Game #40 Preview: 5/21, Arizona Diamondbacks @ Miami Marlins

Archie Bradley RHP, 2-1, 3.27

Mat Latos RHP, 1-4, 5.54

Ender Inciarte - RF	Dee Gordon - 2B
A.J. Pollock - CF	Marcell Ozuna - CF
David Peralta - LF	Giancarlo Stanton - RF
Yasmany Tomas - 3B	Martin Prado - 3B
Mark Trumbo - 1B	Christian Yelich - LF
Chris Owings - 2B	Justin Bour - 1B
Jordan Pacheco - C	J.T. Realmuto - C
Cliff Pennington - SS	Adeiny Hechavarria - SS
Archie Bradley - RHP	Mat Latos - RHP

Dear god, this is obscene. It's 7:30 am, and I'm having to sit at my computer trying to figure out what a preview should be like. Let's just hope major-league baseball never becomes a global game, because I would not fancy writing previous for those 4am starts for day games against the London Wellingtons, or whatever.. Still, I find it a bit easier to be enthusiastic for this one, than I was for the last game of the series in Philadelphia: funnily enough: winning three in a row is better than losing three. Though this one is not on Fox Sports Arizona: it may be on the MLB Network, it's either that one or Seattle @ Baltimore, I dunno how they decide what area gets what.

Anyway, the last time the Diamondbacks swept a four-game series on the road? Try over eight years ago, in the second series of the 2007 campaign, when we took all four contests against the Nationals in Washington. There, as here, it was pitching which was key, as we held Washington to just six runs in the series; we're at five coming into today. It's been good to see, because we didn't have a streak of three wins, holding the opposition to two runs or fewer, at all in 2014. You've got to go back to September 14-16, 2013, for the last such streak, when we did it to Colorado and Los Angeles.

What's particularly encouraging is that it was done with the inconsistent Rubby De La Rosa, the disappointing Jeremy Hellickson and the winless Chase Anderson, all three of them producing clearly their best starts of the season for Arizona. If we can get Bradley back to form today, we'll certainly have momentum as we return to Phoenix this afternoon, for a quick three-game series in which we welcome the return of Miguel Montero to Chase Field. Bur we do need good Archie to show up, rather the one we saw in the Philadelphia rain, who either couldn't find the strike-zone with radar, or was serving up batting practice.

Very decent of the Diamondbacks to give the Marlins a sporting chance: after the first three games, we are doing the equivalent of playing with one hand tied behind our back, and giving Paul Goldschmidt his first day off of the season.  Trumbo gets the start at first instead, with Pacheco behind the dish, likely for the usual "day game after a night game" reasons. Hopefully, it will go better than his last day off, which ended with a meaningless pinch-hit appearance, which got Goldie's hand broken when he was hit by a pitch. Here's to avoiding anything like that, and a the sweep being completed instead.