Diamondbacks at Phillies
Jake Arrieta has gained steam following a shaky debut and proclaimed that he's "caught up" nearly 6 1/2 weeks after signing a three-year, $75 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Arrieta will test his mettle against another former Cy Young Award winner in Zack Greinke on Wednesday as the Phillies (14-8) bid to snap an eight-game home losing streak versus the Arizona Diamondbacks (16-6).
Daniel Descalso belted a two-run homer and light-hitting Alex Avila and Jarrod Dyson launched back-to-back shots in Tuesday's 8-4 triumph for National League West-leading Arizona, which has won three in a row overall and outscored Philadelphia by a 45-18 margin at Citizens Bank Park in the last eight encounters. A.J. Pollock is 7-for-20 with two homers, five RBIs and as many runs scored during his five-game hitting streak heading into a tilt with Arrieta, against whom he is 1-for-9 with two strikeouts. While the Diamondbacks began their six-game road trip with promise, the Phillies struck out 16 times en route to their second loss in 11 outings in the City of Brotherly Love and fell to 4-1 on their 10-game homestand. Cesar Hernandez highlighted his fourth multi-hit performance in seven contests with an RBI single in the sixth inning of the series opener, but is just 2-for-8 with three strikeouts against Greinke.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, NBCS Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Zack Greinke (2-1, 4.13 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (2-0, 2.04)
Greinke secured his second straight win in stellar fashion, overcoming a solo homer by Brandon Belt while scattering two other hits over seven strong innings in a 3-1 triumph versus San Francisco. The 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner has been taken deep five times in 24 frames this season heading into the matchup at the hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park. Odubel Herrera is batting .300 with a homer against Greinke, but the 34-year-old owns a sparkling 8-1 mark with a 2.48 ERA in 11 career meetings versus the Phillies.
Arrieta allowed just one infield hit and fanned 10 to record his 14th career double-digit strikeout performance in Thursday's 7-0 romp over Pittsburgh. "You're going to get excited about having Jake go out there every fifth day if he's sort of the mid-range version of himself, which is still a very good starting pitcher," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said of the 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner. Jake Lamb is 7-for-15 with a pair of doubles against Arrieta, but the 32-year-old owns a 3-3 mark with a 2.76 ERA and 1.07 WHIP versus the Diamondbacks while limiting the club to a .225 batting average.
WALK-OFFS
1. Arizona has won 11 of its last 15 games versus Philadelphia since the start of the 2016 season.
2. Phillies rookie 2B Scott Kingery struck out all four times in the series opener to drop to 2-for-24 in his last seven contests.
3. The Diamondbacks boast a 7-3 road record for the second time in three years.