After last week's debacle, this week's 4-3 record was totally welcome. The Arizona Diamondbacks mostly took care of business in series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, and Kansas City Royals. The D-backs offense was, overall, much better, but the team's starting pitchers continued to struggle.
Wade Miley didn't get the message, though. He was responsible for not one, but two impressive wins this week -- one against the Dodgers and one against the Royals. Willie Bloomquist gets Player of the Week honors for his consistency.
Bloomquist has been one of Arizona's most consistent hitters this season and that continued this week. He hit .458 in five games, with three RBI and four runs scored. He, of course, is not a power hitter, but he gets on base and has kept the team on the scoreboard in one way or another. When a team's superstars are struggling (Justin Upton) or injured (Chris Young), the team needs people who get on base and provide opportunities for others to score. Willie's the very embodiment of a lunch-pail player and the D-backs are a team desperately in need of those types of players.
And speaking of consistency, Wade Miley has provided quality starts almost every time out since coming up to replace injured Daniel Hudson. Miley improved his record to 5-1 with wins over L.A. and Kansas City. He shut out KC over seven innings and limited L.A. to one run in 6.2 innings pitched. He's making a great case to stay in the lineup even after Hudson's return, which will make for a very interesting roster decision for Kirk Gibson. Gibson hasn't necessarily been able to trust any other starter, even ace Ian Kennedy.
For those keeping count:
Player of the Week awards:
Parra (1), Kubel (1), Roberts (1), Goldschmidt (1), Bloomquist (1)
Pitcher of the Week awards:
Saunders (1), Cahill (1), Corbin (1), Miley (2)