N.L. (Baseball).

Arizona Diamondbacks

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15-9 1st in West

SLOW START: 1B Mark Grace stumbled in April. Through 24 games, he was hitting .227--disappointing for a career .307 hitter. He isn't normally a slow starter; before this year he had a .300 mark for games in March and April Manager Bob Brenly says Grace seems to use a defensive approach, as if he has two strikes against him, no matter the count. Grace says he knows what his problem is: shifting his weight forward too early in his swing. With men in scoring position, Grace was hitting .156.... RHP reliever Bret Prinz continues to have control problems. He has seven walks in six innings and has thrown just 74 strikes out of 136 pitches this season (54 percent). With RHP Miguel Batista in the rotation for now and RHP Mike Morgan in long relief, Prinz is the only righthanded setup option.

SCOUTING REPORT: LHP Randy Johnson, 38, shows no signs of slowing down. He still relies on two devastating pitches, a 98-mph (or more) fastball and a slider that can get up to 90 mph and breaks onto a righthanded hitter's shoe tops. All that comes from a three-quarter arm angle that keeps many lefties out of the lineup the day he pitches. But Johnson is a pitcher, not just a thrower. He has incorporated a two-seam (sinking) fastball and a split-finger pitch into his repertoire. Normal pitch-count guidelines don't seem to apply to Johnson, either.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: Since the beginning of the 2001 season, RHP Curt Schilling is 7-2 with a 2.83 ERA at Bank One Ballpark with the roof closed and 5-3 with a 3.58 ERA with it open. With the roof closed, he has allowed a homer every 6.36 innings pitched. With the roof open, the frequency increases to a homer every 5.38 innings. That's why, team sources say, he's pushing to have it closed when he pitches.--Ed Price

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