Two teams happy to turn the page on the month of June will complete a three-game set Wednesday night when the Arizona Diamondbacks go for a third consecutive series sweep of the San Francisco Giants.
The Diamondbacks have taken the first two games of the set in Phoenix, 5-4 and 8-2, giving them eight straight wins over their National League West counterparts this season.
The 8-0 run is the longest in the rivalry since the Giants took nine straight games bridging the 2020 and 2021 seasons. No team has beaten the other more than eight straight times in the same season, which last happened when the Giants took eight in a row in 2004.
The first two series between the clubs this year were in May, one at each site. June wasn’t a good month for either team, with the Giants going 12-14 and the Diamondbacks 12-15.
On a night when the Diamondbacks will seek a small piece of team history, right-hander Zac Gallen (3-7, 6.15 ERA) will attempt to accomplish a lifetime pitching feat at the Giants’ expense.
Taking advantage of 12 runs of support in an earlier home win over the Giants, Gallen ran his career record against San Francisco to 9-6 with a 3.77 ERA over 20 starts.
A win Wednesday would be his 10th against the Giants, equaling the most he’s had against any team. He’s also won 10 against the Colorado Rockies.
The 30-year-old’s triumph over San Francisco in May was part of a two-game winning streak that has been followed by a six-game winless skid.
Gallen almost surely won’t see Matt Chapman in the Giants’ lineup Wednesday after the veteran had to leave Tuesday’s game with an abdominal strain. He has been scheduled for an MRI in Phoenix.
“Unfortunately, it’s something we’ve been dealing with for a while now, and I think it’s gotten progressively worse,” Chapman told reporters after the game about pain he said he’s experienced since May. “We’re going to get it looked at and try to figure it out from there. I’ve been trying to play through it for as long as I could.”
Chapman’s 0-for-3 night Tuesday left him with four hits in his last 46 at-bats.
The Giants have right-hander Trevor McDonald (2-6, 4.94 ERA) scheduled for the series finale. He pitched well in a 3-2 home loss to the Diamondbacks on May 27, allowing just three runs (two earned) in 6 1/3 innings. Nonetheless, it went down as one of six losses in his last seven starts.
The 25-year-old has faced Arizona twice in his career — the previous time in relief — and has gone 0-1 with a 4.32 ERA.
One of McDonald’s tasks will be to keep Arizona’s Ketel Marte from hitting a home run. Marte has homered in each of his last four games and has gone deep five times against the Giants this season.
Marte had two hits — a pair of singles — in his head-to-head with McDonald in San Francisco.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo acknowledged to reporters Tuesday that while it might make sense to move Marte out of the leadoff spot, hoping to maximize his RBI opportunities, there’s more than numbers at play when making a decision such as that.
“I’ve got to maybe have a conversation with him if he wants to move around,” Lovullo said. “He’s not a big move-around type of guy. He’s a nester. He’s a rooter. He likes to sit in one place. So I’ve got to be aware of that.”
–Field Level Media
