Rockies, D-backs enjoy view from top

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PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies meet in a three-game series starting Friday in a matchup of National League West heavyweights.

Just as everyone expected.

Well, maybe some of the two teams' players and their immediate families. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were universal picks to top the division before the season.

Instead, Arizona (15-9) took over the division lead by a half-game by beating the San Diego Padres 6-2 on Thursday. Colorado (14-9) slipped to second in the extremely early-season standings after losing its third straight to the Washington Nationals, 16-5.

Among the challenges for the Rockies will be containing the D-backs' running game. After watching Arizona run nearly at will this week, San Diego manager Andy Green called the Diamondbacks "the best running team in baseball. Milwaukee is probably right behind them.

"Milwaukee might end up with more (stolen) bags. Arizona's success rate is going to be higher."

The D-backs stole two more bases Thursday to raise their major-league-leading total to 27 this season.

"It's a challenge for us," Green said. "It's good for us to go through it early in the season because it's an eye-opener to see how easy it is for them to take bags on some of our guys."

The Friday game will match Diamondbacks strikeout artist Robbie Ray (2-0, 3.42 ERA) against Rockies rookie Kyle Freeland (2-1, 3.32 ERA).

Ray went 8-15 with a 4.90 ERA last year but set career highs in starts (32), innings (174 1/3) and strikeouts (218).

The strikeout total ranked tied for No. 9 in the majors, and his 11.25 strikeouts per nine innings trailed only Jose Fernandez (12.49) in the National League.

The key for Ray is to be efficient enough to last deep into games. He has been helped by early-count outs in recent starts, though he also seems to be winning recent battles on 3-2 counts.

"(That) has allowed him to work deeper into games," manager Torey Lovullo said. "The stuff is still electric. The fastball, the breaking ball, the combination of those two pitches has been tremendous, and at times he's overmatched some really good offensive teams."

In his most recent start, Ray gave up five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings in an 11-5 win over the Dodgers.

Freeland heads into his fifth major league start coming off a big outing. He threw seven scoreless innings in an 8-0 shutout of San Francisco on Sunday, allowing six hits while walking one and striking out three. Freeland recorded 12 outs on ground balls.

"His best stuff is down in the strike zone with movement down," Rockies manager Bud Black said after the game. "When you're throwing the ball in the low 90s with action down, you're going to get grounders."

Freeland, 23, has pitched in four big-league games, all starts.

"You learn at home and you learn on the road," Freeland told the Denver Post. "It's about being comfortable in all situations."

The Rockies hope Freeland can stop a stretch of subpar pitching that saw the Nationals put up 42 runs en route to winning the last three games of the midweek series at Coors Field.

While Freeland will be facing the Diamondbacks for the first time, Ray is 2-1 with a 5.30 ERA in seven career starts against the Rockies.

Both teams will feel confident if the game is tight. The Rockies have been great in one-run games, producing a big-league-best 7-0 record. The last team in the majors to start 7-0 in such games was the 2006 Houston Astros. Last year, Colorado was 12-20 in one-run games.

Arizona is 4-1 in one-run contests.

Pirates hope to improve defense as they travel to Miami

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MIAMI -- The Pittsburgh Pirates hope to improve their play in the field as they prepare to face the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park this weekend.

Pittsburgh (9-12) opens a three-game road series against the Marlins on Friday, and the Pirates will have to improve their defense if they want to make a move out of the cellar in the National League Central.

Right-hander Jameson Taillon (1-0, 2.13 ERA) gets the start for Pittsburgh as he tries to rebound from his shortest outing of the season; he worked 5 1/3 innings last Saturday against the Yankees, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks.

However, the defense behind Taillon might be the biggest variable against the Marlins. The Pirates rank last statistically in team defense. The shaky glove work has resulted in the team being tied for the most errors (20) and yielding the most unearned runs (15) in the NL.

Pittsburgh made another error Wednesday in a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs as the Pirates salvaged one game of the three-game set. The club also made history when infielder Gift Ngoepe debuted and became the first African-born player to play in the majors.

However, a 1-0 home loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday was a microcosm of how costly bad defense has been on a good night of pitching by Pirates hurlers this season.

A throwing error in the second inning led to Addison Russell scoring the only run, spoiling a sharp start by Gerrit Cole.

Second baseman Alen Hanson charged Jason Heyward's one-out chopper with Russell on second base, but Hanson's throw to first sailed past first baseman Josh Bell and bounced off the Chicago dugout, allowing Russell to score.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle recently lost All-Star outfielder Starling Marte to an 80-game suspension for a failed drug test. Hurdle told the media after the loss Tuesday that the Pirates sought the defensive answer to their problems within the farm system.

"You're gonna try and raise your own. That's what we're trying to do throughout our player-development system," Hurdle said. "You develop your own talent, and that's what we're trying to do. We feel we had guys that, given the opportunity and given the reps, could man the positions.

"We've come up short in some areas in the initial push out of the gate."

In contrast to the Pirates, the Marlins (10-10) have displayed slick skills in the field. The team's .992 fielding percentage, .738 defensive efficiency rating and six errors top the NL's defensive stats chart.

Miami will put that defense out on Friday to back left-hander Adam Conley (1-1, 3.00), who will be making his fourth start and fifth appearance.

The Marlins were again foiled by soft-tossing Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson on Thursday, dropping a 3-2 decision at Citizens Bank Park.

Hellickson relied on off-speed pitches to silence the Miami bats, twirling 35 changeups in his 94-pitch outing that led Philadelphia to its sixth straight win and a sweep of the two-game series.

Miami manager Don Mattingly said his team needs to regain the energy it showed in San Diego when the Marlins took two of three against the Padres.

"We kind of battled back in San Diego and got a couple, and then come here. You don't feel a lot of energy," Mattingly said Thursday after the loss, which saw Hellickson work out of a pair of jams.

"I don't know if it's the two days off. They were in the same situation. I didn't feel a lot of energy, even in the seventh there. We may have to do some things differently in terms of mixing things up."

Slumping Mets look to gain ground on surging Nationals

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WASHINGTON -- The New York Mets and Washington Nationals have combined to win the last three titles in the National League East.

But there was not much of a pennant race when the Nationals took the crown in 2014 and 2016 or when the Mets prevailed in 2015 on the way to the World Series. The Mets won the division by seven games in 2015 while the Nationals were eight games better than New York last year and 17 games in front of their nearest foe in 2014.

The Mets will need a good showing this weekend in Washington if they don't want to fall further behind the surging Nationals, who posted a record of 9-1 on a three-city road trip that ended Thursday in Denver with a 16-2 thumping of the Colorado Rockies. First-place Washington scored 46 runs while winning three of four in Denver.

"That is quite a few runs. Guys came together and really had a heck of a road trip," Washington center fielder Adam Eaton told the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). "I think we are going to keep it going (at home)."

The Nationals, who swept the Mets in three games last weekend in New York, will send ace Max Scherzer to the mound for the first game of the series Friday night at Nationals Park.

He is 6-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 12 career games against the Mets, with 11 starts. Scherzer (3-1, 1.95) threw a no-hitter at New York in his last start of the 2015 season.

The Mets, who have lost 10 of their last 11 and six in a row, will counter with right-hander Jacob deGrom (0-1, 2.55). He was supposed to start against the Nationals on April 21, but a sore neck forced the Mets to use Matt Harvey, and deGrom faced Washington at home on Saturday.

"We can no longer sit back and say, 'Hey look, it's ugly weather, we've got some guys hurt.' No one cares. They don't care. The Nationals won't care. (The media) doesn't care. The only thing that matters are the guys in that room," Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters Thursday.

In his last start, deGrom walked six Nationals but also fanned 10 while giving up three runs at home Saturday. He is 2-3 with a 3.33 ERA in eight career starts against Washington.

The Mets (8-13) are already 7 1/2 games behind the Nationals (16-6), whose bullpen ERA is one of the worst in baseball. New York lost at home 7-5 Thursday to the Atlanta Braves.

New York has been beset by injuries in the first month of the season. Infielder Wilmer Flores (right knee infection) and first baseman Lucas Duda (hyperextended left elbow) both went on the 10-day disabled list April 21.

Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes did not start in any of the three games last weekend in New York. He started Thursday against the Atlanta Braves but left the game in the fourth inning with a hamstring injury.

"The concern is getting these guys back. Once we get healthy and get our lineup back in there, I think things will turn around," Collins said.

Right-hander Noah Syndergaard was scratched from his start on Thursday with a "tired arm," according to Collins.

In the last meeting, Daniel Murphy hit a grand slam and Scherzer got the win against the Mets on Sunday night.

Murphy is hitting .386 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 22 games against the Mets, his former team.

"He wants to beat their brains in. He won't say anything, and he won't say anything to us -- it's not like he's in here boasting that he wants to beat the Mets," Scherzer told reporters. "But he wants to beat them apart."

The Nationals' offense has been the best in baseball, and is paced by right fielder Bryce Harper (.418, eight homers), first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (.387, 8 homers), shortstop Trea Turner (.347), Eaton (.291) and second baseman Murphy (.340, 5 homers).

Washington won the season series 12-7 last season against New York.

New York could also face Stephen Strasburg this weekend after he returned from the paternity list after the birth of his second child earlier this week.

"Well, this is the big leagues. You face great pitching in the big leagues," Collins told reporters Thursday. "As I just told you guys and I told them: Look, I walked around that room, there's seven All-Stars in that room. We've got a good team. It's time to just absolutely grind it out, look in the mirror, get ourselves ready to play, make adjustments that we have to make and go out and play the game."

Cubs invade Fenway to meet sockless Sox

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BOSTON -- There was a time, and it wasn't all that long ago, when an interleague series between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox would have qualified as a Misery Loves Company Bowl.

Two historic and very unlucky franchises going head to head.

But that began to change in 2004, when the Red Sox ended their 86-year Curse of the Bambino by winning it all -- starting a run of three titles in 10 years.

The Cubs finally ended their agony after 108 years by winning the World Series in 2016.

In the span of 12 years, the teams that play at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, baseball's grand old ballparks, have become winners instead of sad-sack losers.

It's just not the same.

The Cubs come to Boston having grabbed their rightful place at the top of the National League Central. They are 12-9, but bring an 8-4 road record into Fenway, where Jake Arrieta, off to a great start, opens the three-game series against Boston's Drew Pomeranz on Friday.

The return of the Cubs to Fenway means a return for manager Joe Maddon, who managed so many games there with the Tampa Bay Rays, former Red Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo and pitchers John Lacky and Jon Lester. Lackey is slated to work the middle game of the series.

"It's the American League East, and I cut my teeth there as a manager," Maddon said Wednesday.

Rizzo, who like Lester battled and beat cancer as a member of the Red Sox organization, said: "I'm forever thankful (toward the Red Sox). The Red Sox paid for my whole treatment, and they didn't have to do that. The way they treated players on the field and off the field was first class, just like it is here (with the Cubs)."

Arrieta, off to a 3-0 start with a 3.65 ERA, is 1-3 lifetime against the Red Sox but current Boston hitters are a combined 8-for-48 against him. Mitch Moreland, Dustin Pedroia and the disabled Pablo Sandoval all have home runs. Arrieta is 1-1 at Fenway Park.

Pomeranz will be making his fourth start since coming off the disabled list. He was great his first time out, allowing one run on four hits in six innings in a win over the Baltimore Orioles. But he yielded seven earned runs on 10 hits in 9 2/3 innings his last two times out.

He is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a .148 opponents' batting average in three career starts against the Cubs.

Last year with San Diego, Pomeranz held the Cubs scoreless on three hits in six innings at Wrigley Field.

He takes the mound on Friday night in front of a team that is not hitting. The Red Sox (11-10) were blanked for the third time in seven games Thursday night as Masahiro Tanaka tossed a three-hit shutout.

Boston has scored 13 runs and gone 5-for-42 with runners in scoring position over those seven games.

Asked after Thursday night's latest futility about possible lineup changes, manager John Farrell said: "It's a week. I don't want to say this is something our club is. We've had ballgames when this same lineup has produced, it's put together big innings, it's put together a number of quality at-bats, a high number of hits. It hasn't been the case the last couple of nights."

Perdomo, Samardzija look for first win as Giants host Padres

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Two of April's worst starting pitchers will attempt to get into the win column before the calendar flips to May when the San Diego Padres visit the San Francisco Giants on Friday night to begin a three-game series.

The clubs met in San Diego during the first week of the season, with the Padres winning two of three.

Right-handers Luis Perdomo (0-1) of the Padres and Jeff Samardzija (0-4) of the Giants will duel in Friday's series opener.

Perdomo also started the first game of the series in San Diego, and left well before the Padres had wrapped up a 7-6 win.

He gave up two home runs to Giants first baseman Brandon Belt in his 5 1/3 innings, including a grand slam in the sixth that allowed San Francisco to erase a three-run deficit and take a 5-4 lead.

Perdomo was charged with five runs on seven hits, and afterward complained of a sore shoulder. He was shelved for two starts with what was diagnosed as tendinitis.

Perdomo's comeback start last Sunday was similar to his first -- strong for five innings, but a disaster in the sixth.

He was pulled one out into a six-run sixth, having allowed the first three runs in what turned into a 7-3 home loss to Miami.

"It was good to see he felt good," Padres manager Andy Green said after the game. "About the fourth or fifth (inning), he really hit his stride."

Perdomo will be making the sixth appearance, and fourth start, of his career against the Giants. He has gone 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

The second-year major-leaguer will take a 6.97 ERA, the seventh-worst in the National League among pitchers with two or more starts, to the hill Friday.

One of the few pitchers lower on the ERA list is Samardzija, who has gone 0-4 with a 7.40 ERA, worst in the NL, in his first four starts.

He did not face the Padres, who fell 6-2 to the Diamondbacks on Thursday night, in the earlier series. But he has fared well against them in the past, going 7-2 with a 3.19 ERA in 12 meetings, including 10 starts.

Samardzija will be looking to continue a run of strong pitching by Giants starters at home. They are coming off a 5-1, 10-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in which starter Matt Moore allowed one run on just two hits in seven innings.

That gave Giants starters a 2.57 ERA in 11 home starts this season.

Giants hitters, meanwhile, haven't held up their end of the bargain. San Francisco totaled eight runs in a four-game series against the Dodgers to start the homestand, a set they were able to split thanks to their pitching.

"We have to get this offense going," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after Thursday's loss. "It's a better offense than what we're showing."

One encouraging aspect of the offense in the Los Angeles series was newcomer Christian Arroyo, who went 0-for-6 to start his major league career before recording his first hit off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday, his first home run against Sergio Romo on Wednesday and his first two-hit game in Thursday's series finale.

Cubs invade Fenway to meet sockless Sox

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BOSTON -- There was a time, and it wasn't all that long ago, when an interleague series between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox would have qualified as a Misery Loves Company Bowl.

Two historic and very unlucky franchises going head to head.

But that began to change in 2004, when the Red Sox ended their 86-year Curse of the Bambino by winning it all -- starting a run of three titles in 10 years.

The Cubs finally ended their agony after 108 years by winning the World Series in 2016.

In the span of 12 years, the teams that play at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, baseball's grand old ballparks, have become winners instead of sad-sack losers.

It's just not the same.

The Cubs come to Boston having grabbed their rightful place at the top of the National League Central. They are 12-9, but bring an 8-4 road record into Fenway, where Jake Arrieta, off to a great start, opens the three-game series against Boston's Drew Pomeranz on Friday.

The return of the Cubs to Fenway means a return for manager Joe Maddon, who managed so many games there with the Tampa Bay Rays, former Red Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo and pitchers John Lacky and Jon Lester. Lackey is slated to work the middle game of the series.

"It's the American League East, and I cut my teeth there as a manager," Maddon said Wednesday.

Rizzo, who like Lester battled and beat cancer as a member of the Red Sox organization, said: "I'm forever thankful (toward the Red Sox). The Red Sox paid for my whole treatment, and they didn't have to do that. The way they treated players on the field and off the field was first class, just like it is here (with the Cubs)."

Arrieta, off to a 3-0 start with a 3.65 ERA, is 1-3 lifetime against the Red Sox but current Boston hitters are a combined 8-for-48 against him. Mitch Moreland, Dustin Pedroia and the disabled Pablo Sandoval all have home runs. Arrieta is 1-1 at Fenway Park.

Pomeranz will be making his fourth start since coming off the disabled list. He was great his first time out, allowing one run on four hits in six innings in a win over the Baltimore Orioles. But he yielded seven earned runs on 10 hits in 9 2/3 innings his last two times out.

He is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a .148 opponents' batting average in three career starts against the Cubs.

Last year with San Diego, Pomeranz held the Cubs scoreless on three hits in six innings at Wrigley Field.

He takes the mound on Friday night in front of a team that is not hitting. The Red Sox (11-10) were blanked for the third time in seven games Thursday night as Masahiro Tanaka tossed a three-hit shutout.

Boston has scored 13 runs and gone 5-for-42 with runners in scoring position over those seven games.

Asked after Thursday night's latest futility about possible lineup changes, manager John Farrell said: "It's a week. I don't want to say this is something our club is. We've had ballgames when this same lineup has produced, it's put together big innings, it's put together a number of quality at-bats, a high number of hits. It hasn't been the case the last couple of nights."

Royals host Twins top open extended homestand

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kauffman Stadium will look mighty good to the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals, who were off Thursday, open a 10-game homestand Friday, with the first three against the Minnesota Twins. They play 16 of their next 20 at Kauffman Stadium.

It is certainly an understatement to say the road has not been kind to the Royals.

The Royals completed a seven-game trip Wednesday to Chicago and Texas without a victory.

"It's frustrating to lose," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "I don't think we've gone a whole road trip without a win since I've been here.

"It couldn't be a better day for an off-day (Thursday) and then a homestand. We always play better at home."

The last time they had a winless trip of this length was an 0-9 voyage in 2006, a season they lost 100 games.

The Royals are in last place in the American League Central, having lost 14 of 21 games. If they are to get into postseason contention, they need to turn it around fast.

"If there's something that could set it off, it's definitely a 10-game homestand," Hosmer said.

The Royals' offense has been on the puny side. They have scored two or fewer runs in nine of their past 10 games. The Royals are last in the majors with 54 runs, averaging 2.57 through 21 games.

"I don't know why we've had trouble on the road," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "But there's definitely a comfort level at home."

The Royals began this season with three losses at Minnesota. They were outscored 21-5 at the Target Field games. Last year the Royals dominated the Twins, winning 15 of 19 games, including nine of 10 at The K.

The Twins actually play better on the road. They are 5-7 at home and 5-4 in away games.

The Twins' bullpen imploded in a Wednesday loss to the Rangers. With the scored tied at 2 after five innings and starter Hector Santiago laboring, manager Paul Molitor went to his bullpen. He used six relievers and they combined to give up 12 runs in three innings in a 14-3 loss.

"Not their best moment," Molitor said.

Taylor Rogers took the loss, giving up three runs and retiring only one, before Tyler Duffey replaced him.

"Twenty games isn't a huge measuring stick (of the bullpen)," Molitor said. "We're not lined up like we have set guys in set roles. Still kind of mixing and matching at times. I put Rogers in there in the sixth inning, which is a little abnormal. But I thought that the game was kind of in the balance at that particular point.

"He hits (Joey) Gallo to lead off the inning. He wasn't particularly sharp. We got Duffey in there to try to get a ground ball or a strikeout. He gets ahead and then he spikes one. The bullpen's been doing a good job overall."

Ian Kennedy will be the Royals' starter for the first game. His 0-2 record belies his 2.08 ERA.

The Royals have supported him with just two runs in his 26 innings on the mound. His 0.69 run-support average is the lowest in the majors for a minimum of four starts.

In his Saturday start at Texas, he allowed one run on four hits and three walks over seven innings in a no-decision. The Royals lost 2-1.

He is 4-2 with a 3.78 ERA in eight career starts against the Twins. He went 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in five starts vs. Minnesota last season.

The Twins will counter with right-hander Kyle Gibson, who is also looking to pick up his first victory. He is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA.

He lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his previous start against Detroit, allowing seven runs.

He got a no-decision against the Royals on April 6, holding them to three runs in five innings. He is 5-4 with a 3.70 ERA in a dozen starts against Kansas City. Gibson is a 2009 first-round pick out of Missouri.

It might be a good day for Yost to put backup catcher Drew Butera in the lineup. He is 6-for-8 off Gibson. Starting catcher Salvador Perez has a .148 average (4-for-27) against Gibson.