Game #16: Diamondbacks vs. Mets

A three-game losing streak for Arizona, as we greet the New York Mets, who come in for the opening contest in a three-game set at Chase Field. Josh Collmenter moves into the rotation for this one.

Zack Wheeler RHP, 0-2, 5.73

Josh Collmenter RHP, 0-0, 2.2

Diamondbacks Lineup

1. Gerardo Parra - RF
2. Aaron Hill - 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
4. Eric Chavez - 3B
5. Mark Trumbo - LF
6. A.J. Pollock CF
7. Chris Owings - SS
8. Tuffy Gosewisch - C
9. Josh Collmenter - P

One of the more dispiriting things about this season is that, when we've lost, it tends to have been games that we never led. So far, eight of our 11 defeats have been wire-to-wire ones, where the Diamondbacks were not ahead at any point in the game. That 73% rate is a low higher than the National League as a whole, where so far, 58% of losses have been ones without a blown lead. It's probably a result of us having been outscored over the first three innings by a total margin of 36-23. Then again, the Diamondbacks have been outscored in every inning bar the ninth, so no great shock there.

And when we fall behind, we stay there. Arizona has a record of 1-7 when trailing as early as at the start of the third inning: again, that's a lot worse than NL average, where all teams have a win percentage to date of about .300 at that point. Our .125 win percentage after two frames is more in line with what NL teams did last year when trailing going into the seventh inning. This may be a function of the deep holes being dug by the starting pitching: we're typically not just falling one behind, it's more than that. Of the 12 times we've let the opposition score in the opening third of the game, only on three occasions has it been a single run, the other nine, they've put up a crooked number.

All of which will definitely need to improve this series, against a Mets team which has sputtered out of the gate as well. I'm curious to see how Collmenter does, in his first start since the end of 2012. Hard to say whether this is a high-pressure situation (being called upon to step into the rotation) or a low-pressure one (he can hardly be much worse than Randall Delgado). I suspect Collmenter will deal with it much the same, either way. Will certainly be rooting for him either way.