First of all, the Arizona Diamondbacks are now 0-4 when my MLB.TV coverage is choppy and slow on my computer. Are the losses related to the coverage? I think so. About an hour ago, Arizona dropped game one of a three game set with the Yankees by a score of 4-2 in front of close to 35,000 in the Bronx. Aside from A.J. Pollock having a nice night offensively, there was really nothing to write home about. There seemed to be a weird feeling in the air in New York. I can’t really explain it, but it just felt strange.

There was some miscommunication in this game, but at least somebody caught it.This pretty much explains the night in NY.

There just was not a lot of life coming from Arizona tonight. I think I need another hand to count the number of times a player popped out to an infielder. The Yankees deserved to win this game because although Brandon McCarthy had a fairly good outing, the Robinson Cano HR left the team in shambles and they went out with a whimper. Maybe I’ve become snooty and expect this team to come back in games like they did in Milwaukee, but in reality, that won’t happen. I think I will be re-living the Eric Hinske pinch-hit home run the entire season. It’s just one game but inter league play is a fun time and I like W’s! The vibe was just off tonight. Maybe I’m the only one that felt it but whatever it was, I didn’t like it.

The Diamondbacks dropped to 8-5 on the season and are 1-6 vs the Yanks in New York. Wade Miley goes tomorrow against C.C. Sabathia. I say we regroup, focus in, and grab a win tomorrow. On a somewhat related side note, I have loved watching Gerardo Parra play every day. He has really improved defensively and it will be interesting to see what happens with him come 4-5 weeks from now.

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Wade Miley will start the middle game of the three game set in the Bronx. Image: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Truth be told, I haven’t been as big a Bombers fan as I was ten years ago.  Simply put, the tearing down of (Old and Real) Yankee Stadium was an almost unforgivable act.  I haven’t been to the new place yet and I don’t plan on going any time soon.  Some might say it is time to let it go and I have thought about that recently.  However, it is hard for me to get over the fact that the greatest sporting arena in our country’s history does not stand anymore all because there needed to be an additional 100 luxury suites.   I don’t want to hear that parts of the old ballpark were deteriorating badly and that the amenities were not like newer ballparks.  You don’t dump Baseball’s Cathedral because there were cracks behind a concession stand or that a Hard Rock Cafe was needed to enhance the baseball experience at the Stadium.  Despite this, I can’t turn my back on a team that I grew up with, a team that gave me such great joy over the years and such magical Stadium experiences such as Game 4 of the 1999 World Series.  Though I do not cheer as passionately as I used to, I can never root against them even if my heart continues to break over the stadium issue. 

Then we have the D’backs, the team I write for yet the same team that inflicted one of the greatest punishments in my sports history.  The ending of the 2001 World Series sent me into a fog over the next two days as driving to and from work I would alternate between, “Did that really happen”, and “I can’t believe that happened”.  Losing the 2004 ALCS to the Boston Red Sox doesn’t even come close.   The birth of my child was only weeks away and I felt good for certain long-suffering Sox fans such as an uncle who passed away shortly after Boston won the World Series.  2001 was so painful because the Yanks were so close to making it four consecutive WS victories, something that will never, ever happen in my lifetime.  So here I am ten years later writing for the D’backs and I have to tell you I have had a blast doing it.  I get to dig up facts and cover a team that is still relatively new to Major League Baseball.    While I know a World Series victory in this year or in any other future year would be sweeter for those who were fans from Day One (such as my cohorts here at venomstrikes), I would nonetheless take some satisfaction in a Snakes’ victory.  Covering the D’backs is also a good excuse to buy the Extra Innings package.  Plus, who doesn’t dream about Arizona when it’s 20 degrees outside with six inches of snow on the ground?

In spite of my duel loyalties, this will be a fun series to watch.  The D’backs look to continue their fast start while the Yanks seem to have found a groove.  As far as predictions go, the teams will split the first two games while the last one will be decided in extra innings.  Is this a bit of a cop-out?  You bet it is.  What else would you expect from a guy who roots for two different teams?

What are your predictions for this series?

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Last season for example, everybody thought that Boston would be great and Baltimore would be terrible – in reality, it was the complete opposite and skewed the so-called pre-season strength of schedule.

That being said, looking at the Diamondbacks’ 2013 schedule, the powers-that-be seemed to do no favors for the Snakes.

The D’backs face the entire NL East – a division notoriously difficult and only seems to be even more so in 2013 – and then the Rangers in interleague play.

Those six teams combined to average 85.5 games in 2012, equivalent to a .528 winning percentage. Those numbers are slightly dragged down by Toronto’s 73 wins and Boston’s 69 wins, who both should be improved in 2013 – especially Toronto with all of their big additions this offseason.

So, if the AL East is once again the best division in baseball, by a pretty wide margin, the D’backs will face at least four really good squads there. In addition, Texas is a possibility to falter with the off-season attrition in their roster, but it’s not a good bet, either.

Regardless, its a tough road to plow in 2013 in interleague play and those 20 difficult games, in which the D’backs would be happy going .500, could be the difference between a wild card spot and out of the playoffs.

Just something fun to look at with no real meaning towards what might happen in 2013 is the fact that the D’backs and Blue Jays have only played nine times before. The D’backs have a slight edge with five wins and four losses. In addition, the Diamondbacks best statistical record against any team is their 9-3 mark against the Orioles. That’s where the success in the NL East stops though as the D-backs are 5-7 verse the Sox, 4-8 against the Rays and a putrid 3-9 in contests with the Yanks.

And their 8-17 against the Rangers isn’t very good, either. A full list of the D’backs all-time records against the 29 other teams can be found here.

The biggest stretch of the D’backs schedule as it looks right now, is the final month of the season. The Snakes play 14 of their last 30 games against the Dodgers and Giants – seven games against each club – presumably, the two teams the D’backs will have to surpass to win the NL West. Series against the Blue Jays, Rockies, Padres and Nationals make up the remaining 16 contests in September.

Venom Strikes’ Thomas Lynch takes a broader look at the schedule here, in which he highlights some of the quirks in the D’backs schedule because of the interleague play.