Arizona Diamondbacks at Cleveland Guardians

Saturday was the first day of August, a month that Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo refers to as "moving month" because it's when the contenders start to separate themselves from the pretenders. Lovullo's Diamondbacks started moving on up in the standings early, and the beginning of August did little to slow their ascent as they beat the Guardians, 12-8, at Progressive Field. "It's my favorite month of baseball," Lovullo said. "I think the season starts to take shape. The contenders and pretenders start to separate. So I think the real teams, and the ones that are capable of carrying on for the next two months, start to separate themselves, and it's the purest form of baseball. “I started saying it back when September callups were 40-strong, and I know the rules have changed a little bit and September baseball is more like regular-season baseball now, but that's when I started saying it. August is just the best month, and heads up, big things start to happen." Big things seem to be starting for the Diamondbacks, though; they actually got a jump on the month this season. Arizona has now won four straight and 14 of its past 19 games to climb from out of the postseason picture to second place in the Wild Card standings, behind the Cubs and ahead of the Phillies. Saturday's game followed the same script as Friday with the Guardians grabbing a first-inning lead before their offense slowed down. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks started slow offensively before getting going.