The Arizona Diamondbacks (45-53, 57-41 RL, 43-50-5 O/U) battle the Atlanta Braves (59-41, 51-49 RL, 51-45-4 O/U) in the first of a three-game NL series on Friday evening. The Diamondbacks will have veteran Madison Bumgarner start this one. The Braves will reply with Kyle Wright. The D-Backs lead the season series 2-1.
Madison Bumgarner will get the nod for the 21st time of the season. Bumgarner posted a gem last time out, limiting the Nationals to only two runs in eight innings, and collected the win to improve to 6-9. The veteran left-hander features a respectable 3.96 ERA this month and has logged a 3.71 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP in 104.1 innings of work on the season. Bumgarner was effective against the Braves in June, holding them to two runs in six innings, and is 8-4 with a stellar 2.69 ERA in 100.1 career innings against the NL foes.
Arizona opens a six-game road trip in this one. They have yet to win a road series this month but are playing well recently. The Diamondbacks won two of three against the Nationals last weekend and issued a sweep against the Giants this week led by stellar pitching.
Ketel Marte was a tough o ut against the Braves pitching in late May, going 4 for 7 with two RBIs and three walks. The 28-year-old second baseman now has 10 bombs with 36 RBIs and an .828 OPS on the season. Marte is hot, accumulating a remarkable nine RBIs in his last ten games.
The Diamondbacks are averaging 4.30 runs per game, ranking them 20th overall. The pitching staff has posted a 4.19 team ERA, placing them 22nd in the big leagues.