Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson pitched another great game today, winning his 10th of the season. Quinton McCracken hit an inside the park home run (ok, it was scored a triple and an error, but I'd have counted it as a HR if the same thing happened during one of my softball games....) thanks to a bit of a misplay by the Twins Torii Hunter in the 6-2 victory.

Saturday nights game could have turned out very differently if Andrew Good had been effective. He gave up 6 runs (all earned) in only 2 and 2/3 innings. Elmer Dessens made a good argument for possibly getting his spot in the rotation back when he pitched well over the next 3 and 1/3. Impressively, he threw first pitch strikes to 9 of the 10 batters he faced - that's the way to be an effective pitcher in the big leagues! The D'Backs made a game of it, climbing back to within 2 runs in the 5th. My friends tickets were much better than I expected - we were 6 rows back right next to the scouts behind home plate!

Jim.

Another day, another manager....

To paraphrase what I said last night, what a difference a day makes! The Diamondback front office fired Bob Brenly this morning as manager of the team and has hired bench coach Al Pedrique as the new manager of the team. Looks like I get to watch game #2 of the Al Pedrique era tomorrow night. I've seen many games managed by Al Pedrique. He was the skipper of the D'Backs AAA team, the Tucson Sidewinders for a couple seasons and I saw quite a few games during his reign. I'm not sure I'd blame Brenly so much for the teams woes, but I suppose he gets to be the most prominant scape goat. I suspect Bob will land squarely on his feet, whatever he chooses to do now - having that World Series ring on his finger can't hurt too much either.

Jim.

What a difference a couple days makes....

After watching the Diamondbacks loose their 11th in a row despite Randy Johnson pitching well and striking out his 4,000th batter, it sure seemed like they'd never win another game all year. They should have been tied at 2 in the 9th instead of down a run thanks to an error by Cintron that allowed the 2nd run to score with 2 outs earlier in the game. Then another rookie error when young Scott Hairston - a phenom who should be a great ballplayer by the time he is done - failed to even try to put a bunt down with a runner at 2nd and no one out in the bottom of the 9th, down 3-2 and needing a run to tie. He clearly missed the bunt sign. Dumb and hard to understand. Without advancing the runner to 3rd, the D'Backs went on to strand the runner and loss number 11 in a row was in the books.

Wednesday night, they finally came through with a win over the Padres and tonight, another win - wow, an actual winning streak! Excellent! Maybe that game on Saturday night against the Twins won't be so bad. Andrew Good will be on the mound. Can't wait - my 2nd trip up to the BOB this season, Go D'Backs! I don't suppose they could run off 20 in a row and climb back into the race in the NL West?

Jim.