The Arizona Diamondbacks will face the Giants for the first time this season and will get acquainted with Justin Verlander in a new uniform when the National League West rivals begin a three-game series Monday night in San Francisco.
Both teams are coming off exhausting experiences that concluded with disappointing flights into San Francisco on Sunday night.
The Diamondbacks’ 8-1 home loss Sunday afternoon ended a tense four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also served as the continuation of a rugged 24-day stretch in which Arizona has seen the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers a total of 22 times.
The Diamondbacks have gone just 9-13 in the gauntlet, having alternated losses and wins in their last nine outings against the Phillies, Mets and Dodgers.
Meanwhile, the Giants flew home saddled with a three-game losing streak — all one-run defeats in an interleague matchup with the Minnesota Twins.
The third of the three disappointments was the toughest. The Giants led 3-0 early and then 6-5 going into the bottom of the 10th, only to see closer Ryan Walker give up a walk-off, two-out single to DaShawn Keirsey Jr. in a 7-6 loss to the Twins.
“Sometimes baseball is a cruel game,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said after Sunday’s defeat, which he watched from the clubhouse after getting ejected in the ninth inning. “Just a tough series for us. We have to go home and pick our heads up, play well at home like we have.”
The Giants have won their last three home series — over the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Two of the three losses among those 10 games came in Verlander starts, however.
Verlander (0-2, 4.50 ERA) has yet to record a win in eight starts since signing with San Francisco in the offseason. Three of those eight resulted in team wins, including a 14-5, 11-inning triumph over the Cubs last Tuesday in a game that the 42-year-old left with a 5-3 lead through five innings.
His quest for career win No. 263 will continue against a Diamondbacks team he’s faced just eight times in his 20 seasons. The right-hander has gone 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA in those eight starts despite getting roughed up for eight runs in just three innings in a 2024 head-to-head while with the Houston Astros.
Verlander has been opposed by Arizona’s scheduled starter on Monday, right-hander Merrill Kelly (3-2, 4.09 ERA), just once in their careers, and both pitched well in the Astros’ 1-0 victory in 2023. Verlander threw five shutout innings to get the win, while Kelly was a hard-luck loser after limiting Houston to one run in seven innings.
The Giants will see a Diamondbacks team that’s relatively well rested despite their rough recent schedule. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo gave Lourdes Gurriel Jr. a day off Saturday, then sat Ketel Marte on Sunday despite matchups with the mighty Dodgers.
“We’re going to get into a real good rhythm here where he’s eventually going to play six, seven days in a row,” Lovullo said of Marte, who missed almost a full month earlier this season with a strained left hamstring.
As for Gurriel, the manager reported: “He came into my office (and) said, ‘I’m getting tired. I’m going to need a day off here pretty soon.'”
Kelly has gone 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 19 career starts against the Giants.
– Field Level Media
