Heading into a three-game set in San Diego, and then heading home for three against the hapless Marlins, the D’backs have to take advantage of this relatively soft stretch of games to build a cushion in the standings. Because immediately following, the D’backs have nine games against the Reds, Nationals and Braves, a really tough stretch.

But this series in San Diego this weekend is a lot tougher than it may look. First, the Padres are above .500, 22-18, since May 1 and are 19-14 at home. Plus, Petco has been a house of horrors for the Snakes.

Since Petco opened in 2004, the D’backs are a craptastic 34-51 in San Diego. And much of that is during years where the Padres were really bad. The D’backs could really use a good series there this weekend, perhaps stealing a pair before playing Miami.

This year, the D’backs and Friars have split six games, 3-3, with the D’backs winning 2-of-3 in Phoenix and losing 2-of-3 in Petco.

Game 1 (Friday): Trevor Cahill (3-7, 4.02 ERA) vs. Eric Stults (5-5, 3.53 ERA)

Stults has been consistently solid for the Padres, throwing three-straight quality starts and, what I like to call, super-quality starts, which is seven innings or more of two earned runs or less. In his last outing, he beat the Rockies, tossing seven innings, striking out four and only allowing a single earned run. However, Stults’ last start that did not end with a quality start was an outing against the D’backs on May 24, in which he gave up four earned in 6.1 innings. Against the D’backs all time, he’s 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA in eight games (six starts) and 39.1 innings pitched. Cahill was lit up like a severe lightning storm his last time out, giving up eight earned in only 3.2 innings against the Giants on June 8. It was, by far, his worst outing of the season.

Game 2 (Saturday): Wade Miley (4-5, 4.89) vs. Clayton Richard (1-5, 8.06)

Richard, quite simply, has been horrendous this season. He’s had six outings where he’s given up at least five earned and hasn’t lasted longer than six innings. And he hasn’t been better lately, allowing 10 earned in only 10.1 innings pitched in two starts so far in June. In his lone start against the D’backs on May 4, he was knocked around for five earned in 3.2 innings. Miley, unfortunately, has not been very good either recently. He had back-to-back outings on May 25 and MAy 31 where he gave up seven runs. In two outings in June, he’s given up six earned in 12.2 innings. And he’s been lucky to only have given up that few of runs – he was knocked around for 20 hits in those two outings. In two starts against the Friars, he’s 0-2 with 11 earned in 8.2 innings.

Game 3 (Sunday): TBD vs Jason Marquis (8-2, 3.59)

I write “To Be Determined” for the D’backs because Ian Kennedy is the projected starter on Sunday. However, he’s highly likely to be suspended (should be announced today). Unless he appeals the suspension, possible, the D’backs will have to find a spot starter on Sunday. One option for the D’backs would be Josh Collmenter. Collmenter threw two innings in relief on Wednesday, but has been stretched out to as many as four innings this year in a long relief role. Collmenter could easily slid in for five to six innings on Sunday if that’s the way Kirk Gibson goes. Collmenter is 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in 34.2 innings of work out of the pen this season. In a previous series preview, I implied that Marquis has been getting lucky so far this season. Now I’ll just say it. There’s no way Marquis stays around a 3.50 ERA for the rest of the year. He’s struck out 50 in 77.2 innings this season, but has also walked 43. And a .240 BABIP against screams regression. Once more hits start to fall, all those walks will start to come around to score.

Aug. 22, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Miami Marlins at Chase Field. Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers (32-18) just took two of the three games from the Seattle Mariners over the weekend. Texas has been led by their pitching and a potent offensive line up this season.

Arizona (28-22) just wrapped a series against a pesky San Diego Padres team that saw them win two out of three games against them. They received quality performances from their starters and the offense came through when it mattered most.

They are now set to take on a very good Rangers team in a doubleheader game on Memorial Day.

This is the first time that Arizona will face the Rangers this season. They went 1-2 against them last season.

Game 1 (Monday): Martin Perez (0-0, -,–)  vs. Tyler Skaggs (0-0, -,–)

Tyler Skaggs will be making his season debut for the Diamondbacks with this start. Ian Kennedy was scheduled to make this start, but he lacerated his right index finger doing the dishes. Skaggs had a rough start to his season in Triple-A Reno, but has pitched better in recent starts. He was expected to win the competition in spring training for the fifth spot in the rotation, but lost out to Patrick Corbin.

Martin Perez is joining the Rangers rotation after just making four starts in the minors. He was sidelined the first month of the season because of a broken left arm that occurred during Spring Training.

Game 2 (Tuesday): Yu Darvish (7-2, 2.84 ERA) vs. Trevor Cahill (3-5, 2.81 ERA)

Cahill had been terrific in his last five starts by not allowing more than two runs in five straight starts. However, he took a step back in has last start by giving up four runs to the Colorado Rockies. Cahill has made 15 career starts against Texas, and has a 9-4 record with 2.78 ERA.

Yu Darvish has pitched like one of the best pitchers in the AL this season. He will be making his first career start at Chase Field, and is 3-1 with a 1.95 ERA on the road this season. For the month of May in four starts, he has a 2-1 record with a 3.54 ERA. The opposition is hitting has a .192 batting average against him this month.

Apr. 28, 2013; Phoenix AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin (46) throws a pitch during the first inning against Colorado Rockies at Chase Field. Image Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY Sports Images

The Colorado Rockies (24-20) just played a great series this past weekend against the San Francisco Giants, and now find themselves just one game back from leading the NL West division. They took advantage of a struggling Giants team that was playing sloppy defense and their pitching was below average at best.

Arizona (25-19) just finished a series with the Miami Marlins where they won two out of three games, and the starting pitching is the main reason they have been playing some of their best baseball this season. The starters for the Diamondbacks have the 4th best ERA in the NL at 3.47.

This is the third time that Arizona will face Rockies this season. Arizona is 4-3 against Colorado this season.

Game 1 (Monday): Patrick Corbin (6-0, 1.52 ERA) vs. Jon Garland (3-4, 4.89 ERA)

The best story this season has been the performance of young lefty Patrick Corbin. He has been the model of consistency in each start this season, as he has thrown at least six innings and has not allowed more than two runs in any of his eight starts this season. He also has the 3rd best ERA in all of baseball behind only Matt Harvey and Clayton Kershaw.

Garland has thrown the ball great in his last three starts, but has only one win to show for it. He has the most experience of any starter in the Rockies rotation, and this has helped the younger members of their rotation. Though, he has had success in his past three starts he has only went five innings in those starts.

Game 2 (Tuesday): Ian Kennedy (2-3, 4.88 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (3-3, 4.07 ERA)

Kennedy earned a win in his last start against the Atlanta Braves, and this was first victory since Opening Day. Kennedy is 0-1, with 4.50 ERA against the Rockies this year. Kennedy has had success this season when he has been able to pound the strike zone with his fastball. The troubles for him occur when his command is less than stellar.

Chacin will hope to rebound after his last start, where he squandered a six-run lead given to him by Colorado. The biggest reason why he struggled was that he lost his aggressiveness and command of all his pitches.

Game 3 (Wednesday): Trevor Cahill ( 3-4, 2.48 ERA) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (5-3, 3.58 ERA)

Cahill has been great over his past five starts, compiling a  1.36 ERA to go with a 3-1 record. The only concern is that command has been inconsistent as he’s walked 16 batters in that span.

De La Rosa has at times pitched terrific for Colorado this year, and then there are other times where he has had problems locating his pitches.