Los Angeles @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 19, 2018 ) Arizona 4, LA Angels 5

The Arizona Diamondbacks enter the week clinging to the smallest of leads in the National League West as they attempt to hold off the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Diamondbacks finished up their road trip on a dramatic note Sunday and will try to carry that momentum home when they return to host the Los Angeles Angels in the opener of a two-game interleague series Tuesday.

Arizona squeezed out a 4-3 victory at San Diego on Sunday thanks to a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning from A.J. Pollock to finish out a 5-4 trip and maintain a half-game lead over the hard-charging Rockies in the West. "It was an exceptional win," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters. "We obviously were in need of this to win the series. We know what the stakes are. We knew exactly what was going on, but these guys were able to separate that and execute, and it's pretty impressive." The Angels are well off the pace in the American League West and dropped three of four at Texas over the weekend but will get plenty of opportunities to impact races in both leagues with series against Arizona, Houston (twice) and Colorado over the next two weeks. Los Angeles will turn to right-hander Felix Pena on Tuesday while the Diamondbacks counter with lefty ace Patrick Corbin.

TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), FS Arizona

PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Felix Pena (1-3, 4.35 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Patrick Corbin (10-4, 3.18)

Pena turned in strong effort in each of his last three outings but did not earn a win in any as the offense struggled to get on the board early. The 28-year-old settled for a no-decision at San Diego on Wednesday despite striking out seven and allowing one unearned run and two hits in six frames. Pena did not last long enough to earn a win over Arizona on June 19, when he started and surrendered one run on two hits and three walks in four innings while striking out six.

Corbin earned the win in each of his last three outings while yielding a total of six runs and 17 hits in 20 1/3 innings against San Francisco, Philadelphia and Texas. The 29-year-old did not walk a batter in any of those three turns and owns 37 free passes while striking out 190 in 155 2/3 innings this season. Corbin is facing the Angels for the first time in his career and is 7-4 with a 3.50 ERA in 15 interleague games (13 starts).

WALK-OFFS

1. Angels RF Kole Calhoun is 2-for-13 with seven strikeouts in his last three games.

2. Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt is enjoying a 12-game hitting streak (22-for-51, four home runs, 11 RBIs) and reached base safely in each of the last 25 contests.

3. Pollock recorded four extra-base hits over the last two games.

PREDICTION: Diamondbacks 4, Angels 2