Guaranteed

With a win last night, the rox did not guarantee themselves a fifth straight series win on the road, but they did guarantee themselves two things. First, at 15-12 for the month of August and two games remaining, the rox will have a winning record for the month. The last month the rox had a winning record was July 2004, when they went 18-10. That was a streak of seven straight months with a losing record, including going 0-3 last October. Second, the rox have guaranteed themselves a winning road trip, giving them two winning trips in a row. I don't know when that happened last.

As mentioned in the RMN this morning, Fuentes has now set the franchise record for saves in a season by a lefthander, breaking the previous mark set by Bruce Ruffin in 1996. During last night's broadcast, they mentioned a stat that I found remarkable. Fuentes is second among all NL relievers in strikeouts behind Houston's Brad Lidge. Fuentes reminds me of Hoffman in the fact that you don't have to throw 95+ MPH to be an effective closer.

Mark at TGTBATB should be happy. For two games in a row the rox have walked more and struck out less than their opponent.

Garrett Atkins sure has quieted early season talk that he was simply a stop-gap at third until Ian Stewart was ready for the bigs. Part of that has been due to Stewart's slower progression than anticipated, but part also has to do with Atkins' play. He had a gem during the eighth last night, diving to stop a sharp grounder from Visquel.

I'm getting close to joining the movement to send George Frazier packing. Last night during the game recap he said one of the keys to the rox playing well is that they are playing all 27 innings. Please, bring back Dave Campbell, by far the best analyst this team will ever see.