Record: 25-17. Pace: 96-66. Change on 2017: +1.
If it feels like Arizona has been involved in a lot of close games this season... they have. This was the sixteenth decided (in either direction) by one run, and the twenty-fifth decided by two or fewer. Both figures are the most in the National League. This was, it seems, by design: the focus of Mike Hazen, Torey Lovullo and the rest of the front-office crew has been on pitching and defense, designed to minimize run scoring. And then, of course, there’s the much-discussed humidor. But, dammit: it makes for tough fan viewing.