The Arizona Diamondbacks have won four straight games and 10 of their last 12. They will look to stay hot when they go for a three-game series sweep of the host Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
Arizona won an 11-6 slugfest against the Tigers on Friday, then had four pitchers combine on a six-hit shutout in Saturday’s 5-0 victory.
On Friday, star rookie Corbin Carroll hit a pair of home runs. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Nick Ahmed supplied the power on Saturday. Gurriel, who missed the previous four games due to a groin ailment, blasted a three-run homer in the fifth inning. Earlier, Ahmed hit his second homer of the season, a two-run shot.
It’s still June, but few anticipated the Diamondbacks would be leading the National League West Division at this stage over free-spending Los Angeles and San Diego.
“We have a lot of talent in this room, and guys that are hungry,” Ahmed said.
Arizona is acting like it belongs in the playoff discussion.
“We have the right pieces,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We have really good players on this team. Am I surprised? No.”
Zac Gallen will start the series finale for the Diamondbacks. The 27-year-old right-hander last pitched last Sunday against the visiting Atlanta Braves, giving up three runs (two earned) and nine hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Gallen, who threw a season-high 110 pitches, had to grind through his outing.
“I felt like it was probably the worst stuff I’ve had this year,” Gallen said.
In his previous outing, Gallen (7-2, 2.75 ERA) tossed six scoreless innings against Colorado. He has never faced the Tigers.
Left-hander Joey Wentz (1-6, 7.49) has struggled throughout the season, but with the Tigers’ staff decimated by injuries, he has remained in the rotation. None of Wentz’s 12 outings would qualify as a quality start.
In his last outing, Wentz gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings at Philadelphia on Monday. The 25-year-old allowed two home runs and walked a season-high five batters.
“They chipped away at him early, and he seemed to be emotional and battling himself a little bit,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said of Wentz. “Their lineup is tough. We needed as many outs as we could get from Joey … but it was a tough night.”
The Tigers were shut out for the eighth time this season on Monday and for the third time during the current eight-game slide. Kerry Carpenter has five hits in two games since coming off the injured list after a right shoulder sprain.
“It’s one of the bats we’ve really missed in the middle of our order against right-handed pitching. … (He was) really a bright spot (Saturday),” Hinch said.
The Tigers left nine runners on base on Saturday and have scored 14 runs during their losing streak. The loss of top hitter Riley Greene to a leg injury has devastated the offense.
“I could stand up here and talk about a lot of different things. You’re not going to make excuses at all,” Hinch said. “We just have to find a different way. … Obviously, getting some guys back would help. There’s some missed opportunities, there’s also some struggles by a large number of the group. (Sunday) doesn’t get any easier with Gallen, but we’ve got to find a different way, and we haven’t really done that in this stretch.”
–Field Level Media
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