The Diamondbacks continue to hemorrhage opportunities to win crucial games this month, and the bulk of the blame can be placed squarely on Bob Melvin’s shoulders. Here’s two recent examples:

- Last Friday against the Dodgers, Melvin left Doug Davis in too long, presumably to try and keep Double D in line for a win. The result: home run, error, triple, single. A 4-2 lead quickly became a 6-4 deficit, and finally Davis was pulled.

- On Monday, Tony Peña came in to replace Juan Cruz, who had thrown just 11 pitches in the seventh and hadn’t pitched in four days. Peña hit the first batter, walked the next one. Big warning signs. But when was Peña pulled? After a homer, a double, and another homer — then Dustin Nippert came stumbling in from the bullpen. Sure, there were two outs in between, but Tony never looked in control. And there’s no reason Cruz shouldn’t have pitched the eighth.

We’re fortunate to have the Diamondbacks even in contention this season. This was supposed to be a season of improvement and maybe flirtation with the wild card, but the pitching has been phenomenal most of the year, carrying an anemic offense to a one-game lead in the West with 12 to play. We’re fortunate that there are relevant September baseball games happening right now.

Still, it’s frustrating to see opportunities like these wasted in the name of curious managing. Melvin may be the frontrunner in a diluted race for NL Manager of the Year, but his mad scientist approach to his lineups and rotation is painful to watch.

Melvin has been lucky to have an extraordinary bullpen at his disposal. Jose Valverde leads the NL in saves. Brandon Lyon, Juan Cruz, Doug Slaten and Tony Peña all have ERAs of 3 or better. For most of the season, he could have trotted out anybody from the bullpen in any order and probably had success.

However, when things go south, they go south in a hurry.

If the Diamondbacks want to play some games in October, they’re going to need three things: an offense that shows up more than once every four games, a bullpen that returns to the form it had the first few months of the season, and a manager who will put his team in position to win when it has the chance.

Until then, they run the risk of watching playoff baseball at home.

MINOR PENALTIES

• The ongoing joke that is O.J. Simpson’s life took yet another turn for the worse Tuesday as he picked up seven felony charges, including a kidnapping charge that could potentially put him away for life. Still, this isn’t anywhere near as awful as his book, which was exploitative and ridiculous.

• On a more positive note, Kevin Everett is one step closer to walking, as he is close to moving to another hospital to continue his rehabilitation. Considering the NFL’s history of injuries like this and the overall scene at the Bills’ Week 1 game, this is about the best outcome anyone could have hoped for.