Diamondbacks Surging

By Wagertracker Staff

There's no team in baseball paying off bettors like the Arizona Diamondbacks right now. Arizona is 8-2 in their last 10 games and have built up a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West.

A big part of the Diamondbacks' success can be attributed to the superb pitching of Brandon Webb and Doug Davis. Webb has lowered his ERA by more than half a run over his last four starts while pitching 33 straight shutout innings. In his last two starts, Webb has thrown back-to-back complete-game shutouts

Davis may not have the amazing stats that Webb has, but he has been a consistent winner for Arizona. Davis has not taken a loss since July 5 and is 4-0 in six starts during that span. Davis has not allowed more than three runs in a single game since June and has lowered his ERA below 4.00.

As good as Webb and Davis have been for Arizona, rookie starter Micah Owings has been the complete opposite. Since the end of June, Owings has been shelled numerous times and has had his ERA balloon from 3.79 to 4.96. In his last eight starts Owings has gone winless at 0-4, despite pitching well in at least two of those games.

Offensively the Diamondbacks need all the help they can get. Arizona has one of the lowest scoring lineups in the league, averaging only 4.2 runs per game, second-last in all of baseball. The Diamonds may finally be getting some of that help after calling up top prospect Justin Upton earlier this month. Upton has drawn comparisons to a young Ken Griffey Jr., but there's no way anyone could live up to that standard. So far Upton has provided some pop with a .294 average, one home run and four RBI in nine games. If Upton can help boost the Diamondbacks' offense by even one run a game, it could be enough to keep Arizona going in the win column.