It seems like a pretty discouraging week for the Arizona Diamondbacks, even though they came out of it with three wins, three losses. They did win two of three against the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, but then they lost two of three against the San Diego Padres, against whom the D-backs have just had a tough time this season. The Snakes are a perplexing team in 2012, and this week did a fine job showing that. The standout young pitching they were getting is starting to fade some (Wade Miley, Patrick Corbin, and Tyler Skaggs have all been struggling) and the offense still hasn't found consistency.
But the best part of the week was seeing the inspired performances of newcomer Adam Eaton. He's the team's Player of the Week. Pitcher of the Week belongs to Trevor Cahill for his almost-no-hitter against the Giants.
Eaton, the D-backs newest call-up, made the Big League jump on Tuesday and had two hits in his first game. But that wasn't impressive enough. He had to go and hit .400 for the week. Though he didn't generate any RBIs or home runs, he scored six times and had a hit in every game in which he played, averaging two per. It's likely that he was called up because the D-backs season is basically over and the team wants to check out their youngsters, but he's making the most of his time so far -- particularly with plays like this. Just listen to how excited Greg Schulte was about that play.
While Eaton has so far outplayed expectations, Trevor Cahill has had a mostly underwhelming season. But he almost got himself a no-hitter on Wednesday. He carried the no-no into the seventh inning before two hits and a walk loaded the bases and he was taken from the game. He kind of almost had himself a perfect game too, but that was kaput with a walk allowed in the sixth. Cahill's main issue seems to be that he can't remain in command through an entire outing. He tends to have a bad inning or two in every start and it's marred his spots of greatness. But this week, he got the win against tough competition, despite there being very little hope for the playoffs these days.
For those keeping track at home, here are the total scores:
Player of the Week awards:
Hill (6), Goldschmidt (4), Montero (3), Kubel (2), Parra (1), Roberts (1), Bloomquist (1), Johnson (1), Young (1), Eaton (1)
Pitcher of the Week awards:
Miley (7), Cahill (4), Corbin (3), Collmenter (2), Kennedy (2), Saunders (1), Shaw (1), Hernandez (1)