Merrill Kelly to Pitch Game 1 of Doubleheader in San Diego

The Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres will play a double header today at Petco Park with game one starting at 12:10 P.M. Game two is scheduled to begin at 5:40 P.M. The change was made necessary due to Hurricane Hilary which is expected to start delivering rain by late Saturday evening and would have washed out the Sunday game. Even game two of this doubleheader is under threat if the storm should move more quickly than expected.

Game 1 Pitching Matchup

Merrill Kelly, 9-5, 3.05 ERA will start in game one for Arizona. Kelly is coming off a great performance against the Rockies in Coors Field in which he struck out a season high 11 while giving up two runs in six innings in a no decision. Kelly has been very solid in four of his five starts since returning from a one month absence with a blood clot in his left calf. Over his last five starts, 29 innings he's given up eight earned runs. Kelly last faced the Padres April 22nd at Chase Field, taking the loss in 5-3 ball game after giving up four runs in five innings.

Matt Waldron is a 26-year-old right hander making his second major league start. His major league debut came on June 24th against the Nationals, after which he was optioned back out and just recalled for this doubleheader. He pitched well in his major league debut despite taking the loss. He needed just 62 pitches to go 4.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits, a walk and two strikeouts. Two of the hits were home runs however.

Waldron throws a four-seam fastball, slider, and surprisingly a knuckleball, which he threw 13 of in his debut. It will be interesting to see how much he goes to that pitch today.

Game 1 Lineups

Fans and pundits alike long clamored for Corbin Carroll to hit leadoff for the Diamondbacks. In five games in the first spot of the order so far he is 2-for-18, .111 with two walks and a .200 OBP. Both hits and one of the walks came in his first at bat leading off the game however and the D-backs will be hoping he can re-ignite his bat and the offense along with it. He last homered on July 23rd, and has been slumping for the better part of the last two months.

Matt Carpenter will make his first start since July 23rd, as the veteran simply no longer hits enough for Bob Melvin to utilize him. Since his batting average dropped under .200 on May 24th he's just 9-for-77, .117. He has just 14 plate appearances since the All Star break but has remained on the roster.

Bullpens

The Diamondbacks should have all 10 relievers on the roster available to work in today's double header. Getting length from Kelly in game one will be critical however, as even though available, many of the D-backs relievers have worked hard this week due to the trip to Colorado. The D-backs will be going with a bullpen game, or "opener" in the night cap making the road all that much tougher. As reported by Jesse Friedman on Twitter/X, Peter Strzelecki is in the D-backs clubhouse. Picked up in the Andrew Chafin trade with the Brewers, Strzelecki was optioned to Reno when the trade happened and has yet to appear in a MLB game for the D-backs.

The Padres are well situated with most of their bullpen rested. They are planning to start Yu Darvish in game two of the double header, which might allow them to go to the pen early in game one if Waldron is struggling.