The Arizona Diamondbacks didn't move above the .500 mark for good this season until beating the Toronto Blue Jays on July 12. Six-plus weeks later, the Diamondbacks are the hottest team in the majors.
Arizona will aim to move 20 games over the break-even mark when they face the New York Mets on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game set in Phoenix. Arizona has won 24 of its past 30 games entering the pivotal set against the Mets and will follow up with a four-game home set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Diamondbacks trail Los Angeles by three games in the National League West while leading the NL wild-card chase.
Last year, Arizona snuck into the final playoff spot and ended up in the World Series. The consensus is that the Diamondbacks have a better overall squad this season. "I know everybody in this clubhouse feels a certain way about this team," Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly said.
"I know a lot of our guys, if not all of our guys, feel that we're a better team than we were last year going into the playoffs. "So everybody's opinion outside of this clubhouse, in my opinion, doesn't really matter. But I know that we know that we have a really good team and that we have a chance to do something special.
" The Diamondbacks are riding their second six-game winning streak of the month. Arizona lost three straight to the Tampa Bay Rays to start a nine-game road trip before winning the final six contests. The Diamondbacks scored 45 runs while posting three-game sweeps of the Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox.
Eugenio Suarez fueled the sweep of Boston by going 8-for-13 with two homers and 10 RBIs. After a miserable first three months of the season, Suarez has 14 homers and 47 RBIs since the start of July. "I'm not trying to be a hero," Suarez said.
"I enjoy my process. I work hard and put everything I have on the field." New York entered Monday's play trailing the Atlanta Braves by 2 1/2 games for the final wild-card berth.
The Mets are coming off a four-game road split against the San Diego Padres, the second-place team in the wild-card race. But the series ended on a highly damaging note. The Mets led 2-0 entering the bottom of the eighth on Sunday before San Diego's Jurickson Profar hit a tying homer.
Then in the bottom of the ninth, Jackson Merrill drilled a walk-off homer off New York's Edwin Diaz to give San Diego a 3-2 triumph. "Obviously, it hurts, because we're going up against a team that we've got to beat to be there," J.D.
Martinez said of the wild-card race. "But it is what it is. We've just got to turn the page and get ready for this next series.
" New York manager Carlos Mendoza downplayed the missed opportunity. "The biggest takeaway is we played a really good series," Mendoza said. "That's a really good team right there, and it felt like a playoff atmosphere, a playoff game.
" New York's Sean Manaea (9-5, 3.48 ERA) will face Arizona's Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0, 3.94) in a battle of left-handers.
Manaea, 32, lost to Arizona on June 1 when he gave up six runs (five earned) and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out 10 and walked two. Overall, he is 4-3 with a 3.
91 ERA in 12 appearances (nine starts) against the Diamondbacks. Randal Grichuk is 6-for-16 with two homers off Manaea. Rodriguez, 31, is making his fourth start of the season after dealing with lat and shoulder ailments.
He is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two career starts against the Mets. Martinez is 3-for-5 with two homers against Rodriguez.
--Field Level Media.
