The D-backs have a chance to escape from Los Angeles with a split of the four-game series, but the road to do so goes through former Diamondback McCarthy, who has won both of his starts this season and has a 1.50 ERA. He looked particularly impressive in spinning six shutout innings of four-hit ball against the Chicago Cubs, but he does have a FIP of 3.68, thanks to a K:BB ratio of 8:4 over 12 innings, so it would appear some degree of regression is in order if that continues. Tonight would be a fine time for it to begin.
Meanwhile, Ray finally gets to face someone other than the San Francisco Giants. He really needs to be walking fewer people - he has eight BB in only 12.1 innings, which heavily counterbalances the 14 strikeouts. The Dodgers have gone right-handed this evening, with Adrian Gonzalez getting the night off, and Puig moved up to fourth. He has been a thorn in Arizona's side this series - at least up until his game-ending double-play yesterday afternoon. I don't know about you, but that was one of the most thoroughly enjoyable moments of the season so far.
A win tonight would improve our record on the road-trip to 3-4, and in turn mean we can go back to chase having split the entire thing, it if we take two of three in San Diego, which should be manageable. That would be pretty acceptable. But let's see if Arizona can get through tonight first. Runs still appear to be at something of a premium, the last tacos having been delivered a week past Saturday, seven games ago. Ending that tonight would also be nice.