Diamondbacks look to continue mastery of Giants in series opener

A playoff hopeful desperate for wins will run into a revenge-seeking non-contender when the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks open a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night.

The Diamondbacks flew into Northern California on Wednesday night following a 2-0 home win over the Chicago Cubs. Arizona won two of its three games from the National League wild-card leaders.

With 28 games left, the Diamondbacks trail the Cubs by five games for the top wild-card. The Philadelphia Phillies hold the second spot, three games ahead of Arizona. The San Diego Padres sit in the third wild-card position, giving them a one-game lead over Arizona.

Arizona has dominated the Giants like no other opponent this season, going 8-1 with a 56-29 total margin of victory. Included was a three-game road sweep the last time the Diamondbacks visited San Francisco in May.

Facing four games over three days (with a day-night doubleheader on Saturday and no game on Sunday), the Diamondbacks have summoned right-hander Jose Cabrera (0-2, 5.60 ERA) from the minors to make Thursday's start.

The 24-year-old made his major-league debut for Arizona in June and started four games, all of which the Diamondbacks lost. He has never faced the Giants.

Interestingly, he made nine starts for Triple-A Reno in the Pacific Coast League this season, but never saw the Sacramento River Cats, the affiliate from which most of the current Giants position players have been promoted in recent weeks.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has nothing but praise for his team, which has three pitchers who have made 15 or more starts on the injured list, but yet still have found a way to remain competitive in the deep NL race for postseason berths.

"We're tough. We don't shut down," Lovullo told reporters during the Chicago series. "They give me everything they possibly can every single night. At times we're youthful and we play with energy, and it shows up late in games. That to me is a sign of maturity."

The Giants demonstrated fatigue in their relief corps when they suffered a historically bad 10-9 loss on Wednesday in the series finale against the Cincinnati Reds.

After getting six strong innings from starting pitcher Logan Webb, five relievers combined to serve up eight runs to the Reds over the final three innings. That included seven in a ninth inning that began with the hosts holding a 9-3 lead.

The six-run lead was the largest ever surrendered in the ninth inning in franchise history, ending a streak of 2,208 games in which the Giants -- dating back to their New York days -- had won under those circumstances.

Manager Tony Vitello, who was ejected in the first inning, had simple instructions for his team after the gut-wrenching defeat.

"Come back tomorrow and win. Compete against a team we haven't been very good against all year long," Vitello said. "You don't like something or you're frustrated, then turn it into determination."

Right-hander Landen Roupp (7-13, 4.34) is scheduled to start the series opener for the Giants. His career record against the Diamondbacks is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in six appearances (four starts). In 23 1/3 innings, he has struck out 24 batters but walked 14.

--Field Level Media