The Arizona Diamondbacks have continued their season-long Jekyll and Hyde act by dropping the first two games in a four game set against the Miami Marlins. Just when we thought the team had finally turned the corner after their amazing win last Thursday in St. Louis and following it up with a three game sweep in Houston, the D-Backs laid two eggs against the under-achieving Fish. Last night’s 6-5 loss in 10 innings was just the latest in a 2012 campaign full of utterly depressing defeats.
Perhaps Joe Saunders typifies the frustration that has to be felt by both fans and players. The 31 year old lefty, who once won 17 and 16 games in back-to-back seasons, has had a rough season so far with a 6-10 record and a 4.24 ERA. On Monday, he held the Marlins scoreless through three innings before unraveling in the fourth frame. Saunders gave up three of the softest singles you will ever see then two of the longest home runs of the year. When the inning finished, Miami had scored nine runs on ten hits. This was the same Marlin team that Saunders had tossed a three hit shutout against on April 27th.
While the blown five run lead was bad, perhaps the July 19th loss to the Reds was worse. Arizona had a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth and promptly surrendered three runs followed by four the next inning to lose 7-6. Arizona had a chance to take three of four against one of the best teams in baseball after getting swept by one of the worst teams in baseball, the Cubs. Coincidentally, Joe Saunders was the starting pitcher in this debacle.
I have been guilty of making numerous positive proclamations regarding the Arizona Diamondbacks this season. In fact one of those came just two days ago. While I still feel the Snakes have a chance to win the National League West, I am through making any more predictions. I will just wait and see how the rest of this yo-yo season will play out.
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