9* Arizona (2:20 ET): It didn’t take much offense for the D’backs to defeat the Cubs in the series opener on Thursday (just three runs), so I figure that with them likely to score more today, another victory is on the horizon. The win on Thursday stopped a six-game slide for Arizona, but remember they are no longer facing the Dodgers, who were responsible for four of those six losses. Now the Cubs were responsible for the other two, but this series looks to be headed in a different direction than the last one.

On the periphery, today’s starting pitching matchup seems to be pretty even, but I believe Arizona has the edge. The Cubs have hit just .203 their L7 games, so look for them to struggle against Humberto Castellanos, who has a 2.76 ERA and 0.919 WHIP his L3 starts. Castellanos was a bit of a “hard luck loser” against the Cubs last week as he gave up two solo shots, but those were the only runs he allowed in 5 ⅓ innings. He actually did not factor into the final decision, which was a Cubs’ 3-2 win. The Cubs have been struggling to hit righties this month and several players are missing from the lineup right now.

Kyle Hendricks starts today for the Cubs. He has a higher ERA and WHIP than Castellanos. He’s had three starts so far where he allowed 4+ ER and two where he gave up six. Hendricks was able to outduel Zac Gallen when he faced Arizona last week, giving up only one run in 5 ⅔ IP. But Hendricks’ lack of strikeouts this season should be a concern. He’s struck out only two batters in four of his previous five outings. The Cubs do have a positive run differential (+2 YTD), but that’s misleading and a byproduct from several massive wins over the lowly Pirates. Take Arizona to win here. 9* Arizona