The Arizona Diamondbacks seem to have found some confidence with the San Francisco Giants in the visiting dugout.
The Diamondbacks will try for three straight wins against their National League West rival when they meet on Wednesday evening in Phoenix.
The Giants, meanwhile, will try to avoid losing a season-high five in a row. They have lost seven of their past eight games.
Arizona was on a four-game losing streak of its own heading into the opener of the four-game series on Monday, but clawed out a 4-2 victory. The Diamondbacks then clubbed four home runs in an 8-2 win on Tuesday.
“We have a really good lineup,” said Diamondbacks outfielder Jake McCarthy, who delivered a three-run shot on Tuesday that gave his team a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning. “There’s a lot of baseball left this season and I’m excited.”
McCarthy was on the Openign Day roster with the Diamondbacks, but was sent down to Triple-A Reno after batting .073 through his first 14 games.
He was recalled on June 24 after Corbin Carroll went on the injured list with a fractured wrist and has hit safely in six straight games.
“I just want to put together productive at-bats,” McCarthy said. “I still think I’m giving away too many at-bats, especially late in the game.”
His home run on Tuesday was just his second of 2025, but he showed some pop at times last season, hitting eight over the fence in 142 games with the Diamondbacks.
“It seems to come and go sometimes, but I think I’m capable of it,” McCarthy said of his power. “I think I’m capable of doing it consistently and I want to show everyone that.”
The Giants plan to start second-year right-hander Landen Roupp on Wednesday.
Roupp (6-5, 3.43 ERA) went 3-1 last month with a 3.20 ERA.
He won his most recent outing, limiting the Chicago White Sox to one run (unearned) and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 3-1 victory last Friday.
“If you ask him, he probably didn’t have his best stuff,” Giants catcher Patrick Bailey said. “We were talking about it after the outing. I think the really good pitchers are able to keep you in games when you know you don’t have your best stuff.”
Roupp has made two relief appearances in his career against the Diamondbacks, posting a 4.76 ERA without a decision.
“I think he’s a competitor,” San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said. “He always has the sinker. He throws a sinker at the bottom of the knee for a strike, a lot of times it’s a ground ball. That’s what he relies on.”
The Diamondbacks plan to counter with right-hander Merrill Kelly.
Kelly (7-4, 3.49) posted a 2.79 ERA over five starts in June, but went just 2-2.
He was hit fairly hard in his most recent outing last Friday, allowing five runs (three earned) and six hits in five innings of a 9-8 loss to the Miami Marlins.
“Frustrating, disappointing,” Kelly said. “Felt really good in the beginning, and then those middle innings kind of just, I don’t know where it went.”
Kelly has made 20 starts against the Giants in his career and is 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA.
He most recently faced San Francisco on May 12, holding the Giants to one run and eight hits over seven innings and earning the 2-1 win.
–Field Level Media
