Rockies at Diamondbacks
Arizona ace Zack Greinke makes his 2018 debut two days later than expected when the Diamondbacks aim to complete a three-game sweep of the visiting Colorado Rockies on Saturday. The right-hander suffered a groin injury during spring training that led to him being pushed back from his Opening Day start by manager Torey Lovullo.
There was concern that Greinke might miss his first turn through the rotation after he was injured on March 14 but the 34-year-old healed fast. "We never want to force him outside of the comfort zone that he's created," Lovullo told reporters, "and I respect everything that he does and the process he follows so much that I allow him to kind of dictate his pace and I know it throws everybody off but it seems to work." Arizona has scored 17 runs in the series, and it posted a 9-8 victory on Friday when shortstop Nick Ahmed homered and drove in five runs. Charlie Blackmon hit a three-run homer and Ian Desmond and Gerardo Parra hit two-run blasts for the Rockies, who have hit five homers in the series to account for nine of their 10 runs.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, A&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FS Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH German Marquez (2017: 11-7, 4.39 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Zack Greinke (17-7, 3.20)
Marquez led all major league rookies with 147 strikeouts last season while his victory total tied teammate Kyle Freeland for most among rookies. The 23-year-old did serve up 25 homers last season but kept the ball in the park better on the road (10 in 16 starts) as opposed to Coors Field (15 in 13 outings). Marquez was 0-3 with a 4.59 ERA in six starts against Arizona last season and has struggled against Paul Goldschmidt (6-for-10 with two homers and four walks) in seven career appearances against the Diamondbacks.
Greinke has a 30-14 record in two seasons with Arizona and he topped 200 strikeouts for the fifth time last year when he totaled 215. He certainly liked pitching at home last season as he was a stellar 13-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 18 starts at Chase Field. Greinke is 9-5 with a 3.93 ERA in 25 career appearances (24 starts) against the Rockies and has never served up a homer to Colorado star Nolan Arenado in 47 career at-bats.
WALK-OFFS
1. Goldschmidt is 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and four walks in the first two games.
2. Colorado SS Trevor Story struck out four times on Friday and is 1-for-9 with seven strikeouts in the series.
3. Arizona RHP Randall Delgado (oblique) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session on Friday and is slated to pitch a simulated game on Tuesday.