San Francisco @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 14, 2012 ) San Francisco 6, Arizona 2

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson looks for his 200th career win as a manager on Saturday against the San Francisco Giants, who are cruising toward their second National League West title in the last three years. The Giants stand 7 1/2 games ahead of Los Angeles and 11 ahead of Arizona in the NL West after winning 11 of their last 16 games. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval broke out of a 2-for-23 slump with three hits in Friday’s 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks, and the Giants are hoping it’s a sign of things to come. Left fielder Xavier Nady didn’t play Friday, but he could appear as a pinch hitter this weekend in his first action since straining his hamstring on Sept. 5.

Arizona is 4 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the race for the second NL wild card spot, but it will need to pass four teams in order to catch the Cardinals. Left-hander Wade Miley is in a tight race for the NL rookie of the year, and he’ll get another chance to strengthen his case on Saturday. Miley’s 15 wins lead all rookie pitchers, and his opponents’ .281 on-base percentage is the best by a rookie left-hander since Fernando Valenzuela (.270) in 1981. Miley also leads all NL rookie pitchers with 123 strikeouts, while his 3.07 ERA ranks ninth among all NL pitchers. He’s likely battling Washington's Bryce Harper, Colorado's Wilin Rosario and Cincinnati's Todd Frazier for this year’s award.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, CSNBA (San Francisco), FS Arizona

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Barry Zito (11-8, 4.33 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks LH Wade Miley (15-9, 3.07)

Zito has given the Giants an unexpected boost in recent weeks, going 3-0 with a 4.54 ERA in his previous seven starts. He tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings last Sunday against the Dodgers, and he’s on pace to post his most wins since 2006. Zito is 5-8 with a 5.26 ERA in 19 career games against Arizona, including 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in three starts this season.

Miley is 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA in his last seven outings with a 28-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio over that span. His campaign for NL rookie of the year took a hit last Saturday against the Padres, when he gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings while throwing 101 pitches. He pitched four scoreless innings against the Giants in his rookie debut on April 8.

WALK-OFFS

1. Arizona closer J.J. Putz was available Friday after missing the last two games with a stiff back.

2. The Giants haven’t lost a series on the road since dropping two of three games at Pittsburgh just before the All-Star break from July 6-8.

3. Diamondbacks RHP David Hernandez is two strikeouts shy of tying Byung-Hyun Kim (92 in 2002) for third place on the club’s all-time, single-season strikeout list.