In tonight’s other completely-freaking-surreal clinching moment, the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially clinched the NL West Division title by vanquishing the San Francisco Giants.
Nobody expected the D-Backs to do much of anything this season due to their relatively young roster and the fact that their closer is…wait for it…JJ Putz.
The Diamondbacks beat the Giants 3-1 tonight to win the NL West behind a strong effort from Joe Saunders and solid relief pitching from David Hernandez, who allowed only one hit in his one inning of work.
This division title is on par with the Brewers’ as being among the most unlikely in the past ten years,
Nobody was expecting anything out of the Baby Backs given their inexperienced manager (Kirk Gibson) and their low payroll. Instead, Gibson turned out to be a Manager of the Year candidate by juicing the most out of his roster.
Ian Kennedy (20-4, 2.88 ERA) has emerged as the unlikely ace of a surprising rotation that has seen big returns from a guy that was acquired for Edwin Jackson (Daniel Hudson, 16-11, 3.43 ERA) among a rather unlikely cast of characters. Putz, yet another White Sox castoff, has consistently come through in the clutch for the DBacks, saving 44 games with a stellar ERA of 2.25. That’s to say nothing of the offense, lead by BJ Upton, which has put up workmanlike totals in runs scored (10th, 694) and slugging percentage (.413).
The Diamondbacks will now likely face off against either the Brewers or the Phillies, depending on whether the Braves or Cardinals wind up winning the AL Central. Either matchup poses a huge challenge for the DBacks given how hot the Crew and Phils have been of late. That being said, it is October and anything is possible come October. I’ll give the DBacks a fighting chance against either of their first round matchups but wouldn’t expect them to move on.
At this point, if Gibson isn’t the National League Manager of the Year, it’s gotta go to the Brewers’ Ron Roenicke.
