Arizona's Pen

I have been amazed all season on how the Arizona Diamondbacks were winning despite having their opponents outscoring them on the season. And than it came to me. The back end of the Diamondbacks pen has been lights out this season, a pen that most thought would self-destruct coming into the season.

Seventh-inning man Brandon Lyon is 6-3 with a 2.79 ERA in 51.2 IP, set-up man Tony Pena has a mere 1.98 ERA with 44 K's in only 63.2 IP and the closer, Jose Valverde, has transformed from a closer who could not get it done to one who has saved 33 out of 38 with a 2.80 ERA. And those are only the back 3 guys.

You cannot forget about Doug Slatten's 2.22 ERA and Juan Cruz's 5-1 record with a 3.38 ERA. Arizona has a mighty bullpen that shores up any rotation trouble they will have for the remainder of the season, and they haven't even added Kim or Kennedy to that pen yet.