Pirates-Diamondbacks Preview

Updated: August 3, 2008, 8:56 PM EST are currently the best team in a mediocre NL West. They'll try to reverse some of their struggles against the NL Central as they open a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday to begin a week-long homestand. The Diamondbacks went 7-3 on a recently completed 10-game road trip against NL West rivals, but they also failed to create some much-needed separation from the Los Angeles Dodgers . Arizona (57-54) settled for a split of its four-game series with Los Angeles, including a 9-3 defeat Sunday that reduced its lead to one game. "Obviously, after you win the first two you want to take at least one of the last two," manager Bob Melvin told the Diamondbacks ' official Web site. "We did have a successful road trip, but it's a little disappointing after winning the first two that... [read full story]