Giants Expecting “Kitchen Sink” from Diamondbacks Starter Kelly
PHOENIX, Sep. 20 — The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants conclude their season series Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field. Whoever wins will capture the season series between the two. Give that they are both in the thick of the Wild Card hunt — albeit with the Giants falling further behind — winning the season series will be huge. If the two teams finish tied in the standings, the season series will be the first tiebreaker.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler said pregame that his team is expecting to see “the kitchen sink” from Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly. “It’s a good mix of pitches, and it’s really good command and control,” he said. He said the Giants have had more success the last two times they’ve faced Kelly than they usually do, but there was a “pretty big stretch where he was fairly dominant.”
Kapler wasn’t kidding. The last time Kelly faced the Giants, June 24 in San Francisco, Kelly struggled. He allowed seven runs (five earned) on ten hits, walking two while striking out two. The Giants notched two doubles and a triple off Kelly in five innings. He left the game after facing two hitters in the sixth but not recording an out, with Brandon Crawford singling and Luis Matos hitting a two-run homer.
The time before that was September 30, 2022, also in San Francisco. Kelly allowed nine runs on eight hits across 4 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out two. The Giants recorded a double, a triple, and three homers in that game. But in seven of Kelly’s previous eight starts against the Giants prior to that game, he allowed two runs or fewer, lasting into the seventh or eighth inning in six of those seven starts.
Even though the Giants have had more success recently against Kelly than before, Kapler expects a tough game Wednesday. He concluded with, “We expect him to be good like he always is.”
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