The visiting Arizona Diamondbacks will turn to Merrill Kelly on Saturday night as they look to clinch a four-game series against the playoff-bound Milwaukee Brewers.
Kelly (4-0, 4.00 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Aaron Civale (7-8, 4.48).
The Diamondbacks recorded a 7-4 victory Friday to notch their third straight win.
Ketel Marte hit his career-high 33rd homer of the season for Arizona, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added a solo shot in his first game since being activated off the injured list earlier in the day. The Brewers (88-66) got all four runs off starter Zac Gallen on three homers in the fifth inning.
“A lot of good things about tonight. We competed, we came back,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Obviously, the Diamondbacks are playing great; they’re playing for their lives.”
Arizona (86-68), which is 12-5 in its last 17 road games, resides two games behind the San Diego Padres in the race for the top wild-card berth in the National League. The Mets dropped a game behind the Diamondbacks following their 12-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I saw the out-of-town scoreboard as I was waiting for the pitchers to come in from the bullpen,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of the Mets’ outcome. “It was a quick glance, I wasn’t sure it happened, but got confirmation once I came in here.
“It’s a good feeling, but we’ve got, what, eight more games to go? No deal is done. We’ve got to go out and play our best baseball from here on out. It’s nice to win a game when the rest of the field doesn’t. We’re going to enjoy it, but we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Milwaukee has dropped two straight since clinching the NL Central on Wednesday. The Brewers are four games behind the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the NL. The top two division winners will receive a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Kelly is 2-0 with a 5.17 ERA in seven starts since coming off the injured list. In his previous start Monday, he allowed one run on two hits in six innings of a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies. Arizona lost 3-2.
Kelly is 3-2 with a 3.04 ERA in eight career meetings against the Brewers. He is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last five starts overall vs. them.
Civale, acquired from Tampa Bay in early July, is 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his last seven starts. In his last outing, he allowed one run in five innings to pick up the win in a 6-2 victory over Philadelphia on Monday.
Civale, who has never faced the Diamondbacks, is 5-2 with a 3.68 ERA in 12 starts with Milwaukee.
“They’re one of the best offenses in baseball,” Murphy said of Arizona. “That’s all there is to it.”
–Field Level Media
