The Chicago Cubs will try to win back-to-back series for the first time this season when they face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the rubber-game of their three-game set on Sunday in Phoenix.

It’s the final game of a six-game western road trip that started with Chicago winning two of three games in San Diego. The Cubs then bounced back from a 4-3 loss to Arizona in Friday night’s series opener to pull out a 4-2 victory on Saturday night.

Left-hander Justin Steele (1-4, 5.32 ERA) will start for the Cubs. He pitched five shutout innings in a 9-0 win over Milwaukee in his first start of the season on April 9 but hasn’t won in five starts since.

Right-hander Humberto Castellanos (2-1, 4.32) will get the nod for Arizona, which will attempt to win its fourth consecutive series.

Steele, coming off a 7-1 loss to Walker Buehler and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday when he allowed two runs on three hits over four innings, has never faced the Diamondbacks.

Castellanos will face the Cubs for the first time in his career and received a no-decision in his most recent start, a 4-3 victory over Miami on Monday when he allowed three runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Chicago scored three runs in the ninth inning against Arizona closer Mark Melancon on Saturday night to pull out a 4-2 victory.

Catcher Yan Gomes led the way with a home run and also drove in Willson Contreras with the go-ahead run in the ninth.

Contreras began the three-run ninth with an eight-pitch walk against Melancon, took second on a single by Seiya Suzuki, and went to third on a walk to Ian Happ that loaded the bases. Gomes then lined a single to center to drive in Contreras.

J.B. Wendelken walked Rafael Ortega to force in another run, and Jason Heyward made it 4-1 with an RBI groundout.

“Just try and simplify,” Gomes said when asked about his mindset going into the bases-loaded at-bat. “Just trying to put the ball in play, try to drive something into the outfield. Not trying to overdo it. Sometimes in those big moments you can try and overswing it. … Melancon is one of the best closers in the game. You’re just trying to see a good pitch from him.”

Before the three-run ninth, Chicago had just three base runners and a 402-foot solo homer by Gomes off hot Arizona starter Zac Gallen. It was the first homer allowed this season by Gallen, who entered the contest with an ERA of 0.95.

“I don’t think that guy needs to worry too much,” Gomes said. “He’s a tremendous pitcher.”

Cubs manager David Ross wasn’t surprised by Gomes’ big game.

“I put him up there at the top of the order (fourth) because he’s such a quality at-bat,” Ross said. “Doesn’t matter who he’s facing. Doesn’t matter righty, lefty. A really good approach. … He knows the routine, and he knows how to have a quality at-bat.”

Melancon, who leads the team with seven saves, dropped to 0-5 with the loss.

“There’s some things inside the game I felt we could have done better,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “Moving runners over, just having good, heady at-bats at the right time I thought could have made a total difference in this game.”

–Field Level Media

The visiting Philadelphia Phillies have produced a mountain of runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first three games of their four-game series.

Now, the Phillies will face a pitcher in his major-league debut in Sunday’s series finale.

The Dodgers will give right-hander Michael Grove the most challenging of opening acts against a Phillies offense that has 29 total runs in three consecutive victories. It’s the most runs the Phillies have scored in three straight games at Dodger Stadium and two off the record by any Los Angeles opponent.

If the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler and Julio Urias had trouble containing the Phillies’ offense over the previous two games, Grove would seem to be in a predicament. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is staying upbeat.

“He’s a competitor,” Roberts said. “It’s a fastball that’s in the mid-90s. It’s a 12-to-6 old-school curveball. There’s a changeup in there. … Good competitor. Good guy.”

Grove’s opportunity came about after Los Angeles left-hander Clayton Kershaw went on the injured list Friday with lower-back inflammation. Grove, a second-round draft pick in 2018, was 0-1 with a 2.76 ERA in five starts at Double-A Tulsa.

If he can deliver Sunday afternoon, when warm daytime temperatures tend to make Dodger Stadium play small, he can help the club out of its recent slide.

Los Angeles is on a season-long four-game losing streak and has dropped five of its past six games.

Many of the Phillies’ run producers delivered in Saturday’s 8-3 victory. Jean Segura, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins hit home runs. It was the first time Urias ever allowed four home runs in a game.

Harper has gone 8-for-12 in the series, with seven extra-base hits. He has driven in eight runs. But he will not play Sunday after he receives a scheduled platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow to help mend a small ligament tear.

“You have to stay consistent, you have to stay having good at-bats with good approaches, and I thought we were able to do that (Saturday),” Harper said. “I thought we were able to do that the last couple of nights.

“That’s a great Dodgers team and a great pitching staff full of All-Stars, so as a team, collectively, I think we have done a great job of getting on guys early and battling the best we can.”

Segura’s three-run home run in the first inning Saturday, after he got a day off Friday, extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

“(Harper) is in a great spot, and it’s great to see,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “Obviously he’s so important to our offense, but we have other guys in good spots too, which is really helping out.”

The Phillies will send right-hander Aaron Nola (1-3, 3.83 ERA) to the mound Sunday. In his most recent outing Tuesday at Seattle, he gave up a pair of season highs with nine hits and five runs allowed. Four of the runs were earned. He hasn’t earned a victory since his season debut April 8.

In five career starts against the Dodgers, Nola is 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA.

In his lone start at Dodger Stadium in 2018, he gave up one run over seven innings and picked up the victory.

–Field Level Media

Andres Gimenez has provided a welcome spark for the Cleveland Guardians, who will face the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday in Minneapolis.

Cleveland has been looking for other hitters to step up since slugger Josh Naylor landed on the COVID-19 injured list on Friday, and Gimenez has been up to the task.

The 23-year-old middle infielder doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning of Saturday’s 3-2 win to help the Guardians even the series.

“Andres has come up with big hits, clutch hits,” Cleveland acting manager Carl Willis said. “He’s done it a few times this road trip. That’s what it takes to keep us going.”

Gimenez is batting .352 (19-for-54) with eight extra-base hits and 14 RBIs over his past 14 games for Cleveland, which has won four of its past six games.

The Guardians also received a boost from outfielder Myles Straw, who snapped an 0-for-21 streak with a run-scoring single in the 10th inning.

Minnesota went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position on Saturday and lost for the fourth time in its past five games.

One bright spot has been reliever Jhoan Duran, who retired the Guardians in order in the ninth and recorded the fastest pitch in franchise history at 103.3 mph.

Twins third baseman Gio Urshela began his career with Cleveland and clearly enjoys facing his former team. He is 8-for-24 (.333) with three home runs and six RBIs in his past six games against the Guardians.

Minnesota starter Joe Ryan (3-2, 2.56 ERA) will look to bounce back on Sunday after allowing four runs over four innings in a 5-0 loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday. He issued a career-high five walks and threw 90 pitches.

“I didn’t really have a feel for the slider warming up and didn’t really (in the game),” Ryan said. “I got it a couple times, but I didn’t feel comfortable. It’s fine. I got it when I needed it several times, but I didn’t really feel like I had the command to execute the pitches I needed to execute.”

Ryan, a 25-year-old right-hander, is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.75 in two career starts (12 innings) against Cleveland.

Cleveland will counter with right-hander Triston McKenzie (2-2, 2.76), who has won his past two starts.

McKenzie, 24, struck out six over six innings while allowing two runs in a 8-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on May 7. He overcame a shaky start and finished with four hitless innings.

“After the first inning it was really just settling down and figuring it out,” said McKenzie, who is is 1-3 with a 5.95 ERA in four career starts vs. Minnesota.

The Twins made a roster move Saturday by calling up starting pitcher Devin Smeltzer and sending outfielder Alex Kirilloff to Triple-A St. Paul.

Kirilloff, 24, has struggled to regain his form since having season-ending surgery on his right wrist last July.

“I don’t think the best thing for him is to be in a rotation right now,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s healthy. He’s in a good spot physically. But hitting, just getting to the plate and figuring that out, that’s going to happen with at-bats.”

–Field Level Media