The Arizona Diamondbacks, the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks, are back home from a successful 6-1 road trip. The Snakes took three of four from the Rockies and swept the Houston Astros thanks to two impressive come-from-behind games. That's how gritty teams do. They grind and never give up and when the game is over their uniforms are dirty and the manager is happy.
The Florida Marlins are going to be a pretty nice test. The Twins and Astros are one thing, but the Fish are 30-21 and just two games back from the Philadelphia Phillies (33-20). The Marlins will throw Chris Volstad (2-3, 5.40) on Monday against Joe Saunders (1-5, 4.65). Saunders has thrown a couple of good games recently and with the way the D-backs hit at home, if he can go six innings and keep it to four runs, the chances should be good.
Tuesday is the "Ace Day" with Ian Kennedy (6-1, 3.01) going against Anibal Sanchez (4-1, 2.60). That should be a fun pitchers' duel. Daniel Hudson (6-5, 4.13) goes Wednesday against Javier Vasquez (3-4, 6.02).
Monday's Memorial Day Game starts at 5:10 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona with the live game thread at AZ Snake Pit.
Here's more on the series:
Series Preview #19: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Florida Marlins - AZ Snake Pit
It has returned to Diamondback fans, after two seasons of being banished in favor of despair and Tankapalooza and vague "hopes for the future." ...It's fun, and it's not something I realized I ever lost until I found yourself rooting for a first-place team after two seasons with more than 90 losses.
And, you know what? The optimism is warranted, because this team is better than the last few incarnations. Sure, they've gotten a bit lucky over the past two weeks, but bad baseball teams don't go 14-2 over a given stretch...I'm not quite sure if I'm all the way on the optimism bandwagon, but my pessimism is wavering somewhat.