May 3, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Wade Miley (36) throws during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Image Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Braves (21-16) just lost three out of four games to the San Francisco Giants over the weekend, and will now start a three-game series with Arizona. One of the reasons why they struggled against the Giants is that their offense was non-existent and their pitching gave up too many runs.

Arizona (21-17) had a chance to earn a series victory against the Philadelphia Phillies, but a mistake by manager Kirk Gibson cost them a victory. The starter for the Diamondbacks Brandon McCarthy pitched a great game, and had only thrown 88 pitches going into the ninth inning.

Gibson opted to use the bullpen, and they blew another save opportunity for the team, this is the 11th save the bullpen has blown this season.

This was a bad loss for Arizona, but now they will face a very good Braves team and they also will see their former franchise player Justin Upton return to Chase Field.

This is the first time that Arizona will face the Braves this season. Arizona went 2-5 against the Braves last season.

Game 1 (Monday): Mike Minor (4-2, 2.96 ERA) vs. Wade Miley (3-1, 2.93 ERA)

Mike Minor has pitched great this season for Atlanta, and looks to continue his success against Arizona. Minor in his last start against the Cincinnati Reds gave up one run, walked three, struck out seven batters in seven innings. Arizona will struggle on offense once again because Minor is another left-handed starter they have to face.

Wade Miley rebounded from his last two starts where he had issues with his command. He went seven innings did not issue a walk, and threw more strikes against the opposition. Miley has been one our most dependable starters this season and needs to have great command in this start against the Braves.

Game 2 (Tuesday): Julio Teheran (2-0, 4.84 ERA) vs. Patrick Corbin (5-0, 1.75 ERA)

Julio Teheran has been pitching better in recent starts for Atlanta, and one of the reasons is that he has changed the grip on his change up. He has just allowed two runs or less in each of past three starts.

Patrick Corbin has pitched excellent in each start he has made this season. He has pitched at least six innings, and has given two earned runs or less in each start. He will need to have his best stuff once again against a Braves team that can score runs in bunches, though they are struggling to hit. Corbin has faced the Braves only once in his career, he threw three shut-out innings in relief last June.

Game 3 (Wednesday): Tim Hudson (4-2, 4.70 ERA) vs. Ian Kennedy (1-3, 4.83 ERA)

Tim Hudson has not pitched great this season for the Braves, as he has thrown fewer than five innings in three of his eight starts this season. The positive for Hudson is that  he is 4-0 in his career against Arizona with a 0.94 ERA in five starts.

Ian Kennedy did not have have a good beginning to his last start, but managed to pitch better as the game went on. The key for him was that he was able to throw more strikes, and he used his fastball more than he used his breaking pitches.

Hudson gave up five runs in the first two innings of the game and the snakes found themselves in an early hole 5-0. Hudson was only able to last 1.2 innings and left the game with tightness in his forearm. The team would combine to use four relief pitchers to complete the game. No word has been made by the team regarding Hudson’s status.

Unfortunately for the D-backs, Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves provided an exceptional start for the opposing squad. Hudson allowed seven hits and only one run in eight strong innings Monday night.

The story of the night was the inability of the D-backs to produce with runners in scoring position, as the squad went 0-4 in with RISP, and left six runners on base all night.

If the D-backs are going to want to have a successful road trip, they are going to have to produce with runners in scoring position. Trevor Cahill will take the mound tomorrow in game two of the series.

Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder hits an two-RBI single against the Cubs. Upton has been on a tear lately hitting .400 with a .455 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage in the last seven games. (Image: Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE)

After a slow start to the season, everything seems to be falling in at the right time for the Snakes to make a run at the Los Angeles Dodgers (43-30) and first place in the NL West only 5.5 games back.  Justin Upton has recovered from his early season struggles, hitting .400, with a .455 slugging percentage and a .750 on base percentage in the Diamondbacks last seven games.

As Upton goes, so goes the Diamondbacks and that shows in the four game winning streak.  During the last seven games; Gerardo Parra is hitting a solid .500, Miguel Montero is hitting .476 with 9 RBIs, Willie Bloomquist is hitting .467, and Paul Goldschmidt is hitting .438.

The Diamondbacks pitching staff has been anchored by rookie Wade Miley, who is making a strong case to win NL Rookie of the Year over the Washington Nationals, Bryce Harper.  Miley has gone 9-3 with a 2.19 ERA in 15 games.  He has 64 strikeouts while only walking 18, with a WHIP of 1.01.

The Braves have had a couple of tough series, losing two in a row and six of the last ten.  Tim Hudson will take the mound against Daniel Hudson, who hasn’t been the same since coming off the disabled list last month.  Tim Hudson has been going the opposite way, only allowing five runs total in his last three starts.

This is as far as the Diamondbacks probable pitchers go, although the most anticipated announcement will be when manager Kirk Gibson announces who his starter will be for the Thursday game opposite Jair Jurrjens.  The speculation is that it will be the much anticipated call-up of top prospect Trevor Bauer from Triple-A.  Bauer only went two innings in his last start, to seemingly set up his MLB debut in place of the injured Joe Saunders.

Bauer has split time between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno, going 11-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 16 games, with a 1.32 WHIP and 116 strikeouts.  Bauer has an unorthodox delivery that seems to suit him well and he should flourish if he does indeed get the call-up for the start against the Braves.  With Bauer possibly being added to the rotation and the improved play of the Diamondbacks offensively, they are poised to make a run at the division title.

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