The Arizona Diamondbacks will try to keep rolling along Friday night when they pay a visit to U.S. Cellular Field for a weekend interleague series with the Chicago White Sox.
The Diamondbacks took two out of three this week from the Milwaukee Brewers, owners of the best record in the majors. It was their second straight road series victory after winning two of three against San Diego last weekend.
"When we got off the first two, three weeks, we weren't playing well. All the way around," first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. "We weren't hitting that well, we made the mistakes defensively. The pitching wasn't where the guys wanted it to be. These last two weeks, it's been a lot better. If you're playing good baseball, you're going to start getting some wins."
The D'backs had an off day Thursday after earning a 3-2 win on Wednesday behind 7-plus strong innings from starter Bronson Arroyo. Goldschmidt headlined the offense with a two-run homer.
Chicago won three out of four against the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs this week. However, the lone loss in that series came in Thursday's finale as starter Scott Carroll gave up six runs in four innings.
Injuries have continued to plague the White Sox. They remain without two starting pitchers in ace Chris Sale and Felipe Paulino, as well as starting outfielders Adam Eaton and Avisail Garcia.
"Well I mean, I think our team, if you look at our roster, the guys who have stepped in when guys have gone down -- our pitching staff -- we've had guys step in for guys that have done well and held the fort down," captain Paul Konerko said. "We have some pretty good depth on the roster that I think even now you can kind of insert people if guys need a rest or someone goes down."
Taking the mound for Chicago in Friday's opener is Andre Rienzo, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings in his last start. The right-hander gave up three earned runs on seven hits, as he walked four batters and struck out two.
For Arizona, veteran Brandon McCarthy gets a crack at the team that drafted him as he looks to pick up right where he left off at San Diego in his last outing. McCarthy earned his first victory of the season after losing his previous five decisions. He worked seven shutout innings and yielded only three hits while fanning six.
This will be the first time these two teams have met since 2011.
[SportsNetwork.com]
