D-Backs miss opportunities again in loss to Reds

Photo:Paul Connors/AP

The Skinny: Here’s a question…why are the nails in the walls of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ clubhouse sticking halfway out of the wall? Answer…because nobody on the team could drive them in.

The Diamondbacks left an astounding 17 runners on base Sunday in a 2-1 10-inning loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Corey Patterson’s solo home run in the 10th inning off of reliever Jon Rauch provided the winning margin for the Reds, who took two out of three from the Diamondbacks this weekend. Jay Bruce started the scoring for Cincinnati with a solo shot in the 4th inning, and Arizona’s Justin Upton tied it at 4 with a solo blast of his own in the 5th. The Reds won the ballgame despite managing only 3 hits. The first two came off of starter Max Scherzer, and the final was Patterson’s dinger.

More on Rauch: With the loss today, Rauch fell to 0-5 with a 6.20 ERA since joining the Diamondbacks. He has allowed at least one run in 9 of his last 12 appearances.

Somebody drive somebody in already!: In the series, the Diamondbacks scored a total of 6 runs, batted .224 as a team, struck out 28 times and left a ridiculous 37 runners on base.

Sarcastic Diamondbacks’ Bright Spots: We still believe the D-Backs could beat UNLV…at least a former Diamondback pitcher didn’t beat them with a clutch pinch-hit.

Repercussions: The Dodgers actually lost 1-0 to Colorado, so the D-Backs missed an opportunity to close the gap. Arizona still trails Los Angeles by 4.5 games in the standings with 16 games left to play.

MLB.com : Recap | Boxscore

Here’s what others are saying about the Reds’ win in Phoenix…

• Reds down D-Backs late again [AZ Central]
• Diamondbacks’ slump continues after loss to Reds [East Valley Tribune/AP]

The Diamondbacks continue their homestand Monday, with a 4-game series against the San Francisco Giants. Yes, that means Eugenio Velez will be invading Chase Field. Brad Hennessey goes for San Francisco, Doug Davis will counter for Arizona. First pitch is at 6:40.

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Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Doug Davis, Jon Rauch, Justin Upton, Max Scherzer

September 14th, 2008 7:23 PM PST

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