Diamondbacks and Rangers Series Preview

The juggernaut Rangers lineup comes to town as the D-backs try to maintain momentum towards a Wild Card berth

Note: Story has been updated due to late Diamondbacks pitching change

The Diamondbacks(64-61) and Rangers (72-52) play a two game series at Chase Field this week, kicking off tonight at 6:40 P.M. The teams split a two game series back on May 2nd and 3rd. The Rangers took the first game 6-4 when they broke Zac Gallen's 28 inning scoreless streak and overcame a 4-1 deficit to win the opener. In the second game the D-backs put up crooked numbers in three separate innings including a five run seventh to bounce back from Brandon Pfaadt's disastrous major league debut and win 12-7

Standings Recap

The Rangers have been in first place or tied for first in the AL West every day but one this season, and that lone day out of first was April 8th.  Their biggest lead in the division was 6.5 games on June 23rd but now it's a much slimmer 2.5 games over the Astros and 3.0 games over the Mariners.  Texas started the month of August red hot, going on an eight game winning streak and were 12-2 in their first 14 games this month. They've since  cooled, losing four in a row, including suffering a three games sweep at home at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers. 

The Diamondbacks have won seven of their last 10 games including sweeping a double header from the Padres on Saturday. The had to move Sunday's game up to Saturday and play the double header due to Hurricane Hilary's approach to Southern  California over the weekend. This stretch followed a nine game losing streak and has propelled them back into the NL Wild Card chase. They're currently in a three way tie with the Reds and Marlins one game out of a playoff spot behind the Cubs.

Buy Moves

The Rangers have been very aggressive in pursuing the AL Pennant. They made a huge splash in the off season signing Jacob deGrom, but he went down with an elbow injury after just six starts and required Tommy John Surgery. They also brought in Nathan Eovaldi who had been pitching great before going on the IL with a forearm strain on July 30th.  Undeterred the Rangers have continued to go all in to build up their pitching. 

On June 30th they traded  with the Royals to get Aroldis Chapman and he's been magnificent, throwing scoreless outings in 15 of his 16 games to register a 1.98 ERA with Texas.  They traded for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and also prized starting pitching target Jordan Montgomery, who had been linked to the D-backs at the deadline. They also picked up Chris Stratton in that deal and he's given Texas 14 innings in relief with a 1.29 ERA so far.  The Rangers have over a $200 million payroll, ranking 8th in MLB. 

The D-backs made buy moves of their own at the deadline, picking up closer Paul Sewald, who has converted five out of six save chances since coming over from Seattle. Tommy Pham was acquired from the Mets and has been hot after a slow start. He is on an 11 game hitting streak, batting .313 with four doubles, a triple and three homers, driving in 11 RBI in the streak. 

Offense

The Rangers have the second best offense in MLB, behind only the Atlanta Braves. They average 5.66 runs per game and have a team .799 OPS, both second overall in MLB. They're led by Corey Seager who if qualified would be leading the the AL in batting with a .346 mark that includes 33 doubles and 23 homers in just 81 games, giving him a  1.072 OPS.  He's also been the hottest Ranger of late, going 7-for-22, .318 with three homers in his last six games.  Texas has six other players besides Seager with an OPS over .800 however,  and eight players with double digit homers. That includes Adolis Garcia who has 30 homers and 92 RBI.  Rangers Team Stats Here

The Diamondbacks average 4.7 runs per game, and have a .744 team OPS. It's been a tale of two halves however. Through their first 80 games they averaged 5.22 runs per game and a .772 OPS.  Over the last 45 games  they've scored just 3.8 runs per game and have a .692 OPS, leading to a 16-29 record during this long cold stretch. There are signs the offense has finally woken up as over their last six games they've scored 5.7 runs per game and slugged to an .802 OPS.  Other than Pham's hot streak, Christian Walker had a huge series in Colorado and Alek Thomas had a five hit day that also included two walks and four runs scored in the double header in San Diego. Gabriel Moreno hit his first career grand slam on Saturday.  D-backs Team Stats Here

Pitching Matchups

Game 1:  Monday August 21, 6:40 P.M. MST

Jordan Montgomery, LHP  8-10, 3.30 ERA has given the Rangers exactly what they hoped for since acquiring him at the deadline. He's made three starts, going six innings in each, while giving up just five runs while going 2-1. The D-backs will hope to repeat the success they had in their previous outing against him when they tagged the left hander for seven runs on 10 hits on April 18th in St. Louis in an 8-7 D-backs victory. 

Lefty Reliever Joe Mantiply will be the "opener" for this game. Presumably Slade Cecconi, RHP 0-0, 3.48 ERA will follow as the long man after Mantiply. He was previously listed as the starter but the team advised the change at 10:45 this morning.  Cecconi had two previous starts  sandwiched around a relief appearance. He's been solid but not given the team length, with just 10.1 total innings pitched so far.  He's given up nine hits, four walks and struck out seven while allowing just one homer. He went four innings in Colorado on August 16th in a 9-7 D-backs win. 

Game 2: Tuesday, August 22nd, 6:40 P.M. MST

Zac Gallen, RHP  13-5, 3.17 ERA will square off with Jon Gray in a rematch of the game of May 2nd.  Gallen battled through 6.1 innings on August 17th against the Padres with far less than his best stuff, but managed to give up just one run. There was a barrage of hard contact in the air and on a line that mostly found gloves.  For the season Gallen's hard hit rate of 39% is the fifth highest in MLB among qualified starters.  Despite that his terrific command and control allows him to get outs and limit damage, as does his bulldog mentality. His 2.11 WPA, or win percentage added, is the second highest in MLB behind only Gerrit Cole.

Jon Gray, RHP 8-6, 3.52 ERA bounced back from a couple of rough outings to give up just one run in his last two starts, 14 innings.  He was a tough luck loser to the Angels on August 16th  giving up just one run while the Rangers were shut out 2-0. Prior to that he hurled seven scoreless innings agains the Giants in a 2-1 Rangers victory against the Giants.  The long time Rockie will be making his 20th start against Arizona. He's 5-7 with a 5.66 ERA lifetime against the D-backs, but except for the May 2nd game this year all of those games came in 2021 or earlier. 

Bullpens

Since August 1st the Rangers have a 4.63 bullpen ERA and the D-backs have a 4.64 bullpen ERA, ranking 24th and 25th respectively during that stretch.  Other than Chapman and Stratton, almost everyone else in the Rangers bullpen has struggled with consistency this month . 

Kevin Ginkel has been the hottest D-backs reliever for August, while rookie Justin Martinez and his 103 MPH fastball and splitteer combo have provided some exciting moments since being recalled. Sewald has one bad outing in seven opportunities with the D-backs.