Who knew I’d be rooting for Edwin Jackson again after his disappointing performance for the D-backs in his stint in Arizona? Image: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

I am betting that the Arizona Cardinals’ 4-0 start has distracted many Arizona fans from the disappointment of the D-backs’ season; but still, having a team, or individual players, to root for in the playoffs makes watching the playoffs sans the D-backs a tad more fun.

For me, I mostly root for NL teams once the D-backs are eliminated. I’m betting I’m not alone in that. So, who should D-backs fans root for out of the Giants, Reds, Cardinals, Nationals and Braves?

Obviously, the Giants are out. I mean, at least it’s not the Dodgers, but I can never bring myself to rooting for the Giants. I’d say the Cardinals are out. They won the series last year and I can’t imagine the hyperbole if they win again without Albert Pujols. So they’re out.

That leaves the Braves, Nationals and Reds. I could see rooting for the Braves. It is Chipper Jones’ swan song and it would be fun to see him make a run in his last year. But for me, I’ve also seen how the guy tweets (@RealCJ10), and I don’t want any of that in the World Series. Seriously, it’s like he has taken every single baseball cliché and smashed it into a single Twitter handle. I thought that was John Kruk’s job.

So that leaves the Reds and Nationals. I was having a hard time deciding between these two teams until I remembered Mat Latos pitched for the Reds. I  HATE that guy! Nats all the way! Okay, maybe that is purely personal feelings but I don’t care; because, if you DON’T hate that guy, you should!

Besides, the Nationals are just a fun story. They are built for a few years from now probably but their pitching is just way too good and it accelerated their time table. Yes, Stephen Strasburg is not pitching in the playoffs (how asinine is that?), but they still have Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez and surprisingly effective Edwin Jackson.

It would just be fun to watch them make a run to the series. Especially if the Orioles provide the second-biggest shock of the season (besides them actually making the playoffs), and meet the Nationals in the World Series. Can you imagine the hysteria in that part of the country? That would just be too much fun to NOT root for it. So, hop on the Nationals bandwagon and get some of the NATitude. On second thought, don’t use the word NATitude. Please. Seriously, stop saying it!

Other guys to root for: Ryan Roberts with the Rays and Jarrod Parker and Ryan Clark of the A’s. Obviously, all three guys were Diamondbacks at one point and I would like to see all of them succeed in the postseason.

June 17, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton (10) is caught in a run down in the third inning against Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols (5) at Angel Stadium. Image: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Record Notes: The Diamondbacks lost both series on the road trip, finishing up at 2-4. They now sit at 32-34 and are 9.5 back of the Dodgers. They are three games out of the second wild card spot behind the Atlanta Braves.

*The Dbacks won game one of the Angels series only to lose the final two games. It is the sixth series this season that they have won game one and then lost the final two contests.

*In their last seven losses the club has scored a total of three runs and have been shutout four times.

*Of their 34 losses, they have been held to one or fewer runs 17 times. They’ve plated two or fewer runs in 23 of their 34 losses.

GOOD: Starting Pitching. The starting rotation was excellent in this series allowing just four earned runs over twenty-one innings of work. They were able to keep the offense in the game all weekend and held the Angels to a 1 for 15 success rate with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, they were hurt by the long ball. Joe Saunders’ only two runs allowed came on a homerun in the first inning off the bat of left fielder Mark Trumbo. Albert Pujols would hit a solo shot off of Kennedy on Sunday that would be enough run support for the Angels.

*Trevor Cahill has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in the month of June posting a 3-0 record and .77 ERA including a complete game shutout. It is Cahill’s best three game stretch since April 17-23^rd 2011, where he went 21 IP allowing just 2 earned runs. This has been a pleasant surprise out of the new Diamondback as he struggled most of the way through April and May.

*Bullpen. The bullpen worked four innings of shutout ball this weekend with Ziegler throwing a pair of shutout innings in relief. It was the second series in their last four that the bullpen didn’t allow an earned run.

*Overall the team has to be very pleased with the way they held this potent offense in check. Their three hottest hitters: Mike Trout, Pujols and Trumbo were a combined 4 for 35 with 10 strikeouts. Unfortunately, three of those hits went for extra bases and accounted for all of the Angels runs on Saturday and Sunday. Still, if the pitching staff can be consistent with these numbers moving forward, they will be able to compete with any team they face.

BAD: I could probably list just about every Diamondback to pick up a bat this weekend aside from Kubel and maybe Upton but it’s not worth the space it would take up on this article. And I want to save that for the next section.

* Leadoff Spot. Well, he finally did it- he had someone hit leadoff in consecutive games. Chris Young led off the final game of the Rangers series and then the first two games of the Angels series. He went 1 for 8 in the Angels series and 1 for 13 in the three consecutive games. Not exactly the best way to gain momentum early on. Including Bloomquist’s day on Sunday at leadoff the team was 2 for 12 in that spot against the Angels. In the last two series they are 3 for 24 filling that role.

* For the record: Bloomquist has the most starts as the leadoff man with a .263 average on 133 at bats- he’s hitting .365 in the two slot. The next most at bats as a leadoff is Gerardo Parra who has fared quite well posting a .315 average and .407 on base percentage in 73 at bats. But I say we keep switching it up everyday just so no one can game plan against Gibby’s strategy. Consistency is overrated.

*Being one-hit by Ervin Santana was pretty embarrassing. Yes, the guy has thrown a no-hitter before but he has been HORRIBLE this season. In his last four starts leading up to Saturday’s near perfect game he had given up 23 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings with six homeruns allowed and FIFTEEN walks! Those numbers are nearly enough to lose your spot in the rotation and I’m not taking a small sample size to prove my point- he is 4-7 with a 5.16 ERA on the year. We never managed to touch second base safely in the game and honestly never really contested the no-no until Upton’s single in the seventh. Too many fly ball outs.

UGLY: Did I mention this team has been shutout four times in their last twelve games? What about being shutout three times in their last five games? It’s good for the Dbacks to face some solid competition and very encouraging the way the pitchers were able to be so effective against two of the best lineups in baseball but the way the offense fell flat on their faces is disconcerting if nothing else. Here are a couple culprits:

*Chris Young is in a six-week slump right now and getting more and more frustrated by the day. He was 1 for 11 in the series and has just one RBI in his last twenty-two games. He has yet to hit a homerun since he returned from the DL- a span of 23 games. His biggest problem this season has been his inability to get on base against right handed pitching. He is now batting just .193 vs. righties while he is hammering left handed pitching at a .333 clip. This may be an opportunity to get Parra his at bats if Young keeps struggling against righties.

*Gerardo Parra finished the Angels series 0 for 8 and has just two hits in his last eighteen at bats.

*Paul Goldschmidt got cold real quick after being one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball for about two weeks. He was 1 for 7 against the Angels and since his 17 game hit streak was snapped he has gone 1 for 14 with 0 walks, 0 RBI’s, and 0 extra base hits.

NOTES: For perspective, the Angels have now won 7 of 9 and 18 of 24 overall. They’re rolling. They’ve also posted the most shutouts in all of baseball with nine. Something to keep in mind before we get too down on the lousy series.

*The Diamondbacks offense are riding a 21 consecutive scoreless streak into their series starting Monday against the Mariners.

*Sunday was the second time this month they were shutout by a rookie pitcher. On June 4^th, Rockies pitcher Christian Friedrich held the Dbacks scoreless in a 4-0 Rockies win. Both Friedrich and Angels’ rookie Garrett Richards were making their sixth career start when they beat the Diamondbacks.

*Justin Upton Homerun Watch continues into another series as he failed to go yard again. The streak extends to 19 consecutive games now and he’s now gone seven straight games without an RBI, extra base hit, or walk. Again, that’s our number three hitter. –To be fair, he was 4 for 12 in the Angels series.

*The team returns to Chase Field to play the Seattle Mariners (29-39) on Monday and the Chicago Cubs (22-44) over the weekend. Given their recent success at home, this team needs to win both series and could very well pull off at least one sweep.

Now bring on the M’s!!

Follow me on Twitter at @ndougherty313 and our team at @venomstrikes.

Garrett Richards allowed only four hits through eight innings, without giving up a run. Although he walked four batters, he was able to get out of sticky situations all game, while striking out five batters.

The Diamondbacks’ offense continued a cold streak, collecting only five hits in the last two games combined. They were able to get baserunners aboard by collecting a good number of walks, but were 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base ball night.

Ian Kennedy bounced back from a rough outing agains Texas by allowing only six hits and two runs over eight innings of work. A fourth inning solo home run by Albert Pujols and an RBI double by Mike Trout were the only offensive highlights for the halos, who were able to take two of three from the boys.

With the loss, the team finished the road trip at 2-4. Wade Miley will take the mound Monday night as the D-backs return home to open a three game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners.