As if it weren’t painfully obvious as they muddle through the 2009 season, the non-contending Arizona Diamondbacks are sellers, not buyers, on the trade market this July. So, after Sunday’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the D-Backs shipped leadoff hitter and second baseman Felipe Lopez to the Cards’ division…
The Arizona Diamondbacks started the second half of the season just as they played most of the first half: on the losing side of a series. And true to form, it was all-pitch/no-hit this weekend in St. Louis. Each of the Diamondbacks’ three starters in the series — Jon Garland,…
The fans have spoken, and they have declared that the Arizona Diamondbacks’ budding slugger Mark Reynolds will not represent the National League in next week’s All-Star Game in St. Louis. Instead, it will be Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino filling the NL rosters’ final spot. Between the time the All-Star…
The “other” guys came up big Wednesday afternoon for the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 6-2 win and series sweep over the San Diego Padres. The D-Backs’ “big guys” — Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, and Stephen Drew — went 1-for-12 against Padres pitchers, so it was up to Gerardo Parra, little-used…
The most valuable slugger on the Arizona Diamondbacks this season is not going to play in the All-Star Game in St. Louis next week — not yet, anyway. The fans still have an opportunity to vote Mark Reynolds to be the final player named to the National League squad, but…
Really? The Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen — nay, their closer! — let this one get away? Really?! Forget about Clay Zavada’s losing Thursday’s game, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, in the 10th inning. No, the goat here is closer Chad Qualls, who couldn’t make Doug Davis’…
If you’re Roger Alan Wade, a talented country troubadour from Tennessee with a weak spot for raunchy honky-tonk, is it a blessing or a curse to hitch your wagon to the star of your less-gifted but way-more-famous cousin Johnny Knoxville? On the one hand, the Jackass “mastermind” and Dukes of…
Mark Reynolds hit two home runs and drove in four runs on Thursday night, including a game-tying two-run shot in the eighth inning, but it wasn’t enough for the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Texas Rangers took the series following a 9-8 D-Backs loss in 12 innings. Reynolds continues to prove…
Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Eric Byrnes will miss four to eight weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand during an at-bat in Thursday night’s game against the Texas Rangers. In the second inning, an errant pitch from the Rangers’ Scott Feldman plunked Byrnes in the hand. Byrnes stayed…
After a disastrous weekend in Seattle, Max Scherzer stopped the bleeding on Tuesday night for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The young power pitcher shut down the slugging Texas Rangers, and the top of the D-Backs’ batting order poured on the offense in an 8-2 win at Chase Field. Everything that could…
We at Budget Beat love hamburgers. Even if you’ve paid only scant attention to our humble blog over the past year, you’ve probably noticed that we like to order hamburgers when given the chance because: (a) they’re a staple of American dining: (b) they’re usually inexpensive; (c) the preparation of…
Twenty-four runs in the past two games? What’s gotten into the Arizona Diamondbacks hitters? Whatever it is, fans hope the barrage will continue after the team took two of three games, including a 12-5 win Thursday night, against the Kansas City Royals. Starting pitcher Dan Haren wasn’t overpowering, but he…
Unless you’re a professional baseball scout, it’s damn near impossible to look at the newest crop of Arizona Summer League talent and pick out who’s destined for the big leagues. This summer, it may be different. Competing among all the skinny 19-and 20-year-olds that have a next-to-zilch chance of making…
One step forward, two steps back. That was the story of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ three-game weekend series against the Houston Astros. In Friday night’s 8-1 win, the D-Backs played what might have been their best all-around game of the year. In Saturday’s and Sunday’s losses, the D-Backs were simply outpitched…
It took my living in Phoenix nearly four years and countless trips up and down 24th Street to stop at the Mexican restaurant with the goofy/charming hand-painted sign that depicts a blue parrot and the words “Asi Es La Vida.” The two-story building just north of Osborn Road looks just…
By the time the Arizona Diamondbacks caught up to San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito on Wednesday night, the little things had all but done the D-Backs in. And by the “little things,” we mean putting down a sacrifice bunt, throwing accurately to first base on a pick-off attempt, and,…
If you live or work downtown and need a quick and cheap(!!) breakfast, you can do no worse than 12 East Café, right across the street from the light-rail stop on Jefferson and 12th streets. Here’s the deal with this place (btw, it’s right across the street from New Times’…
One day after the Arizona Diamondbacks’ apocalyptic meltdown in Los Angeles, they came out swinging Wednesday night but, unfortunately, ran into the Dodgers’ version of the Terminator, flame-throwing righthander Chad Billingsley. The D-Backs’ Jon Garland gave a particularly gutty performance, matching Billingsley pitch for pitch, but timely hitting carried the…
You couldn’t have blamed Arizona Diamondbacks fans for expecting the worst heading into Wednesday night’s 8-5 loss to the surging San Diego Padres at Chase Field. The light-hitting Snakes were about to face arguably the National League’s best power pitcher in Jake Peavy while countering with a young pitcher, Billy…
All hail Cheese ‘N Stuff. If you live anywhere near the corner of Camelback and Central, you owe it to yourself to check out this charming, old-school sandwich shoppe. Heck, even if you reside farther afield, Cheese ‘N Stuff may be worth the drive — while you’re in the ‘hood,…
No one’s going to confuse the Arizona Diamondbacks with a contender just yet, but at least the retooled lineup of new manager A.J. Hinch is starting to make some noise. In a marathon day of baseball on Wednesday in Miami, the Snakes scored 17 runs and collected 23 hits, and,…
Singer-songwriter Shelley Short comes on like a lo-fi Neko Case – perhaps more intimate and delicate than her fellow Pacific Northwesterner – but with no less pathos in her pretty voice. When she sings, “By the time I go to pieces/You’ll be gone,” in the song “Like Anything, It’s Small,”…
