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Two pitchers on opposite ends of the support spectrum go head to head Thursday afternoon when Merrill Kelly and the Arizona Diamondbacks try for a three-game road sweep of Blake Snell and the San Francisco Giants.

The Diamondbacks have ridden strong outings from starting pitchers Ryne Nelson and Zac Gallen to early leads before holding off late rallies by the Giants for 8-7 and 6-4 wins in the first two games of the series.

The victories have allowed Arizona (79-61) to retain its standing in the No. 2 wild-card playoff position in the National League.

Meanwhile, the Giants (68-72), a longshot to make the playoffs at the start of the series, have dug themselves an even bigger hole, falling 81/2 games out of the last wild-card spot with just 22 to play.

If the Thursday series finale turns into another high-scoring affair, Kelly (4-0, 4.30 ERA) would feel right at home. He was bailed out by a potent offense in four August starts after returning from a strained right shoulder.

The right-hander went 2-0 despite a 6.75 ERA in August, benefitting from an Arizona offense that put up 32 runs in his four starts.

The 35-year-old will be facing the Giants for the first time this season. He is 7-5 with a 3.34 ERA against them in 18 lifetime starts.

The Diamondbacks have put up 40 runs in their past five games despite missing one of their top hitters, Ketel Marte, who is out due to a sprained left ankle.

Marte made the trip to San Francisco, and while it is unlikely that he would be activated in time for the series finale, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo fully expects the All-Star to be back in the lineup during his team’s three-game series at Houston later this week.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that when I see certain habits, that it’s going to be sooner than later,” he said of Marte’s return. “So yeah, I’m hoping (his return is) before the trip is over.”

The Diamondbacks would figure to need all hands on deck against Snell (2-3, 3.56 ERA), who hasn’t gotten a decision in any of his past four starts despite allowing just four runs in 23 1/3 innings. The Giants have put up a total of just 11 runs in those contests, eight after Snell left the game.

The left-hander was on the losing end of a 17-1 shellacking dealt by the Diamondbacks in San Francisco on April 19, a game in which he yielded five runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. The 31-year-old has gone 5-2 with a 1.86 ERA against the Diamondbacks in nine career meetings.

Snell will be pitching for the first time since the announcement that he’d been named the NL Pitcher of the Month for August, a month in which he posted a 1.64 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings. He threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 2.

Snell hasn’t been the only Giants starter of late who has been frustrated by the San Francisco offense. The Giants have scored nine of their 11 runs in this series in the seventh inning or later, well after the starter has fought his battle.

“Trying to put pressure on the starter early in the game, score some runs — it takes the pressure off our starters,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We talk about it a lot. We try to prepare the best we can for a starter, and it’s really been all year that we’ve struggled with that.”

–Field Level Media