Major League Baseball

Orioles-Diamondbacks Preview

Published Aug. 14, 2013 3:29 a.m. ET

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More than half of Paul Goldschmidt's hits over the last three weeks have left the ballpark, and his last three home runs have helped provide thrilling victories for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

They'll look to finish off a three-game sweep of the visiting Baltimore Orioles as Arizona's Patrick Corbin opposes Chris Tillman in an intriguing pitching matchup Wednesday afternoon.

Arizona (61-57) has won a major league-most 25 games in its last at-bat, and Goldschmidt has played a major role in two of the last three. He hit a walkoff homer in Friday's 5-4 win over the New York Mets before homering on the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th in Tuesday's 4-3 victory over Baltimore.

Goldschmidt also homered leading off the ninth to tie the game. He is just 14 for 68 (.206) over his last 18 games, though he's hit eight homers in that stretch. His 10 home runs in the seventh inning or later rank behind only the 12 of Baltimore's Chris Davis.

"Goldy, at the end of a game, it's pretty special what he can do,'' manager Kirk Gibson said. ''He's a good guy to have on your side.''

Davis hit his major league-leading 44th homer in the fourth for the Orioles (65-54), who suffered their second straight walkoff loss after Adam Eaton homered in the bottom of the ninth to give the Diamondbacks a 7-6 win Monday.

''They (the losses) were tough, but you know, we move on,'' manager Buck Showalter said.

Davis is hitting .245 against left-handers compared to .329 against righties, and he may have trouble improving his average against southpaws as he faces Corbin.

Corbin (12-3, 2.36 ERA) has pitched at least six innings in all but one of his 23 starts, including when he gave up two runs in six frames of Arizona's 5-4 win over the Mets on Friday. He's 3-2 with a 1.99 ERA in his last six outings while striking out 44 in 40 2-3 innings, but he wasn't impressed with his latest performance.

"My mechanics were off a little bit," Corbin said. "I didn't really control my pitches too well, but I think down the stretch I made some pitches, felt a little better."

The left-hander had allowed only one run each of his previous five home starts prior to Friday. Corbin is 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA in his last six at Chase Field, and his 1.60 mark is the fifth-best home ERA in the majors.

Tillman (14-3, 3.73), meanwhile, has been particularly solid on the road, going 7-1 with a 2.97 ERA in 10 outings compared to his 4.36 ERA at home.

Baltimore has won 13 of Tillman's last 14 starts overall, including when he allowed one run and struck out nine in eight innings of Friday's 5-2, 10-inning victory at San Francisco.

The right-hander has gone 11-1 in that stretch while posting a 3.86 ERA.

"It's something we knew he was capable of," Showalter said of Tillman. "We thought in the offseason we needed one of our guys to kind of pop and go to the next level, and I think Chris is in the process of doing that."

Closer Jim Johnson hasn't, though. After blowing three saves all of last season on his way to a majors-best 51, he's blown an AL-most eight already in 2013.

''It is heartbreaking, but we have to forget about it,'' Johnson said after Tuesday's defeat.

The Diamondbacks have won 11 of 14 all-time meetings with the Orioles.