Arizona Diamondbacks Look To Win Their First Series Opener Since Opening Day

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Reds. They start a three game series Tuesday afternoon after having a day off on Monday. They are fresh off a major win over the San Diego Padres to avoid being swept and to get back into the win column. Today's game against the Reds will be on D-backs TV and start at 3:40 PM local AZ time.

The Cincinnati Reds are 16-18 and sit 4.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs who are tied for first in the NL Central. They are 1 game back in the Wild Card standings, behind the Washington Nationals. Meanwhile, the D-backs are now 15-20 and in third place in the NL West. They are 7.5 games back of the Dodgers and 2.5 games back in the Wild Card race.

The Reds have lost five straight while Arizona is 1-3 over its last four games. The Reds have struggled at home lately, scoring just 2.43 runs per game over their last seven. The D-backs last seven games on the road--aside from the 31 runs put up over two outlier games--have averaged 2.43 runs per their last seven road games.

For deeper insight into the Reds' offense or this series, be sure to check out the series preview article that goes in depth over the entire series and the Reds' key contributors.

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced two roster moves today. They have activated Closer Paul Sewald from the 15-Day Injured List due to an oblique strain. To make room on the active roster, they have optioned struggling right-hand reliever Scott McGough to Triple-A Reno.

Outfielder Alek Thomas, who had been expected to come up alongside Sewald, appears to have suffered a setback in his hamstring injury, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Rather than being reinstated, Thomas will head back to Phoenix to be re-evaluated.

Sewald has missed all season so far due to the oblique issue that was discovered in his last bullpen before Opening Day. McGough is in his second season with Arizona and has limped to a 6.75 ERA over 16 innings with 10 walks and 10 strikeouts. A lower-pressure environment will help him iron out his control issues. To find out more about the roster moves, be sure to read this article.

RHP Zac Gallen, 3-2, 3.38 ERA, 32 innings Vs. RHP Frankie Montas, 2-2, 4.19 ERA, 19.1 innings

Gallen is making his first start since April 26th when he left early due to a hamstring cramp against the Seattle Mariners. Gallen was given extra rest due to the Bee Game that allowed Arizona to skip his spot in the rotation due to an unexpected bullpen game. As it will be his first start in 10 days, there might be a pitch count limit that Manager Torey Lovullo will allow him to reach, but expect at least 5-6 innings out of Gallen tonight.

Gallen has struggled through his last two starts. Over those 10 innings, he's 0-2 with 12 hits given up, five runs, two walks, and nine strikeouts. The strikeouts haven't been hard to come by for Gallen with 35 in just 32 innings. Gallen has limited walks mostly, but has been hit hard this season with a lower fastball velocity. His Hard-Hit % is a staggering 52.3% which is in the 2nd percentile among MLB pitchers. He must avoid the hard and loud contact tonight, especially in a hitter friendly venue such as Great American Ballpark.

Gallen has plenty to love, but if he's going to come close to last season, avoiding loud contact and improving his fastball will be key to success according to the advanced metrics.

For Frankie Montas, the biggest factor is staying healthy. He has missed the majority of the last two seasons. Now, he's been activated once again off the IL due to a right forearm contusion, similar to what happened to Ryne Nelson. Montas has struggled to regain his form since Opening Day. He's given up three homers in just 19.1 innings along with 18 hits and 11 runs.

During that span, he's walked 10 and just struck out 14. The command has been an issue for Montas which can lead to plenty of walks for Arizona hitters if they stay patient. Over Montas' last three starts, he pitched just 7.2 innings due to injury and giving up nine hits, eight runs, and six walks against only five strikeouts.

Montas throws a four seamer (33.1%), split finger (24.5%), sinker (18.7%), cutter (16.4%), and slider (7.2%). His split finger and cutter have been smoked by opposing hitters this season. However, his sinker and four seam fastball have been tough on hitters and have limited a lot of slug against him. Advanced metrics say that Montas has been fairly lucky to have the results he has gotten so far, so D-backs hitters will need to be patient and attack the pitches they want.

Corbin Carroll is back in the lead off spot after showing some improvement with his quality of contact and his bat path/swing through the zone. Over his last seven games, he has gotten six hits, including going 2-4 with two RBI against the Padres on Sunday. He'll have to work on limiting the punchouts and get back to walking as he's struck out seven times against just one walk over the last seven games.

Jake McCarthy will look to stay hot at the plate while he battles for his roster spot with Alek Thomas nearing his return. McCarthy has hit .333/.429/.458 over his last seven games with three runs, eight hits, three RBI, four walks, and five strikeouts. His patient approach at the plate is paying big dividends as he spoke about here.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 2-6 against Montas while Christian Walker is 1-1. Kevin Newman and Tucker Barnhart both start against their former teams with Gabriel Moreno and Blaze Alexander getting days off.

The key for Arizona will be to stop Elly De La Cruz, and if they can manage that, they will be in much better position to win today's game.