5-29-11: Bird Droppings - Slow Holiday Weekend

I'm thinking that I should just start holding off on these until Monday with how slow news can be on Weekends where there is no football. The links for today relate to how some of the other teams in the valley did last night.

Zach Duke leads Diamondbacks to rout of Astros
Halfway across the country two weeks ago, the Diamondbacks were one-hit by the Los Angeles Dodgers and somehow managed to win and snap a five-game losing streak. Looking back, it's only fitting that their hot streak began that way. The unexpected has become expected with this team. That was the case again in Saturday's 11-3 rout of the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, where left-hander Zach Duke rolled off the disabled list in dominant fashion, throwing seven shutout innings and hitting a home run.

Arizona Rattlers roll to victory vs. Cleveland Gladiators
Nick Davila rarely missed a target. The defense played with passion and purpose. And this time the Rattlers needed no late heroics to win. "If the defense keeps playing like that, we're going to go all the way," receiver Trandon Harvey said after the Rattlers recorded a 63-42 victory over the Cleveland Gladiators on Saturday night in front of a season-low crowd of 7,987 at US Airways Center.

Phoenix Mercury fall to Los Angeles Sparks in preseason finale
The Phoenix Mercury lost Saturday to the Los Angeles Sparks 83-72 in Albuquerque, N.M., to close out the preseason.