Daily Sports Roundup: August 13
With outfielder Adam Dunn now on the roster the Diamondbacks will be looking to pull away from the rival Dodgers in the NL West race. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .
Event of the day . . .
Dunn and the Diamondbacks will continue their series in Colorado against the Rockies on Wednesday night. Arizona countered the Dodgers’ acquisition of Manny Ramirez by dealing for the slugging Reds outfielder on Monday afternoon, in exchange for minor league pitcher Dallas Buck and a pair of players to be named later. Dunn has had trouble with his batting average this year, but he’s still able to blast home runs.
And Doug Davis (4-7, 4.75 ERA) will be looking to Dunn to provide him some offense on Wednesday night, as he takes the mound for Arizona. The lefthander has been terrible in each of his last two outings, giving up a combined 12 earned runs on 15 hits in just six innings of work. The Diamondbacks are 3-7 in Davis’ last 10 trips to the mound.
Jeff Francis (3-8, 5.81 ERA) hasn’t been any better, as the Rockies are 3-7 in his last 10 starts as well. The lefthander was knocked around in his return from the disabled list on August 7, giving up five earned runs on eight hits over 5 1-3 innings versus the light-hitting Nationals. Unless one or both of those starting pitchers show some progress on Wednesday night Dunn and the rest of the hitters could have a field day.
Non-event of the day . . .
Dunn’s old team remains mired in last place in the NL Central standings, and they’ll take on their closest cellar competitor on Wednesday. Cincinnati will send Josh Fogg (2-4, 7.98 ERA) to the mound in that contest, and he’ll be countered by Pittsburgh’s Paul Maholm (7-7, 3.76 ERA). Fogg might not last much longer in the Reds’ rotation, as the team is 0-3 in his last three outings (in which he allowed a healthy 16 runs).
