Arizona Diamondbacks-Chicago Cubs pitching matchup for Friday’s series opener

The Arizona Diamondbacks only have eight regular-season home games remaining, starting Friday with the opening of a crucial three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. The game starts at 6:40 p.m. and can be seen on YurView AZ.

Cubs at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m., Chase Field

Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-8, 6.25) vs. Cubs LHP Justin Steele (16-3, 2.49).

Pfaadt gave up four runs in six innings against the Cubs on Sunday in a game in which he entered in the bottom of the third inning. It was the first time the Diamondbacks had used an opener ahead of him. … Pfaadt seems to have hit a bit of a speed bump in recent outings, posting a 7.90 ERA (12 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings) over his past three starts. He has allowed five homers in that stretch; he allowed only three homers in his previous six starts combined. … Steele gave up one run in seven innings against the Diamondbacks on Saturday at Wrigley Field, walking none and striking out six. … He has logged at least six innings in 21 of his 27 starts this year. … He among the frontrunners for the National League Cy Young award. … Steele generates a majority of his whiffs on his slider, a pitch that has held opposing hitters to a .207 average while getting swings and misses 30.9 percent of the time.

Coming up

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zach Davies (2-5, 6.81) vs. Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-7, 3.71).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 4:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-8, 5.53) vs. Cubs LHP Jordan Wicks (3-0, 1.99).

Monday: Off.

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (15-8, 3.50) vs. Giants TBA.

After dropping three of four to the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field last weekend, the Cubs continued to struggle this week in Denver, where they dropped two of three to the Rockies. They entered Thursday four games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central but still had a hold on the second wild-card spot, two games ahead of the Diamondbacks and Reds. The Cubs’ offense was shut down by the Diamondbacks in those four games, going a combined 25 for 126 (.198) while averaging just 2.2 runs per game. They hit three home runs, all of them coming off RHP Brandon Pfaadt, who will start Friday’s series opener, in the finale at Wrigley. Cubs RHP Adbert Alzolay landed on the injured list with a forearm strain, an injury that would seem to elevate RHP Julian Merryweather into ninth-inning duties. The Cubs promoted top prospect CF Pete Crow-Armstrong to the majors earlier this week. He hit .283/.365/.511 with 26 doubles, seven triples and 20 homers this year between Double-A and Triple-A.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks-Cubs pitching matchup for Friday’s series opener