Following a pathetic sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals in D.C., the Arizona Diamondbacks basically saw the official end to their disappointing season. So now that there's nothing to play for, the team should start having some fun, which is exactly what they did last night at Chase Field against the hard-luck New York Mets.
If you've been following the plight of the Mets, you'll be sympathetic because they look a lot like the D-Backs of May and June. One bad break after another and the Mets have fallen from potential NL East contenders to bottom-feeding pretenders.
More of that crappy luck happened in the second inning in downtown Phoenix when New York skipper Jerry Manuel decided to intentionally walk Augie Ojeda to face Arizona starter Doug Davis. Twenty-nine times out of 30, the move works, but not on this night, as Davis ripped a two-run double, staking Arizona to a 3-0 lead it would not relinquish in its 7-4 win.
The other storyline, aside from Davis' contributions at the dish and on the hill (seven innings, two earned runs allowed on only four hits), was more young D-Backs making an impact. Chris Young's demotion to Triple-A Reno allowed rookie Rusty Ryal -- who stroked his first Major League hit in his first-ever big league at-bat in the eighth -- to add some additional youth-oriented excitement in the clubhouse that has been missing most of the year. And speaking of youth, Trent Oeltjen hit another home run -- his third round-tripper in his first week in The Show -- that bumped up the D-Backs' seventh-inning lead.
The Diamondbacks and Mets play the second of three tonight at 6:40. Scheduled starters are Arizona's Max Scherzer (6-6, 4.01 ERA) and New York's Livan Hernandez (7-6, 5.08 ERA). TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR-AM 620. More info: www.dbacks.com.
