Pitching matchups for Diamondbacks-Twins series at Chase Field

Twins at Diamondbacks

When: 1:10 p.m., Sunday

Where: Chase Field.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (5-4, 3.68) vs. Twins RHP Chris Archer (1-2, 3.35).

TV/Radio: Bally Sports Arizona/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Kelly gave up five runs in six innings against the Reds, three of the runs coming on a home run by former Diamondbacks IF Brandon Drury. … Kelly has continued to pitch into the middle innings of games, but his results have backed up since the beginning of the year. Over his past seven starts, he has a 6.35 ERA with 20 walks and 27 strikeouts in 34 innings. … He has never faced the Twins and has faced two of their hitters before in the majors, C Gary Sanchez (0 for 3) and 3B Gio Urshela (1 for 2). … Archer has allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings over his past three starts. … He is not the innings-eating frontline starter he once was; the Twins generally allow him to go only two times through the opposing lineup. He has not seen the sixth inning yet this season. … Archer throws his slider 43.5 percent of the time, followed by his fastball (39.1), change-up (11.8), and curveball (5.5).

Coming up

Monday: At San Diego, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zach Davies (2-3, 3.78) vs. Padres RHP Yu Darvish (6-3, 3.35).

Tuesday: At San Diego, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (4-2, 2.91) vs. Padres LHP Sean Manaea (3-3, 3.95).

Wednesday: At San Diego, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Madison Bumgarner (3-6, 3.45) vs. Padres RHP Joe Musgrove (8-0, 1.59).

Up next

Minnesota Twins

After struggling to a surprising last-place finish in 2021, the Twins are back atop the AL Central this year. They’re 36-28 entering play Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, center fielder Byron Buxton has been the Twins’ best player. He’s only batting .233 but is second in baseball with 18 homers — 11 more than any other Twin. He’s also leading the team in both OPS (.902) and WAR (2.2). Second baseman Luis Arraez, meanwhile, has been an on-base machine. His .354 batting average and .436 OBP are both the best in baseball. On the mound, Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray have been the Twins’ best starters with ERAs of 2.81 and 2.41, respectively, along with high strikeout rates. The Diamondbacks will miss both. Ryan pitched Tuesday and Gray pitched Wednesday, so their next turns in the rotation will come after this weekend’s series. That doesn’t mean the Diamondbacks will avoid every tough matchup. Friday starter Devin Smeltzer has a 2.38 ERA and Sunday starter Chris Archer has a 3.35 ERA. Their underlying numbers, though, aren’t as strong as Ryan and Gray’s.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pitching matchups for Diamondbacks-Twins series at Chase Field