Giants, Diamondbacks committed to climbing back into NL West race

Two teams playing winning ball of late continue to set their sights on the .500 mark as the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks open a three-game series in Phoenix on Monday night.

The Giants flew into town after winning their three-game series against the Athletics with a 10-1 shellacking on Sunday, completing a 4-3 week and giving the team five wins in its last eight games.

After contributing a grand slam to an eight-run eighth inning that broke the finale wide open, Harrison Bader said the Giants can work their way out of the early hole they dug for themselves.

"It's the nature of the game. When you face real good teams, it's going to be a roller coaster," he said in a postgame television interview. "We know we're built for it -- just sticking with it, remaining confident. We've got a long way to go. Chipping away is all we're focused on. This is a step in the right direction."

At 20-27, the Giants begin the week in fourth place in the National League West. Just three games ahead in third are the Diamondbacks, who likewise needed a Sunday win to cap a road-series victory, and held on for an 8-6 triumph over the Colorado Rockies.

Like the Giants, Arizona, now 22-23, enters the series having won five of eight. The Diamondbacks banged out 12 hits Sunday in Denver, highlighted by a pair of homers from Corbin Carroll.

Arizona was able to run up big numbers while sitting Ketel Marte, who should come into the San Francisco series well rested and on a nice roll with 2-for-4 performances in two of the past three games. A career .278 hitter, he is batting just .216 this season.

"I know I go back to the expected numbers, and it isn't a game of expected numbers. It's a game of results," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters. "But when that's all we can lean on, when we're seeing trends and habits, I know that Ketel is going to come out of this. If he continues to strike the ball the way he is, it's going to start to fall for him for sure."

Marte and his teammates will get a shot at a former Arizona pitcher, Robbie Ray (3-5, 3.04), in the series opener.

The left-hander spent 5 1/2 years in Arizona, going 47-46 before a 2020 in-season trade to the Toronto Blue Jays. He's since faced the Diamondbacks three times -- all last season -- and gone 3-0 with a 3.15 ERA.

His only Phoenix homecoming resulted in a 7-2 win last July 3 in which he went the distance, allowing just three hits.

Arizona will counter with right-hander Zac Gallen (1-4, 5.02), who has been roughed up for 19 hits and 14 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings in three May starts, resulting in an 8.79 ERA for the month.

Gallen beat the Giants twice in three outings last season, losing only when matched against Ray in San Francisco in September. The Giants won that game 5-3.

For his career, Gallen stands 8-6 with a 3.81 ERA against San Francisco in 19 starts.

-- Field Level Media