The Arizona Diamondbacks travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals in a brief, two-game inter-league series starting on Tuesday night. The Diamondbacks and Royals are both in the process of rebuilding and well out of the playoff picture in their respective leagues. The pitching matchup for Tuesday night will feature a pair of righties as Zach Davies (2-4, 3.99) of the D-Backs takes on Jonathan Heasley (1-7, 5.61) of the Royals. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10pm EST.
Despite losing three straight games, the Diamondbacks are already ahead of last year's squad. At 55-66, the Diamondbacks are now three games past their total wins in 2021. While the team has shown improvement, this weekend's series against the Cardinals was, no doubt, a humbling reminder of where they want to be. The NL Central Division-leading Cardinals won the series by a combined 27-12, including a 16-7 domination on Saturday night. They will look to regroup against the Royals in this short, two-game inter-league series in Kansas City.
Final. pic.twitter.com/SFkHUI72uk
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 21, 2022
The Diamondbacks are just 4-6 in their last ten games and have struggled on the mound in games not started by either Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly. The team has an ERA of 4.52 in that ten game span and that includes a 5-0 shutout win by Gallen and a seven shutout innings performance by Kelly in a 2-1 loss to the Giants. The Diamondbacks will need to get more consistency from the rest of their rotation if they want to make a bigger leap next season in the standings. On the mound in the series opener will be veteran right-hander Zach Davies. Davies has made 19 starts this season and turned in four quality starts. In his last five starts, Davies has a 4.09 ERA without a decision. He has given up 19 hits in 22 innings worth of work.