Diamondbacks at Cardinals
J.D. Martinez is fitting in just fine for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who seek their third straight win when they continue a four-game series at the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. Martinez, acquired in a trade with Detroit last week, homered twice in Wednesday's 10-3 win over Atlanta and launched another shot to back some solid pitching in a 4-0 victory in the series opener with the Cardinals.
Fellow slugger Paul Goldschmidt added a pair of hits and is hitting .349 since the All-Star break for Arizona. The Cardinals had their three-game winning streak snapped and failed to get back to .500 for the first time since they were 26-26. Rookie shortstop Paul DeJong stayed hot with two more hits to extend his hitting streak to seven games (11-for-29), although he failed to produce an RBI for the first time in the streak. Robbie Ray and his 1.51 road ERA gets the nod for the Diamondbacks on Friday opposite Michael Wacha for St. Louis.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Robbie Ray (9-5, 3.15 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (7-4, 3.93)
Ray had his shortest start in more than two months Sunday against Washington, allowing five runs (four earned) in five innings of a 6-2 loss. He entered Thursday tied for sixth in the majors in strikeouts (149) but has just eight in 11 innings over his last two starts. The 25-year-old All-Star allowed one earned run and three hits in five innings in his only prior start at Busch Stadium.
Wacha had won four starts in a row and five straight decisions before he gave up five runs in six frames in a loss at Wrigley Field on Sunday. The former first-round pick is 6-1 with a 2.93 ERA in 11 home starts this year. He is 0-1 with a 4.37 mark in four career starts against Arizona but was solid through seven innings in a hard-luck loss last season in Phoenix.
WALK-OFFS
1. Diamondbacks CF A.J. Pollock is hitting .429 over his last nine games.
2. St. Louis averaged 6.2 runs in winning five straight at home before being held to five hits - all singles - on Thursday.
3. Arizona traded Double-A LHP Gabriel Moya to Minnesota for Triple-A C John Ryan Murphy on Thursday.