Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew (6) (right) shakes hands with third base coach Matt Williams (9) after hitting a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Image: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

Record Notes: With the loss on Sunday the team dropped its record to 55-53 and fell four games behind the Giants as both the Dodgers and Giants swept their opponents over the weekend.

*The offense was shutout on Saturday 4-0 marking the sixth time this season they have been shutout- all after June 4th.

*Of their ten losses in the second half, in eight of them the offense has plated two or fewer runs. It was the 37th time in their 53 losses that they were held to two or fewer runs.

*With Sunday’s 5-4 walk-off loss the Dbacks fell to 8-15 in one run games- a year ago this team was 28-16 in one run games.

GOOD: Starting Pitching. All three starters put together quality starts over the weekend and have now had six straight quality starts going 4-1 in those games. There were a couple mental mistakes that cost them including a bases loaded walk in the fourth by Joe Saunders to make it 2-0 on Saturday and on Sunday when Trevor Cahill threw a wild pitch with runners on second and third to cut his lead to 3-2 after the Dbacks put up three runs in the top half of the second inning.

*Ian Kennedy won his fourth straight start on Friday night hurling six innings and allowing just two earned runs. Kennedy retired just one batter via the strikeout marking the first time he was credited with a win and recorded just one strikeout since he did so against the Mets on July 19th, 2010. He had one strikeout against the Cardinals in April 2011 but lasted only three innings while getting pounded for nine earned runs. It was also his fourth straight quality start improving his record in the second half to 4-1. Two side notes about Kennedy that shows he still isn’t the ace we grew accustomed to last year: he hit his tenth batter on Friday night matching a career high set in 2010 and also allowed his 19th homerun on the year matching last years total. His career high for homeruns allowed is 26 set in 2010.

*J.J. Putz recorded his 11th straight save on Friday night closing out a perfect evening where the relievers threw three shutout innings without allowing a hit. It was Putz’s 20th save on the year marking the second consecutive year with 20+ saves. After a dismal start to his season that saw his ERA balloon to over 10.00, the closer has not allowed an earned run since June 19th when he took the loss against the Mariners allowing two ninth inning runs- a span of 13 consecutive scoreless innings.

*Chris Johnson is making sure his series against the Dodgers wasn’t a fluke as he added another RBI single on Friday and smashed a two run homerun off of Cliff Lee on Sunday. He is hitting .381 with three homeruns and 10 RBI’s in his first six games as a Diamondback.

BAD: Aaron Hill has cooled off over the last couple weeks and has not recorded an RBI in his last six games while benefiting from only one multi-hit game in his last thirteen efforts. He also hasn’t homered in his last fourteen games.

*Jason Kubel continues to struggle as he is now 6 for his last 38 (.158) with 16 strikeouts and just one RBI. He hit his first homerun in his last eight games- a solo shot- on Friday night but is clearly not seeing the ball very well with his high strikeout count and low walk count (6) during the stretch.

UGLY: I’m convinced Gerardo Parra is the worst base runner on the Dbacks. He just may be the fastest Dback but he is certainly not the smartest base runner on the team. The situation: Saturday night trailing 2-0 in the eighth- after Halladay dominated the team all night- was replaced by Josh Lindblom who then retired the first two batters of the eighth (both strikeouts) before walking Parra on four pitches. Drew is up- last two at bats: single and a double- and on a 1-1 count Parra takes off for second (with a red light) and is caught stealing to end the eighth. True, Parra on base doesn’t automatically mean that he scores and the team comes back to tie it but it certainly doesn’t leave any opportunity for a guy who was swinging the bat well. Again, poor decisions keep running the Dbacks out of innings- this time it just may have cost them the game.

*Mike Zagurski failed to make it through the eighth on Saturday night as he allowed two of the first three hitters to reach base with singles before being pulled for Matt Albers- his first appearance as a Dback- and Albers couldn’t close out the inning either allowing a two out single and Zagurski being credited with the run making it 3-0 heading into the ninth. It was the second time in Zagurski’s last three appearances that he failed to make it out of the inning.

NOTES: Paul Goldschmidt hit his 16th homerun on the year Sunday afternoon- his third in the last six games- and is the last man standing with a .300+ batting average on the ballclub. Just over one week ago there were four hitting .300 or better.

*Stephen Drew connected on Sunday for his first homerun of the year and first since June 29, 2011. It was also Drew’s first RBI in his last eleven games. Still, Drew is swinging the bat very well despite his average.

*Henry Blanco was hurt in Sunday’s eighth inning and has been placed on the 15 day DL with a sprained thumb. He left the team to return to Arizona for an MRI Monday- Blanco believes there is ligament damage which could end his season.

*To combat the injury, the Dbacks have signed 34 year old catcher Wil Nieves off of waivers from the Rockies.

*Justin Upton hit his 100th career homerun on Friday night and later that evening his older brother B.J. Upton mashed his 100th career homerun into the seats. Upton led the Dbacks with six hits against the Phillies over the weekend.

*David Hernandez left with an injury to his calf after being hit with a line drive Sunday afternoon but it isn’t believed to be serious and may be available as early as Tuesday night.

*The Diamondbacks travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates Monday night for the start of a four game set. The Pirates are a N.L. best 33-16 at home this season while the Dbacks are 25-29 on the road.

Now bring on the Buccos!!!

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

July 1, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pinch runner Carlos Gomez (27) steals 2nd base and advance to 3rd base when ball gets past Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill (2) in the ninth inning at Miller Park. Image: Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

Record Notes: With the loss on Sunday, the team has now dropped four consecutive road series and hold a 19-22 record on the road overall. They finished their current road trip at 2-4 winning just one in each series against the Braves and Brewers.

*The team is now 13-2 in their last fifteen series-ending games after losing Sunday.

*As a whole, the month of June was good to the Diamondbacks as they improved their record from 23-29 on June 1st to 39-38 on the 30th- a 16-9 June record that allowed them go gain four whole games on the first place spot which also changed with the Dodgers falling to second place.

*The club also outscored their opponents 134-89 on the month giving them a +13 run differential on the season.

GOOD: Ian Kennedy got his first win against the Brewers in his last four attempts- including playoffs- and he pitched well in doing so. The right hander threw seven solid innings of work allowing 3 runs- 1 earned- while striking out seven and he did not allow a homerun for the first time in four starts. The two unearned runs came thanks to an errant throw by Kennedy with two outs in the sixth eventually allowing the two runners on to score. It was a nice win for Kennedy and one that allowed him to finish June at 2-2 after finishing May at a dismal 1-5.

*Of his six wins on the season, he has held his opponents homer-less in five of those- only on opening day did he record a win while allowing a homerun.

*Aaron Hill made history on Friday night posting his second cycle in eleven days and becoming only the second player since 1900 to record such a feat- the other was Babe Herman in 1931 with Brooklyn. Even more impressive is Hill had his second cycle by the sixth inning in just four at bats and his double in the first inning gave the 30 year old his 1,000 career hit. Hill continues to create havoc at the plate and has raised his season average to .300 after going 6 for 13 in the series. He is also up for vote to fill the final roster spot on the N.L. All-Star team. Cast your vote here- polls close Thursday. 

*Josh Collmenter was given a second chance in the starting rotation on Sunday to face the Brewers- a team he has dominated over his career allowing just one earned run in 14 1/3 innings heading into his start yesterday. He certainly didn’t disappoint allowing just one earned run while scattering three hits over six innings of work. He didn’t issue a walk while striking out five Brewers. He has now allowed just two earned runs in his last 21 1/3 innings (.85 ERA). Whether or not Collmenter will be starting Friday night against the Dodgers is unknown but he has at least earned the consideration as he has been arguably the most consistent pitcher on the team since the start of May.

*Paul Goldschmidt finished Friday night just a triple short of the cycle on his way to his first career four hit night. The first baseman had a pair of doubles and a three run homerun in the effort. He had recorded five three hit nights in 2012 before capping off his perfect four hit night Friday.

BAD: RISP. The offense had a difficult time collecting hits with runners in scoring position all weekend and were 0 for 13 on Saturday and Sunday combined. Over the three game set the team was just 5 for 28 (.179) and the team certainly had opportunities to create some runs in the series but couldn’t capitalize.

*Strikeouts. The strikeout was out in full force for the Dbacks offense this weekend going down on strikes 35 times in the three games- including 16 in Saturday’s loss. In Saturday’s game 10 of their last 15 outs were via the strikeout and they recorded at least one strikeout in all nine innings. Sunday included nine strikeouts but the biggest of all came with the bases loaded in the seventh with -one would think- the exact hitter you would want up but Upton went down swinging to end the inning without a run.

*Justin Upton finished the series just 1 for 10 but did walk twice and steal a base. On the season he is 4 for 21 (.190) against the Brewers without an extra base hit and just two RBI’s. Again, the bases loaded strikeout killed a seventh inning rally and could have won the series for the team. It was the second consecutive bases loaded strikeout for Upton- the other came at Chase Field against while facing the Mariners. Still, Upton finished the month of June with a .333 average and an on base percentage of .396. If the 24 year old can find the power numbers we enjoyed last season, he may just be poised for another all-star caliber second half.

*Stephen Drew has just 2 hits in his first 15 at bats with five strikeouts since returning from the D.L. This is obviously nothing to worry about as he is surely working through some of the kinks in his swing as well as just getting comfortable being back in the big leagues playing more often. Expect a solid July from Drew as his swing evens out and he starts driving balls to the gap again for extra bases.

UGLY: Chris Young is again at the bottom of the breakdown as he finished the first two games of the series 0 for 8 with five strikeouts. His average has dropped to an unfortunate .214 and the center fielder has to be looking forward to the All-Star break to try to regroup for the second half grind. June was a struggle for Young as he finished with just 11 hits in 77 at bats while striking out 25 times. Young continues to struggle vs. right handed pitching and perhaps Gibson is going to start to play into that as he sat Young on Sunday to allow the left handed hitting Gerardo Parra in the lineup to face the right handed Gallardo. On the season he is batting a paltry .163 in 104 at bats against righties but .320 when facing lefties. Parra has hit righties at a .286 clip this season.

*Wade Miley was roughed up in what was his worst start as a major leaguer on Saturday giving up eight earned runs on three homeruns in just 3 2/3 innings. He had never given up more than one homerun in a start and had only given up one run in each of his last four starts before Saturday’s slip up. Considering Miley has been so good all season- and against teams of all levels- I wouldn’t read too much into this start. On Sunday, Miley was elected to his first All-Star team to be held in Kansas City next week.

*Baserunning. Technically the team was 2 of 3 in steal attempts this series but when Willie Bloomquist took off for second with two outs in the ninth inning Sunday it was a crucial situation- one in which Bloomquist was gunned down with room to spare- ending any threat the team may have been able to muster up. It was the eighth time this season Bloomquist has been caught stealing and the thirtieth time on the year as a team- worst in all of baseball. Their stealing percentage is a laughable 61%- also worst in the major leagues. Again, there’s a difference between being aggressive and just plain reckless and the Dbacks seem to be struggling with that line.

*Defense. The Diamondbacks defense has been excellent all season and they are first in the National League in fielding percentage but it failed them this weekend on a few occasions. The most obvious would be the throwing error in the ninth inning Sunday by Montero that ended up in center field allowing Parra a shot at Carlos Gomez heading to third on the play- but he proceeded to throw the ball in the dirt, it bounced off of Gomez’s back and into the stands allowing the winning run to score. The team had four errors in the series and now have seven errors in their last five games. Prior to these five games the team had committed just one error in their previous thirteen games including a stretch of seven consecutive games without an error.

NOTES: *The Diamondbacks hit a homerun for the 12th consecutive game on Sunday- a season high.

*Jason Kubel’s solo homerun in the eighth inning Sunday marked the second time on the six game road trip that his homerun provided the lone run for the team. He also hit a solo home run against the Braves on June 26th.

*The team heads home to Chase Field to play three against the San Diego Padres before finishing up the first half of the season against the L.A. Dodgers in a four game set over the weekend. Once again, the team is faced with a make-or-break series and we’ll have to wait and see how they respond.

Now bring on the Padres!!

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