Losers of six straights games, the Arizona Diamondbacks will now head out onto the road to take on each of their California based NL West rivals. First up are the new look Dodgers, who are currently the team ahead of the D-backs in the standings. It's going to take a series win in their next series for the Diamondbacks to even think they stand a chance to make the playoffs, but it sounds as if they haven't thrown in the towel just yet.
Arizona has been in "do or die" mode for a while now, according to manager Kirk Gibson. "We had a terrible home stand. We scored 13 runs in our last six games, in the games we've lost. Not a lot is going right. It's not a good feeling. Everybody's searching and the more you search, the tougher it gets at times... Nobody feels sorry for us, we don't feel sorry for ourselves. That's part of what we signed up for."
Still, there is a lack of energy, according to pitcher Patrick Corbin. There just doesn't seem to be the type of fire that the team had this time one year ago. Instead of chasing a pennant, the Diamondbacks find themselves trying to stay alive in the race.
"We've been fighting all year. We're not going to let down at all and we're just going to go out there and continue what we're doing. We need to get some W's," Corbin said.
When asked about the passion the team has and the apparent lack of it, Corbin seemed to feel it as well. "I would say so," Corbin responded to the question about a lack of energy. "We just haven't been able to put some wins on the board and whether it's our pitching or hitting, it's not all clicking right now. And I know we have the team that can do it and we've shown [that] throughout this year. We've just got to keep it going and keep grinding and just go out there and play the best we can."
Despite all of the hardships the Diamondbacks face, their leader, Kirk Gibson, still has a sense of optimism.
"We need to stop that [losing] streak right now. We need to get that feeling back."