Preview, #49: Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers

An important road-trip starts tonight for the Diamondbacks, in Milwaukee. Over the next 11 days, they will play 11 games away from the friendly confines of Chase Field. So far, they have proven considerably less capable on the road, with just eight wins - less than half the number posted by the Rockies to date. Part of that is the home-heavy schedule. Thus far, the D-backs have played 19 games away from their home field; only the Cardinals have fewer. This trip will redress the balance, and with two of the three legs being to cities currently at the bottom of their division (Pittsburgh and Miami), it could certainly be worse.

The toughest series is therefore likely this one, with the Brewers finding themselves tied for the lead in the traditionally-tough NL Central, despite having lost their last three games, against the Blue Jays and Cubs. It's likely good that we're starting with Ray on the mound, as he has been one of the team's best performers on the road. In his four starts away from Chase, he has a 1.03 ERA, with 34 strikeouts in 26.1 innings, holding opponents to a .144 batting average (at home, his ERA is 6.75). So hopefully, there's no-one likely better equipped to get this road-trip off to a winning start this evening.

Hopefully, the offense will step up behind him. Those who have struggled most on the road thus far include Owings (.694 road OPS), Yasmany Tomas (.620) and Drury, who is all the way down at an eye-poppingly bad .429 OPS - over 16 away games he is batting .161, with just two walks over 64 plate-appearances. At the other end, Lamb is the regular player with a road OPS over .800. Admittedly, it's over by quite a long way, with a slash of .290/.423/.597. With the Rockies having already lost today, this is a chance to gain ground, and get the psychological boost which would follow from winning the first game of a long road-trip.