NL West foes will close out a three-game series on Sunday afternoon when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the San Diego Padres at Petco Park ahead of the All-Star break. After the Padres took Friday's series opener by a 5-3 score to cash in as a -185 favorite, the teams will meet again on Saturday night after the time of publishing. Arizona is in last place at 39-51, while San Diego holds a Wild Card spot with a record of 51-41.
The Padres are in control of the season series, holding an 8-2 head-to-head advantage.
While much improved from last year, the Diamondbacks are still in last place in the loaded NL West, and lost more ground on Friday with another loss. Arizona initially had the lead in the first with Ketel Marte hitting a homer, and drew closer in the fourth when Christian Walker launched a two-run shot, but it still wasn't enough as the offense was then done for the night.
Madison Bumgarner went five innings to take the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks while striking out three. Marte had a three-hit game and scored two runs to pace the offense.
“I've been trying to think since I came out of the game and look and find some answers,” Bumgarner said to MLB.com. “But it was like today was just one of those days. It's not … I don’t know. I don't have anything for you. I've thrown a lot of games worse than that and had far better results. So I don't know.
The Diamondbacks are only down narrowly on the money line for the season while going a strong 50-39 on the run line. Overs are 39-45-5 for Arizona with two of its last three games going over the betting total.
Arizona's offense ranks 20th in the Majors at 4.19 runs per game on a .684 OPS that is in the bottom five. The pitching staff grades out around the same, posting a 4.38 combined ERA with the bullpen and rotation both posting exactly the same mark.
Marte is Arizona's best hitter overall with an .827 OPS, eight homers and 29 driven in. Walker has been a prolific power hitter, posting a .786 OPS with 22 home runs and 45 driven in.
Merrill Kelly is set to make his 19th start of the season, having turned in a strong first half going 8-5 with a 3.36 ERA across 104.1 innings. The 33-year-old tossed seven plus innings to earn the win over th e San Francisco Giants on Monday, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
Shortstop Nick Ahmed is recovering from shoulder surgery. Starting pitchers Humberto Castellanos (strained elbow) and Zach Davies (shoulder inflammation) are out. The bullpen is missing J.B Bukauskas (strained shoulder) and Ian Kennedy (strained calf).