The Arizona Diamondbacks had their work cut out for them this week, going against two of the more surprisingly successful teams of the 2012 season: the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals. The D-backs kept their heads above water, but split the series against the Pirates and barely prevented a sweep at the hands of the Sir Stephen Strasburg and the Nats.
Arizona's bats and pitching were a little shaky, but they avoided losing too much ground in the NL West, thanks, in part, to Chris Johnson and Patrick Corbin, this week's Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
To be frank, Chris Johnson only gets the award this week for his stellar performance on Tuesday against Pittsburgh. In that game, he led a late rally by belting a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Those three runs weren't enough for Johnson: he went ahead and hit a two-run long ball in the ninth inning. So yeah, five runs isn't bad production for the newest Diamondback. He was pretty quiet the rest of the week, but that won't be help against him for this award.
Patrick Corbin has been consistently strong in his third major league stint of the season. This week, he had a win and a no-decision that should have been a win, allowing only two earned runs in each of those appearances, while also pitching at least six innings. Because he hasn't been impressive enough, he also managed seven strikeouts in each game. He has been a stabilizing presence as the D-backs' other young gun, Wade Miley, has struggled to find a win over the same stretch.
Let's take a look at the updated scores:
Player of the Week awards:
Parra (1), Kubel (2), Roberts (1), Goldschmidt (4), Bloomquist (1), Montero (3), Hill (4), Johnson (1)
Pitcher of the Week awards:
Saunders (1), Cahill (3), Corbin (3), Miley (5), Collmenter (2), Shaw (1), Kennedy (2)