Philadelphia @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 20, 2016 ) Arizona 3, Philadelphia 1

After beginning their recent road trip by thrashing the Philadelphia Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks look to start a nine-game homestand in much the same manner as the clubs play the opener of their three-game set on Monday. Arizona outscored Philadelphia by a lopsided 22-5 margin during a four-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park on June 17-20 and wrapped up a 7-3 road trip with a 9-7 setback at Colorado on Sunday.

Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb each belted a pair of homers against the Phillies to ignite productive road trips, as the former is 16-for-37 with nine RBIs in his last nine games while the latter is 15-for-36 with 11 runs driven in during a 10-game stretch. Philadelphia's pitching has been extremely generous with the team surrendering a staggering 121 runs in their last 18 games (3-15). Odubel Herrera homered among his two hits in Sunday's 8-7 setback to San Francisco and also went deep in a 4-1 loss to Arizona on June 18. Peter Bourjos recorded the second three-hit performance of his six-game hitting streak in the series finale versus the Giants but was 1-for-3 in limited duty against the Diamondbacks.

TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Arizona

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (5-2, 3.65 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks LH Robbie Ray (4-6, 4.59)

Velasquez will return to the mound after missing 2 1/2 weeks with a strained right biceps. The 24-year-old pitched well in his lone rehab start with Double-A Reading on Wednesday, overcoming a lead-off homer to yield just one more hit in five innings. Velasquez, who is expected to replace Adam Morgan in the rotation, has yet to record a decision versus Arizona despite making two relief appearances.

Ray saw his modest two-game winning streak come to a halt on Wednesday as he permitted four runs on as many hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-2 setback at Toronto. The 24-year-old would love a repeat performance of his first outing versus Philadelphia, against which he allowed two runs and struck out seven in a 10-2 rout on June 17. Ray kept the ball in the park in that contest before being he was taken deep twice versus the Blue Jays.

WALK-OFFS

1. Arizona 2B Jean Segura has scored 11 times in the last seven games.

2. The Diamondbacks are 9-4 against the National League East while the Phillies own a 4-7 record versus the NL West.

3. Arizona is a woeful 13-25 at home this season, a mark that is only better than Atlanta's 11-29 record.

PREDICTION: Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 2