Tommy Pham to Make D-backs Debut Against Giants

The Diamondbacks will try to snap out of their slump in the four game series finale against the Giants today Oracle Park, first pitch 12:45 MST. The D-backs blew a 2-0 lead to lose 4-2 last night. The night prior they coughed up a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3. In the opener it was the Giants who squandered a 2-0 lead allowing the D-backs to come back and win it 4-3 in 11 innings.

Standings Update

On June 27th Arizona ended the day with a 48-32 record and had a 2.5 game lead in the NL West. Since then they've gone 9-20 to drop 5.5 games behind the first place Dodgers and three games behind the second place Giants who hold the top Wild Card spot at the moment. The D-backs are not even in a playoff position right now, as they're one full game back of the Marlins and Brewers for the final wild card slot. A win today to split the series would go a long way towards easing concerns perhaps, after all a split of four games in San Francisco is not a bad result, no matter how you get there.

Pitching Matchup

The Giants will once again be employing a bullpen game, with lefty reliever Scott Alexander (6-1, 3.13 ERA) filling the role of opener.

The Diamondbacks are sending Brandon Pfaadt (0-4, 8.20) to the mound. Since being called up for the third time this season, his last two outings have been competitive. He allowed three runs in 5.2 innings against the Mariners last week and three runs in six innings against the Reds in Cincinnati. He's walked just one and struck out nine batters across those two outings, but the home runs continue to be an issue, as he also allowed four long balls in those games. For the year he has allowed a whopping 13 homers in 37. 1 innings pitched.

Lineups

Tommy Pham is in the lineup today to make his Diamondbacks debut. Kyle Lewis was optioned back to Triple-A Reno to make room on the roster. Acquired from the Mets on Tuesday's trade deadline, the D-backs are looking for the right handed Pham to provide a boost to the offense. Playing his home games in the pitcher friendly Citi Field in New York, Pham is batting .268/.348/.472, good for an .820 OPS, which works out to a 126 OPS+, or roughly 26% better than league average. For context, that would ranks 4th best on the Diamondbacks, behind Ketel Marte (139), Corbin Carroll (138), and Christian Walker (131).

Over their last six games they D-backs are batting .199/.254/.288 with just three homers, 13 walks, and 43 strikeouts. That's resulted in just 15 runs, 2.5 runs per game in the last week. The good news is Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s bat has finally woken up during this stretch, going 6-for-19 with two doubles and a homer. The bad news is that Corbin Carroll is slumping. The presumptive Rookie of the Year is two for his last 23, .087, without an extra base hit and just two walks. Jake McCarthy, who is out of the lineup today, is also one for his last 17 with just one walk.

The Giants offense hasn't been much better, as evidenced by the low scoring games in this series. They scored the fewest runs in MLB for the month of July, and just 20 runs in their last six games or 3.3 per game. They are batting a respectable .251 in the last week, but hits with runners in scoring position have been somewhat tough to come by. Despite that the Giants managed to pass the D-backs in the standings and at least temporarily put themselves into the first wild card position.

Bullpens:

Giants closer Camilo Doval and right hander Tyler Rogers have each worked four of the last five days, including last night. So they may not be available for this Giants bullpen game.

The D-backs have yet to get closer Paul Sewald into a game since acquiring him from the Mariners on Tuesday. It would not be surprising to see Torey Lovullo try to get him some work, even if there isn't a save opportunity.