Game #2: Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals

Jaime Garcia LHP, 0-0, N/A

Trevor Cahill RHP, 0-0, N/A

Diamondbacks line-up

"It's very emotional for me. The truth is it's a big day, my first day. But if I get a chance to play, I'm just going to play hard and see how it goes."-Alfredo Marte
1. Gerardo Parra, RF
   
2. Martin Prado, 3B
3. Aaron Hill, 2B
4. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
5. Miguel Montero, C
6. Alfredo Marte, LF
7. A.J. Pollock, CF
8. Cliff Pennington, SS
9. Trevor Cahill, P

So, tonight is the major-league debut of Alfredo Marte, the first such for the Diamondbacks this season. He replaces, interestingly, Jason Kubel in the line-up, presumably for platoon reasons with a left-hander on the mound. Can't really go dropping Parra after last night, can we? Interesting to see how he shapes up: in spring training, it seemed to be all or nothing with regard to his offense, and we shouldn't forget, he has taken the Mark Reynolds or Paul Goldschmidt track to the majors, leaping from Double-A directly. Perhaps he will follow in their footsteps?

Alfredo Marte makes #Dbacks roster on 24th b-day. Keep thinking of Kevin Towers' words: "Watch out for Marte. He might never go back down."

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) March 31, 2013

We didn't face Garcia last season, and don't actually have that much experience against him. He has seen the D-backs only twice in his career, but won both encounters, with a 2.45 ERA. Martin Prado is the only current Arizona player with more half-a-dozen at bats, and hasn't done much, going 1-for-12 with no walks. Cahill did pitch against the Cardinals last year in St. Louis, getting an unlucky no-decision, despite giving up one run in six innings of work. Not a lot of experience in the opposing dugout either, with nobody having more than six plate-appearances. Collectively, St. Louis are 3-for-26; Matt Holliday has two of those, both leaving the park.