MLB Game Preview - San Francisco at Arizona

Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:40 PM EDT

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks have regained some of the swagger evident in a strong first half, brightening their already solid chances of their first postseason appearance since 2011.

For the first time this decade, all the San Francisco Giants can do is get in the way.

Arizona slipped past the Colorado Rockies to move into the top National League wild-card spot by taking three of four from the Mets in New York. The Diamondbacks finished it off when All-Star left-hander Robbie Ray struck out nine in his return to the rotation after a month-long absence and Fernando Rodney posted his 30th save in a 3-2 victory Thursday.

"It's good to have Robbie back," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "To win the (series) is a great building block for us to get ready for a pretty crucial stretch drive here."

This weekend, Arizona begins a stretch of 25 straight games against NL West opponents. The Diamondbacks meet the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers six times and the Rockies seven times between Friday and Sept. 14.

The Giants, who have three World Series titles since 2010, have made life tough on contenders recently. They took two of three games in home series against the D-backs, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee in the last three weeks.

San Francisco finished off the Brewers, in the race for the NL Central pennant and a wild-card spot, with an encouraging 4-2 victory Wednesday.

"To kind of come here and ruin their day, three days, is something moving forward we can build on as a club," Giants starter Matt Moore said.

Arizona right-hander Zack Greinke (14-6, 3.16 ERA) opposes San Francisco left-hander Ty Blach (8-9, 4.59) on Friday in the opener of the three-game series at Chase Field.

The Giants (52-77) limited Arizona to nine runs while winning two of three games at AT&T Park from Aug. 4-6, symptomatic of a rough offensive stretch the D-backs are working through.

The Diamondbacks (70-58) averaged more than five runs a game during their 50-28 start under first-year manager Lovullo, but they have cooled while going 20-30 since. They have 40 runs in their past 12 games, an average of 3.3.

"It's been a tough month and a half for us, hitting-wise, but that's baseball," Arizona catcher Chris Herrmann said. "We're not going to be perfect all year. We're going to get the job done most of the time."

Greinke is tied with Dodgers lefty Alex Wood and Milwaukee righty Zach Davies for second in the NL in victories, one behind Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw. Greinke is third in the league in strikeouts (178) and WHIP (1.08) and fifth in ERA.

He has found great success at hitter-friendly Chase Field this season, going 11-1 with a 2.34 ERA while limiting opponents to a .192 batting average in 14 home starts. His 11-game home winning streak was broken in a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 9.

Greinke is 9-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 15 career starts against San Francisco, the two losses coming in his first season with Arizona in 2016. He has not faced the Giants since giving up two runs and four hits in a no-decision at Chase Field on April 4, a game the D-backs won 8-6 with a two-run ninth inning.

The Giants have not played in Phoenix since the season-opening four-game series.

Blach has never started against the Diamondbacks, although he made three relief appearances against them this year, allowing three runs in two innings. He is 3-4 with a 5.50 ERA on the road this season, and the Giants have lost four of his past six starts overall.

Blach gave up six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in his most recent start, a 12-9 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.