Hey Cincinnati, how does that Diamondbacks' a$& taste? OK, it may be a bit too soon for hyperbolic celebration but another win over the mighty Reds (9-8) is definitely cause for celebration in Arizona. It's been a long, hot, dry spell of bad baseball in the desert and you better believe we are going to cling to any signs of progress. Shoots of green hope come from unlikely sources, Ryan Roberts for example, but a win is a win is a very nice win in Game 1.
Today the series continues with each team's soft-throwing ace on the mound. Ian Kennedy (1-1, 6.88) will face Bronson Arroyo (2-1, 4.24) in a battle of curve ball versus changeup. May the best junk win.
Kennedy is coming off his worst start of the season where he gave up nine runs in just three innings in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Of course, that start came on top of his best outing where he went eight innings and allowed just one run while punching out nine batters. That, coincidently, came against these Reds. I think the kids call that "pwnd".
Today's game starts at 4:10 p.m. Arizona time (the BEST time) and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona. Live game thread at AZ Snake Pit will be jumping and bumping as always.
Time for some Farm Reporting where we learn that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, aka Big Goldy, already has seven homeruns on the season for the AA Mobile BayBears:
Diamondbacks Farm Round-Up: April 19th - AZ Snake Pit
All three Diamondbacks affiliates that saw action today won - though it took one of them 12 innings to pull out the victory. In general, it was an offensive-driven sweep: our farm teams outscored the opposition 25-14 in total, and there were three players who had four-hit games today.