With postseason odds hanging in the balance, the Arizona Diamondbacks face a surging Philadelphia Phillies squad at Chase Field.
With roughly one month left in the regular season, the Arizona Diamondbacks are officially back, if the season ended at this point, in the playoffs.
Obviously, a lot can change over these next few weeks, and a lot probably will, but as things currently stand, the D-backs have a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot.
That said, Arizona has a huge series ahead of them. They're set to do battle with the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that's 4.5 games ahead of them.
The Phillies aren't locked into a playoff spot just yet either, but it's far more likely that they make the postseason along with the Chicago Cubs. Again, there's a chance neither of those teams get in, but ESPN gives the Phillies a 98.6% chance to make the playoffs, the Cubs a 98.1% chance, and the D-backs just a 49.5% chance.
Diamondbacks are 2-1 vs. Phillies this season
Not only do the Diamondbacks currently have a winning record against the Phillies, but they were able to take two of three games in Philadelphia.
Now, the Phillies head west as they'll be at Chase Field from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 for a three-game slate that will determine just how good the D-backs truly are.
Remember, this is a Diamondbacks team that just split a four-game slate against the San Francisco Giants, but it's worth noting one of those losses was in the second game of a doubleheader.
Philadelphia is coming into this series red hot, having won four in a row and 13 of their last 15 games. That's not a great sign for Arizona, but the Phillies were outscored 13-3 from Aug. 24-25 so there is still a chance this D-backs team could take care of business.
D-backs don't have to face Cristopher Sanchez
If there's a silver lining about this series, it's the fact that Cristopher Sanchez just pitched on Saturday, Aug. 29, so he'll be unavailable for the D-backs series.
Instead, Arizona will do battle with Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo, and Andrew Painter. Two of those three have an ERA north of 5.00, and while Luzardo has been incredible this season with his 12-5 record, 3.09 ERA, and 203 strikeouts, he's still nowhere near Sanchez's 16-4 record and 2.52 ERA.
The Diamondbacks can only focus on one game at a time, and there's a chance this six-game season series could determine a tiebreaker at the end of the year. In order to prevent being on the wrong side of that, Arizona must win two of these three games, and their best chance of doing so is on Monday and Wednesday when Nola and Painter take the mound.
