Arizona @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2012 ) San Francisco 2, Arizona 10
With their playoff hopes all but gone, the Arizona Diamondbacks continue their final road trip of the regular season Tuesday as they begin a three-game series against the National League West champion San Francisco Giants. Arizona lost the finale of its four-game set in Colorado on Monday, a setback that dropped the club 5 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second wild-card spot with nine contests remaining. The Diamondbacks recorded 33 runs and 48 hits while winning the first three games of their seven-game trek but were held to two runs and five hits in Monday's loss.
San Francisco rested its regulars Sunday, a day after clinching the division, and had its six-game winning streak snapped. It is 6-1 on its 10-game homestand and has won 10 of its last 12 overall contests. The Giants are four games behind NL East-leading Washington for the best record in the major leagues and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, FSN (Arizona), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Josh Collmenter (4-3, 3.92 ERA) vs. Giants RH Tim Lincecum (10-14, 4.91)
Collmenter gets the start in place of Tyler Skaggs, who was scratched after Monday's loss and will be shut down for the season. Collmenter has made six relief appearances since his last start on July 27, when he notched the win against the New York Mets despite surrendering five runs in six innings. The 26-year-old is 3-1 with a 4.88 ERA in eight career games - three starts - versus San Francisco.
Lincecum was slated to start Sunday against the Padres but was pushed back after the Giants clinched the West the day before. The 28-year-old has won three straight decisions, including a triumph over Colorado on Sept. 18 in which he scattered five hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Lincecum, who has yielded three runs or less in nine of his last 10 starts, is 7-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 20 career outings against Arizona.
WALK-OFFS
1. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said the entire five-man starting rotation will be on the team's postseason roster.
2. Diamondbacks 2B Aaron Hill missed Monday's loss with an upper respiratory flu, while 3B Chris Johnson sat out with a swollen left hand.
3. San Francisco 2B Marco Scutaro enters with a 12-game hitting streak.