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Diamondbacks Line-up
- A.J. Pollock, CF
- Aaron Hill, 2B
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Miguel Montero, C
- Cody Ross, RF
- Jason Kubel, LF
- Martin Prado, 3B
- Didi Gregorius, SS
- Patrick Corbin, P
Parra's not starting tonight, but all indications are there was no serious damage from last night's flame-out into the warning track at Citi Field (above), so that's very good news for the D-backs. Does mean we have a rare dual sighting of Ross and Kubel in the same starting line-up. Not something I hope to see on a regular basis. And moving on to discuss our starting pitcher tonight. Since the start of the 2009 season, only one starting pitcher in the major-leagues has had a streak of five or more no-decisions, with a better ERA than Corbin's 2.54 over his current run. Here are the top ten:
| Rk | Start | End | Gm | W | L | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Team | ||
| 1 | Stephen Strasburg | 10-08-15 | 11-09-17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 23.1 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 1.54 | WSN |
| 2 | Patrick Corbin | 13-06-07 | 13-06-27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 35.1 | 25 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 24 | 3 | 2.55 | ARI |
| 3 | Andrew Cashner | 11-04-05 | 12-09-07 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 23 | 2 | 2.57 | CHC-SDP |
| 4 | Randy Wolf | 09-04-17 | 09-05-07 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 30.1 | 24 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 28 | 4 | 2.67 | LAD |
| 5 | Edwin Jackson | 12-04-26 | 12-05-18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 32.2 | 27 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 26 | 5 | 2.76 | WSN |
| 6 | James Shields | 13-06-01 | 13-06-23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 32.0 | 32 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 26 | 2 | 2.81 | KCR |
| 7 | Felipe Paulino | 10-06-20 | 11-06-17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28.2 | 29 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 24 | 0 | 2.83 | HOU-KCR |
| 8 | Tim Stauffer | 11-04-13 | 11-05-11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 36.0 | 31 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 35 | 2 | 3.00 | SDP |
| 9 | Wandy Rodriguez | 10-09-06 | 10-09-28 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 32.1 | 24 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 40 | 4 | 3.06 | HOU |
| 10 | Jeanmar Gomez | 13-05-12 | 13-06-26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 26.1 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 3.08 | PIT |
Also worth noting: none of the other 24 have averaged more than seven innings per start, as Corbin has in his starts. Will his luck go any better in the sixth attempt, against the Mets? Corbin also seeks to end the D-backs streak of winless starts at 23, which is getting so bad, that by the time J.J. Putz finished blowing the three-run lead bequeathed to the bullpen by Miley in last night's game, I had already gone through the five stages of grief, reached acceptance, and could muster little more reaction than a rolling of the eyes, and the comfort consumption of some of Mrs. SnakePit's sugar-free chocolate confections.
I just have a feeling that the streak will end tonight, one way or the other: of the 25 who reached five no-decisions, 19 got a W or L in their next appearance. And I think it's going to be in a good way, with Corbin getting the win. Admittedly, I am thinking this mostly because I'm on recap duty tonight, and I want watching this game to be a somewhat pleasant experience, and not a five-hour ordeal ending in defeat. I mean, after last night's defeat, snatched from the jaws of victory, not once but twice, we watched the Evil Dead remake, which was positively a cheerful and feel-good experience in comparison [though with a similarly predictable ending].
I see My Little Pony: Equestria Girls is out. Maybe I should look into that for tonight...