Better win, I think…
The penultimate game of the regular season, and the Diamondbacks now have to get some help from the teams playing the Mets and Braves, if they are to make it into the post-season. More importantly, they will also need to do better themselves, after a game where they were playing catch-up before even coming to the plate. It has been the offense which has got them to playing meaningful baseball in Game #161, and it is likely going to be the offense which decides whether or not their season ends tomorrow. Last night, to their credit they didn’t give up after falling 4-0 down, and had the tying run at the plate in the seventh, eighth and ninth. But 1-for-7 with RISP doomed them.
On the mound, the team turns to Eduardo Rodriguez, and hopefully it will be the version we saw in Colorado, which was easily the best E-Rod has looked. On the other hand: he was facing the Rockies, and the Padres are tougher. Perhaps San Diego will take their foot off the gas a bit, since they are locked in as the #4 seed, and presumably won’t want to risk any injuries to key players before the wild-card series starts on Tuesday. Elsewhere, the Mets (in Milwaukee) and the Braves (hosting the Royals) will be getting under way 10-15 minutes before this gets posted, so I’m sure scoreboard watching will take place. Let’s hope Arizona takes care of their own business tonight, to keep realistic hope in play, one more day.