Second Half - Much of the Same

The All-Star break occurs slightly beyond the halfway mark in a Major League Baseball season and provides a breather for teams to gather the strength that may have been lacking previously. One team that needed to kick it into high gear was the Diamondbacks hoping for a fresh start after the break. Unfortunately, tonight was a big league disappointment as the Diamondbacks got demolished by division rival, the San Diego Padres. The Diamondbacks were awful from both sides of the mound tonight as they lost 12-1. Dan Haren had subpar stuff, the bats were not hammering in any runs, and most importantly, the bullpen struggled mightily. It has become clear that the issue with the Diamondbacks is within the players of the organization who have been out of funk for the last two years. The problem is not managerial as neither AJ Hinch nor Kirk Gibson have been able to spur life into this team...if only the Diamondbacks could rewind time and keep Bob Melvin as a manager.

This 12-1 loss was brutal, but if there was something to take positive out of this game...and trust me you wont see this coming...it is reliever Blaine Boyer. This may sound crazy from looking at the box score which accurately shows him giving up 5 hits and 2 earned runs in one and one-third inning; however, Boyer seems to have the right material to finally become a solid reliever. His fastball topped at 97MPH today and it seems to have a unique rotation to it that if he can locate it, it can be deadly. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Boyer got four infield punches in a row. Unfortunately, two were infield hits, this is not that bad of a sign unlike the long balls that struggling pitchers are thrown to give up.

No loser of the game...I am going to change the pace tonight. I know all losses are "team losses" but this one couldn't be closer to that mark.