Diamondbacks at Rockies
The roadmap to the postseason is becoming complicated for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who fell back to .500 after losing two of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend. Arizona continues its six-game road trip Monday when they open a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies, who have lost 26 of their last 35 games.
Arizona (59-59) fell behind 8-0 early in Sunday’s matchup against the Dodgers but avoided its second straight shutout when Eduardo Escobar and Nick Ahmed homered in the late innings. Mike Leake was tagged for eight runs over five frames in his second start with the Diamondbacks, who are three games back of St. Louis for the second National League wild card but have three other teams - Milwaukee, the New York Mets and Philadelphia - ahead of them. Colorado snapped a five-game losing streak with Sunday’s 8-3 victory over San Diego behind another strong performance by Yonder Alonso, who hit his 100th career homer and third since joining the Rockies on July 23. Ian Desmond broke out of a 0-for-14 skid with two hits and two RBIs, while Tony Wolters, Raimel Tapia and Charlie Blackmon combined for six of the team’s 12 hits.
TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Merrill Kelly (7-12, 4.52 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Peter Lambert (2-3, 6.87)
Kelly lost his sixth straight decision last Monday after giving up four runs - three earned - over six innings against Philadelphia. The performance marked a step forward for the 30-year-old rookie, who allowed a total of 14 runs and 15 hits in his previous two outings. Kelly, who is 0-2 with a 6.39 ERA in his previous two starts versus Colorado, owns a 3.84 ERA in 11 home starts compared to a 5.21 mark in 12 outings away from Chase Field.
Lambert looks to bounce back from Wednesday's ugly outing in which he issued four walks and allowed nine runs in three-plus innings in a 14-3 loss to Houston. “Going up against a team like that, you’ve got to get ahead, and you can’t allow free baserunners," Lambert told reporters. “A bad one like this, you just have to leave it in the past and go day by day.” The 22-year-old rookie won his first two outings but is 0-3 with an 8.37 ERA in his last nine starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Colorado (53-65) moved a season-high six games over .500 at 40-34 after sweeping a three-game series at Arizona on June 18-20.
2. Arizona activated RHP Matt Andriese from the 10-day injured list and optioned LHP Robby Scott to Triple-A Reno.
3. Rockies OF Yonathan Daza exited Sunday’s contest due to a left ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day.