--The Diamondbacks will stay in rotation after their off day Thursday, giving all five starters an extra day's rest. LHP Doug Davis (2-5, 3.25 ERA), RHP Max Scherzer (0-3, 3.98) and RHP Jon Garland (3-2, 5.18) will start the Atlanta series, with RHP Dan Haren (3-4, 2.09) and rookie RHP Bryan Augenstein (0-1, 7.11) starting the first two games in Florida. Augenstein, a native of Sebastian, Fla., who attended the University of Florida, will make his second major league start in his home state.
--The D-backs (13-22) are off to their worst start since the expansion season of 1998, when they opened 8-27 en route to a 65-97 finish. The 2004 D-backs started 14-21 before finishing 51-111, the worst record in franchise history. Manager Bob Brenly was fired midway through that season. They have the most losses in the NL this season after going 1-5 in manager A.J. Hinch's first week. --OF Gerardo Parra needed only three pitches to record his first major league home run Wednesday, when he drove a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right field as the second batter in the D-backs' first inning. "I'm the happiest any person could be to be here in the major leagues," said Parra, 21, through an interpreter. Parra is the only left-handed hitter among Arizona's four outfielders, and he is likely to play a lot in the short term because the D-backs are scheduled to face right-handed pitchers in the first six games of a 10-game road trip that begins Friday.
--RHP Bryan Augenstein admitted to a few nerves when he made his major league debut Wednesday, although it did not show in his first two innings, when he threw first-pitch strikes to five of the seven batters he faced and did not give up a hit. "It's a great feeling. It's every kid's dream. It's been my dream since I was little," said Augenstein, who will make his next start Tuesday in Florida.
BY THE NUMBERS: .195 -- The D-backs' batting average with runners in scoring position, a major league low, through May 10.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The lack of experience is overwhelmed by understanding what organizational advocacy is. We're not here to reinvent the wheel, but to change the nature of the job a little bit. OK, we'll do that." -- General manager Josh Byrnes, announcing new manager A.J. Hinch's hiring to replace Bob Melvin. Hinch, former director of player development, had never coached or managed.
