Diamondbacks at Padres
Ender Inciarte may have entered the season ticketed for a part-time role, but his red-hot bat has made him a virtual fixture in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ lineup through eight games. With the 24-year-old Venezuelan sparking the offense near the top of the order, the Diamondbacks eye their fourth win in five contests on Tuesday as they continue a three-game set at the San Diego Padres.
Inciarte, who finished fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year
balloting last season, was expected to share time in left field with
David Peralta and sit against right-handed pitchers. Instead, he leads
the team in several offensive categories – including at-bats (28), hits
(11) and total bases (16) – and restated his case to remain in the
lineup in the opener by recording two doubles and a triple while driving
in a career-high four runs in an 8-4 victory. Inciarte has started in
all but one game and already has four multi-hit games to his credit
after Monday’s outburst. The Padres saw their three-game winning streak
come to an end after opening up their seven-game homestand by taking a
four-game series against San Francisco.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, FSN San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Jeremy Hellickson (0-1, 6.23 ERA) vs. Padres RH Odrisamer Despaigne (0-0, 0.00)
Hellickson’s
uneven spring training (4.76 ERA, 1.88 WHIP) carried over to his first
turn – an outing that resulted in a 5-2 home loss versus San Francisco
on Wednesday – with Arizona after his offseason trade from Tampa Bay.
The Rays’ 2005 fourth-round selection managed to allow only three runs
over 4 1/3 innings despite yielding nine hits and two walks during his
91-pitch outing. Hellickson has faced San Diego only once in his career,
giving up six runs over 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision in 2013.
Filling
in for Ian Kennedy after he strained his left hamstring in the third
inning of Thursday’s 1-0 loss to San Francisco, Despaigne retired all 14
batters he faced. The 28-year-old Cuban went 4-7 despite a 3.36 ERA in
2014, performing much better in eight turns at home (3-1, 1.83) than he
did in eight road outings (1-6, 5.31). Despaigne faced the Diamondbacks
more than any other team last season, posting a 1-2 record and 2.96 ERA
in four starts against them.
WALK-OFFS
1. Inciarte has a hit in 21 of his last 23 games and is batting .381 with 11 multi-hit games over that span.
2.
San Diego LF Justin Upton is one of only three players in the majors
(San Francisco’s Nori Aoki and Oakland’s Billy Butler are the others)
that have at least one hit in all eight of their team's games this season.
3. Arizona, which posted a winning record against only two NL foes a season ago, has won 13 of its last 20 against the Padres.