Should the Diamondbacks Lose?

In discussing potential NL scenarios over at Something Awful, I just realized that the Diamondbacks have an incentive to lose to Colorado today. Let me explain.

First of all, the Diamondbacks have clinched both the NL West (they hold the tiebreaker over SD) and home field throughout the NL playoffs. So they wouldn't be hurt by a loss tomorrow.

Here's where it gets interesting. The Diamondbacks are playing the Rockies, who need to win to stay alive. If Colorado wins, there is the potential for a three-way or four-way tie, which would necessitate two or three games to resolve. This would be extremely advantageous to Arizona, since they would end up playing a team on Wednesday (or possibly Thursday, in the four-way tie scenario) that had just been through an intense "mini-tournament", likely using their best starters (Peavy would go for the Padres on Monday). Arizona's opponent's bullpen would also likely be pretty worn out.

I'm not saying they should lose- that would be unfair to the Padres, Phillies, and Mets. But you have to wonder if Arizona realizes that losing would help them in the division series.

Edit: I should have included this originally, but the Peavy thing obviously isn't relevant to Arizona, as they can't play a team from their division in the first round. Unless the WC comes out of the East, they will play the Cubs. I still think it would be good for them for there to be a multiple team tie, as it would be such an advantage to play a Mets of Phillies team that had played three extra games, even if the chances of that matchup happening are remote.

Photo: AZ Central