He had two 2-run doubles including a two out game tying double in the 8th inning on Friday. Roberts had his first multi-hit game since April 15th with a 2 for 3 performance Saturday including a 2 out homerun off of Johan Santana- his first since April 8th.

BAD: The Starting Pitching. While they weren’t horrible-or Ugly- they weren’t very effective overall. Over their 16 1/3 innings against the Mets they allowed 11 earned runs-collecting both of the losses.

Goldschmidt: I know I listed him as improving, but this is an interesting stat I wanted to separate. Goldschmidt has now gone 80 at-bats without a homerun. His last-and only- homerun of the year came off of Tim Lincecum in the first inning of Opening Day at Chase Field. If the Diamondbacks want to keep pace with the L.A. Dodgers they better get some more run production from their first baseman. Hopefully this last road trip got the kid going.

UGLY: Jason Kubel. Interestingly, since I posted my article on Kubel ‘heating up’ he has gone 3 for 23 with no HR or RBI. He was 0 for 10 against Mets pitching this weekend but did walk on 3 occasions.

*One Run Games. The Dbacks lost another one-run game Saturday to the Mets, 4-3. This was their 10th loss by one run- four of those coming on this last road trip. They have been on the winning side of one-run games five times this year. The offense has produced 2 or fewer runs in four of those one-run losses.

While the Diamondbacks have shown consistent inconsistency if nothing else, the team needs to string together some series wins. If the team can get the offense, starting pitching, and bullpen clicking on all cylinders-at the same time- this team is positioned for a win streak.

Tonights matchup could be one of the best of the week with Joe Saunders facing the 5-0 Lance Lynn of the Cardinals. Tune in at 6:40 p.m. MST.