Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
ARI	2	0	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	8	11	0
SD	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	2

Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 5.40 ERA) gets the ball for Arizona in the series opener, and it's worth remembering how far he's come just to be standing on a big-league mound right now. He got demoted to the bullpen and then to Triple-A Reno earlier this year before clawing his way back, and his return start against San Francisco went about as well as it could: 5.1 innings, 1 earned run, a win. Walker Buehler (5-4, 4.61) takes it for the Padres, and his last time out is the elephant in the room — 9 earned runs in 4 innings against the Cubs, a career-worst that turned into a 23-3 humiliation for San Diego.

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FINAL

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ML

Total

Diamondbacks(44-45)

LWLLW

8

+1.5-178+115o8.5+104

Padres(44-45)

WLLLL

0

-1.5+174-117u8.5-106

Best BetDiamondbacks +105

Pregame

Arizona's the pick here off the strength of Pfaadt's clean bounce-back start against San Francisco versus a Padres staff still reeling from Buehler's career-worst meltdown against the Cubs. Both teams sit at 44-45, so there's no real record edge, but San Diego's rotation is far more compromised right now with four starters on the shelf. Take the Diamondbacks to steal one on the road.

San Diego limped out of that Cubs series and then dropped three of four to the Dodgers before finally breaking through Sunday, a 5-2 win keyed by a Manny Machado 3-run homer and a Fernando Tatis Jr. RBI single. Machado's been the engine of this lineup all year — 18 homers, 51 RBIs — and Tatis isn't far behind at .284 with 34 RBIs, so the offense clearly has teeth even when the pitching staff is bleeding. The rotation, though, is a mess: Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Nick Pivetta and Matt Waldron are all out, which is exactly why a shaky Buehler start carries so much weight right now.

Brandon Pfaadt

(4-1)·4.58 ERA

Jun 30 vs Giants

W

5.1IP

1ER

2K

1BB

66P

07/06 Lineup

Walker Buehler

(5-5)·5.36 ERA

Jul 1 @ Cubs

L

4.0IP

9ER

6K

4BB

85P

07/06 Lineup

Arizona's banged up too, just on the other side of the roster — Corbin Burnes, Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka are all shelved, which is a big part of why Pfaadt is even back in the rotation in the first place. The Diamondbacks have split their last 5, taking one from the Brewers before dropping the finale, and they'll need saner outings out of a rebuilt rotation than they've gotten most of the year if they want to keep pace in a crowded NL West race that the Dodgers have otherwise run away with.

Arizona Diamondbacks

(44-45)

Jul 5Lvs Brewers2-3

Jul 5Wvs Brewers4-3

Jul 4Lvs Brewers4-7

Jul 2Lvs Giants4-6

Jul 1Wvs Giants8-2

San Diego Padres

(44-45)

Jul 5W@ Dodgers5-2

Jul 5L@ Dodgers0-3

Jul 4L@ Dodgers3-4

Jul 3L@ Dodgers7-12

Jul 1L@ Cubs3-23

The injury sheets on both sides are long, and neither team is dealing with a healthy pitching staff walking into this one.

Arizona Diamondbacks

(10)

• 10-Day-ILJames McCann (C) — McCann (quadriceps) will play Saturday and Sunday for Triple-A Reno and could then rejoin the Diamondbacks, MLB.com reports.07/04
• 10-Day-ILJordan Lawlar (LF) — Manager Torey Lovullo said June 20 that Lawlar will receive further imaging on his strained right hamstring during the All-Star break to gauge his healing, Steve Gilbert MLB.com reports.06/30
• 15-Day-ILMichael Soroka (SP) — Soroka (glute) is expected to begin throwing bullpen sessions twice weekly starting Tuesday, MLB.com reports.06/27
• 60-Day-ILCorbin Burnes (SP) — Burnes (elbow) is expected to be re-evaluated during the first or second week of July, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILRyne Nelson (SP) — The Diamondbacks transferred Nelson (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Thursday.06/25
• 60-Day-ILA.J. Puk (RP) — Arizona is shutting down Puk (elbow) for another four weeks due to a capsule strain and he will also undergo another MRI in four weeks, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.06/19
• 60-Day-ILCristian Mena (RP) — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters Monday that Mena underwent surgery on his right shoulder and will be sidelined for the rest of the season, Jack Sommers of SI.com reports.06/01
• 60-Day-ILBlake Walston (SP) — Walston (elbow) paused his rehab program earlier in the season, but he was expected to start building back up around the middle of May, MLB.com reports.06/01
• 60-Day-ILJustin Martinez (RP) — Martinez (elbow) tossed a bullpen session Friday, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.05/09
• 60-Day-ILAndrew Saalfrank (RP) — Saalfrank (shoulder) said Wednesday that he expects to be sidelined 10-16 months, Arizona Sports reports.05/08

San Diego Padres

(12)

• 10-Day-ILFreddy Fermin (C) — The Padres placed Fermin on the 10-day injured list Friday with a head bruise, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.07/04
• 15-Day-ILRandy Vasquez (SP) — no07/06
• 15-Day-ILJeremiah Estrada (RP) — Estrada (knee) has been throwing at the Padres' spring-training complex in Arizona, per MLB.com.07/03
• 15-Day-ILLucas Giolito (SP) — Giolito (elbow) resumed light throwing in late June, per MLB.com.07/03
• 15-Day-ILJason Adam (RP) — The Padres placed Adam on the 15-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to Tuesday, with a right shoulder strain.07/02
• 15-Day-ILDavid Morgan (RP) — The Padres recalled Morgan from Triple-A El Paso on Friday.06/29
• 15-Day-ILMatt Waldron (SP) — Waldron (forearm) struck out four and allowed two earned runs on two hits and four walks across 2.2 innings Thursday in a rehab start with Triple-A El Paso.06/29
• OutYu Darvish (SP) — Darvish (elbow) revealed Tuesday in a social media post that he has resumed playing catch.05/12
• 60-Day-ILNick Pivetta (SP) — Pivetta (forearm) threw a light bullpen session Saturday, MLB.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILJoe Musgrove (SP) — Musgrove (elbow) started playing catch in late May, per MLB.com.06/08
• 60-Day-ILRamon Laureano (LF) — Laureano underwent surgery Friday to repair his torn right labrum, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.06/05
• 60-Day-ILBryan Hoeing (RP) — The Padres transferred Hoeing (elbow) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Wednesday.05/08

Neither club looks like it's playing its best baseball right now, which is exactly what makes this one interesting. Arizona has the fresher arm on the mound and a lineup that's shown some life against a shorthanded Padres pitching staff, while San Diego is banking on Machado and Tatis to paper over a rotation that's been getting torched. First pitch is 6:40 PM PT at Petco Park, and whichever team can avoid another Buehler-in-Chicago-style meltdown probably walks away with it.