Merrill Kelly Looks to Get Untracked Against Familiar Foe

After two rough starts against the Dodgers, Merrill Kelly looks to continue his success against the Giants this season.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks will face the San Francisco Giants in the second game of a three-game series at Chase Field. The Giants won the first game of the series, scoring the winning run in the ninth after a defensive miscue extended the inning. Arizona still holds the season series lead 8-6 and will be sending out a pitcher with a track record of success against San Francisco today. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 5:10 PM MST.

Pitching Matchup

As noted two weeks ago, Merrill Kelly is 12-2 with a 2.38 ERA against teams that aren't the Dodgers. That includes the Giants, who Kelly has had a lot of success against in his career. In 14 career starts against San Francisco, Kelly is 5-3 with a 2.56 ERA and is averaging six innings a start. In 2022, Kelly is 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 28.1 innings against the Giants.

Alex Cobb has made three starts against the D-backs this season. He is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA and pitched six innings in each start. Cobb has been particularly stingy in the second half, pitching to a 2.80 ERA in his last 11 starts. The D-backs will need to take advantage of hittable strikes up in the zone and try to lay off the splitter when it's located at the knees and below. 

Lineups

MLB.com

Pre-Game Notes

D-backs Pitching Coach Brent Strom chatted with the media today. He intends to return in the same role next year. He made a note on how much the energy has picked up, starting with the young and fast outfielders on the team.

On last night's start, Strom and the coaching staff identified some areas of improvement for Henry. Strom felt that Henry might have been tipping his pitches and fell into the habit of trying to challenge hitters with fastballs. The home run to David Villar was a location mistake with the curveball, as it hovered over the bottom of the strike zone instead of bounced.

When the topic of Drey Jameson came up, Strom praised the rookie right-hander and called him an explosive athlete and the tools necessary to be a frontline starter for a first place team. Jameson was named the Best Athlete in the D-backs system on Baseball America. 

Corbin Carroll will get his first career start batting leadoff. His ability to drive balls in the gap and steal bases made him a potentially good fit for that spot in the order. 

Josh Rojas is back in the starting lineup today. Rojas had been sitting because his defense had not been up to the standard that the coaching staff set for him. He's been tirelessly working on improving his footwork and fielding ground balls all week. Yesterday D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said that Rojas has put in a couple really strong days on that front.