Arizona @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 11, 2014 ) Arizona 1, Houston 5

Chris Carter is hitting below the Mendoza line but he provided a reminder of why it would be a mistake to bench him by belting a pair of homers to lift the Houston Astros to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. Carter has eight hits in his last 35 at-bats but six of them have left the park to tie him with rookie George Springer for the team lead with 12. Houston goes for a split of the four-game, home-and-home series on Thursday.

The Diamondbacks managed only four hits Wednesday to drop to 6-3 in their last nine games and will be looking to get the bats untracked Thursday to regain momentum heading into a three-game weekend series at the Los Angeles Dodgers. "We've got to come back tomorrow," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson told reporters after Wednesday's loss. "Got a big game tomorrow." The Diamondbacks sit 10 games below .500 but are among five teams in the National League with a winning road record (17-15).

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, CSN Houston

PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Wade Miley (3-6, 4.57 ERA) vs. Astros RH Scott Feldman (3-4, 4.12)

Miley is 0-3 over his last five starts, but he was outstanding in his last turn with seven innings of two-run ball (one earned) in a no-decision against Atlanta. He has been prone to the long ball, surrendering four solo homers to Cincinnati on June 1, but has struck out 25 and walked one in his last three starts. Miley has won both his career starts versus Houston, giving up two runs over 13 innings.

Feldman looks to rebound from a pair of wretched outings, lasting only 1 2/3 innings in a loss at Minnesota on Saturday following a rocky start in which he was pounded for nine runs on 11 hits by Baltimore. Feldman allowed a total of one run over 20 2/3 innings in his first three starts but has failed to go past six innings since a three-week stint on the disabled list. He is 0-1 in four appearances (three starts) versus Arizona.

WALK-OFFS

1. Astros 2B Jose Altuve, who leads the majors with 88 hits, sat out Wednesday's game with discomfort in his left oblique.

2. Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt has hit safely in five straight and seven of eight games.

3. Astros RHP Chad Qualls tossed a scoreless ninth Wednesday and has not allowed a run in his last 19 appearances.

PREDICTION: Diamondbacks 5, Astros 3