Perhaps the Arizona Diamondbacks deserve credit: They have said all along they were focused on run prevention.
This is what they have become in recent weeks: After losing for the 13th time in their past 14 games with a 9-2 pounding by the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon, the punchless Diamondbacks have turned into a punchline.
They were swept by the Brewers and managed just 10 hits in the series, the fewest in franchise history in a three-game set. Over six games against the Brewers in the past two weeks, they had just 22 combined hits, the fewest by any team in a six-game season series in the past 100 years, according to Stats Inc.
When they owned the best record in the National League on May 8, the Diamondbacks' offense was performing inconsistently yet somehow scratching across runs. For a stretch, they were relying almost exclusively on one player, A.J. Pollock.
With Pollock now on the disabled list, the Diamondbacks have bottomed out. They are hitting .174 and averaging 1.9 runs in their past 14 games. The streak has raised questions about everything from the quality of their roster to their swing mechanics to their offensive approach.
It's also led to a question fundamental to their season: Are they actually a good team? Right now, 30 percent of the way into the season, the answer is murky; they are just 25-24 and were a game out of first place when they departed Milwaukee for Oakland, the third and final stop on what has been a winless road trip.
"We love a good challenge," Manager Torey Louvello said. "And there's no doubt about it, we're challenging ourselves right now."
It's a weather thing
The NFL wants the retractable roof at Atlanta's $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium open for the next Super Bowl, weather permitting.
Super Bowl LIII is scheduled for Feb. 3.
"Certainly where we've been in stadia with retractable roofs, our preference is always to open the roof," said Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's senior vice president of events. "We did that in Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX in a model there where they typically don't open the roof for a stadium, but we opened it for the Super Bowl.
"In our mind, [an open roof] creates some great energy in that building. We obviously will be down for a number of Falcons games this fall. And I know the plan is for it to be open, pending weather. So we'll evaluate it and watch that."
The last time the Super Bowl was in Atlanta was Jan. 30, 2000, when an ice storm paralyzed the city. Falcons owner Arthur Blank called the conditions "1-in-100 years kind of freak stuff" and unlikely to occur again.
Construction issues kept the roof closed for much of the 2017 season, but the Falcons did win their season opener over the Green Bay Packers with the roof open.
"I would love to see it open," Falcons President Rich McKay said of the roof for Super Bowl LIII. "That means we're having good weather."
Sports quiz
Which team won the Super Bowl the last time it was played in Atlanta?
Answer
The St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16.
Sports on 05/25/2018