The Arizona Diamondbacks enter Chase Field today hoping to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, making it their sixth straight loss. Arizona is currently 8.5 games out of first place and with only 32 games left on their schedule, manager Kirk Gibson knows the team is in, "do or die" mode.
"It has been (do or die)," Gibson said in his press conference before the game. "We've had a disappointing home stand. Nobody would expect us to play like that in this home stand. We've lost five in a row, we split with Miami (Marlins), we had a lead in one of those games. It just has not been a good home stand."
Gibson noted that during the series against the Padres, the longest any of his starting pitchers went was 5.1 innings. With that, extra pressure has been put on the bullpen for them to keep the D-backs in striking distance. Gibby also said that it just hasn't "been a trait" for this team to make comebacks this season. So when the Diamondbacks get down on the scoreboard early, it has been difficult for them to come back against closers and late inning bullpen pitchers.
Speaking of starting pitchers, the Diamondbacks will face a pretty good one today in Mat Latos. He is currently sporting a record of 10-4 with a 3.84 ERA. Even worse, Latos seems to excel in day games. This season, he is 4-0 with a 3.06 earned run average in daytime matches.
Other notes:
Willie Bloomquist is expected to play today and tomorrow at Salt River Fields, working towards his comeback to the major leagues. Josh Collmenter has look good as well and will do some more work in Los Angeles when the team travels to play the Dodgers. Gibson said we can still look at Saturday as a possible return for both players.
Gibson says that he has liked what he has seen from Jake Elmore, the young shortstop that was called up a few weeks back. Still, he has some pieces to his game that he needs to work on, as Gibson noted that he is still very "green". Oddly enough, Gibby said that Elmore might actually be a more natural second baseman. We'll see if that develops into anything.
Here are today's starting lineups:
Cincinnati Reds:
Zack Cozart (SS)
Drew Stubbs (CF)
Brandon Phillips (2B)
Jay Bruce (RF)
Todd Frazier (3B)
Chris Heisey (LF)
Miguel Cairo (1B)
Dioner Navarro (C)
Mat Latos (P, 10-4, 3.84)
Arizona Diamondbacks:
Chris Young (CF)
Aaron Hill (2B)
Jason Kubel (LF)
Paul Goldschmidt (1B)
Justin Upton (RF)
Ryan Wheeler (3B)
Jake Elmore (SS)
Wil Nieves (C)
Patrick Corbin (P, 5-5, 3.91)
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