The Arizona Diamondbacks will look to complete a surprising sweep of the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field. Saturday's contest finished by a 10-5 final score in favor of the Diamondbacks, who cashed in at -106 odds. Arizona is out of contention at 58-67, while the White Sox are five games back in the AL Central at 63-64.
These teams last met in May of 2017, when the Diamondbacks rolled to a three-game sweep at home.
A struggling offense is the reason Arizona is below .500 for the year, but the Diamondbacks have plated 17 total runs in the first two games of this series after hammering the White Sox on Saturday. Arizona went off for five runs in the second inning, as Carson Kelly opened the scoring with a bases loaded walk before Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-run single and Josh Rojas walked with the bases loaded to give Arizona the lead for good, with Kelly later adding a two-run single.
Merrill Kelly picked up the win, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk while striking out seven across 7.1 innings. Jake McCarthy had a four-hit game, scoring three runs while stealing two bases.
“Just a very energized player that’s putting a lot of concepts together,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of McCarthy to MLB.com. “I think there was a lot of raw talent when he entered the system. He ’s done a really good job of slowing things down when needed and being very competitive on both sides of the ball.”
The Diamondbacks are still down very narrowly on the money line for the season while going a stellar 72-53 on the run line. Overs are 57-63-5 for Arizona, with each of its last six games going over the betting total.
Arizona is slightly below the league average at 4.29 runs per game on a .693 team OPS. The Diamondbacks have struggled on the mound, posting a 4.16 combined ERA including a mark of 4.38 from a struggling bullpen.
Christian Walker is Arizona's top position player, posting an .801 OPS with 30 homers and 72 driven in. Josh Rojas has been solid, batting .284/.358/.412 with 17 stolen bases and 52 runs scored.
Zach Davies will make his 21st start of the season, having gone 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA over 102.2 innings. The 29-year-old tossed 5.1 innings of one-run bal l against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out one.
Shortstop Nick Ahmed is sidelined by shoulder surgery. Starting pitchers Humberto Castellanos (Tommy John surgery) and Tyler Gilbert (sprained elbow) are out. Relievers Kenyan Middleton (strained ankle), Kyle Nelson (back spasms) and Caleb Smith (fractured hand) are sidelined.