Maroth (5-7, 4.39)
Estes (5-5, 3.91)
Back to BOB, after a road-trip that started so impressively, before petering out to 4-6. But with the rest of the West continuing to stagger from town to town, collectively displaying all the skill of a drunken sailor, we are still - amazingly - in touch. However, it says something that Detroit, who have a better record than us, are good for only fourth in the AL Central, while we're second in the NL West.
We took two of three in Detroit, and will be looking to do the same here. We have a good chance to get the series off to a solid start with Estes, who has pitched two complete games in a row. The Tigers send up Maroth, who is still perhaps most notorious for being a rare 21-game loser in 2003, and has yet to have a winning season [his overall record is 31-51 - this is what happens when you play for Detroit your entire career].
Polanco has been hot for Detroit since coming over in the Urbina trade; Rodriguez is ever-dangerous and stand-in shortstop Omar Infante is batting .381 while replacing Carlos Guillen. For the D'backs, Clayton has hit a startling .500 (10-for-20) in the past week, with Gonzalez (.345) and Tracy (.333) both also producing well. I'll predict a three-run win for AZ, with another quality start from Estes.