The Houston Astros are arguably one of the hottest teams in all of baseball, but they're set to go against an Arizona Diamondbacks pitching trio that hopes to guide them to the postseason.

Unlike the Astros, the D-backs don't really have hopes of winning their division. Keep in mind, Houston only has a two-game lead in the American League West, so it's not like their playoff spot is entirely secure either.

This is an Astros team that has gone 7-3 in their last 10 games, but more specifically, they've won four of their last five and six of their last eight.

Starting pitching-wise, the D-backs are able to have Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, and Eduardo Rodriguez take the mound in a crucial series that'll see just how prepared this team really is for a potential playoff spot.

There's no denying Kelly's best start was his complete game performance on Friday, May 15, but other than that, he's only gone seven innings four times this season.

One of those was back on Saturday, Aug. 29, when he threw seven scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants. Kelly struck out seven batters, and while he allowed four walks, he only allowed two hits as he improved to 9-12 on the year.

Despite just falling to 7-2 on the year, the D-backs know Pfaadt's confidence is everything. In all honesty, that loss shouldn't be on him, as he only allowed two earned runs on five hits in six innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, another team that is nearly a lock to make the playoffs.

The D-backs didn't give him any run support in that one, and that's crazy to say, as he allowed nine earned runs from August 19-25 and didn't take a loss in either of those games. 

The 33-year-old got off to a shaky start in September as the Phillies got eight hits off of him in five innings. 

Rodriguez struck out three but walked three batters as well in an outing that saw him give up three earned runs for the first time since August 4, which just so happened to be the only start he lost that month.

Rodriguez's ERA in August was 2.59, and he had won four straight starts after that August 4 loss, so the D-backs would also love to see him get back to his winning ways.