Two of the finalists in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes will meet at Fenway Park when the D-backs complete their three-city, six-game road trip with a weekend series against Boston.
The Red Sox acquired Peavy, the most desirable starter available at the Wednesday trade deadline, in part by agreeing to accept all $19.5 million of Peavy's remaining salary through 2014, an accommodation that only the large-market teams can make willingly. The Red Sox traded up-and-coming shortstop Jose Iglesias, but in Xander Bogaerts they have another top shortstop prospect in the wings. The D-backs were reluctant to include any of their top prospects in any deadline deal, a price they might have had to pay to land Peavy, who will make his Boston debut on Saturday against Patrick Corbin.
The D-backs will have an addition to their roster, too: right-hander Brandon McCarthy, who will make his first start in more than two months on Sunday. He was placed on the disabled list May 31 with shoulder inflammation. He made two rehab starts at Class AA Reno, the last on July 26, when he gave up two earned runs in six innings.
Pitching matchups: Friday -- RHP Randall Delgado (3-3, 2.85) vs. LHP Jon Lester (10-6, 4.27). Saturday -- LH Patrick Corbin (12-2, 2.24) vs. RHP Jake Peavy (8-4, 4.28). Sunday -- RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-4, 5.00) vs. LHP Felix Doubrant (7-5, 3.77)
Who's hot for the Diamondbacks: Cody Ross has 10 hits in his last 25 at-bats, with one home run and seven RBIs. … Randall Delgado has not given up more than three earned runs in any of his eight starts this season. … Martin Prado has 12 hits in his last 33 at-bats, with four doubles and five multiple hit games. … Cliff Pennington has eight hits in his last 18 at-bats, with two doubles and a triple.
Who's not: Gerardo Parra has seven hits in his last 67 at-bats, a .105 batting average, with one RBI. … Paul Goldschmidt has three hits in his last 28 at-bats, with 12 strikeouts and two home runs. … Adam Eaton has three hits in his last 25 at-bats.
Who's hot for the Red Sox: David Ortiz has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, and he leads the Red Sox with 20 home runs and 79 RBIs. … Stephen Drew has seven hits in his last 21 at-bats, beginning with a two-homer, five-RBI game at Baltimore last Saturday. … Sunday starter Felix Doubront has allowed three runs or fewer in 18 of 19 starts, including his past 14. It is the longest streak by a Red Sox left-handed starter since at least 1920. It matches the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2002.
Who's not: Mike Napoli has three hits in his last 24 at-bats, with one RBI. … Dustin Pedroia has six hits in his last 30 at-bats after signing an eight-year, $110-contract last week, a deal that may help set the market for Yankees' free agent Robinson Cano over the winter.
Notes, quotes, odds and ends: Boston has won five of its last six games, its last two with walkoff hits by Daniel Nava and former D-back Stephen Drew. The Red Sox scored six runs in the last of the ninth inning to beat Seattle 8-7 on Thursday for their major league-high 11th walkoff victory. … The only game the Red Sox have lost lately came in in a makeup game to Tampa Bay on Monday, when home plate umpire Jerry Meals admitted he made a mistake when he called Nava out at the plate while trying to score the tying run on a fly ball in the eighth inning of a 2-1 loss. "I was wrong on my decision," Meals told a pool reporter after seeing a replay. … David Ortiz had the video footage of the week when he demolished a dugout phone in Baltimore on Saturday with his bat after being called out on strikes. ... The D-backs' have had a feast-or-famine offense while losing four of their last five games. After scoring 10 runs to beat San Diego on Friday, they have scored 13 runs in five games. Seven of those came in a victory over Tampa Bay on Tuesday. They were shut out by San Diego, 1-0, on Sunday and averted shutouts with ninth-inning runs at Tampa Bay on Monday and at Texas on Wednesday. Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish struck out 14 D-backs in seven innings on Thursday. … Boston leads the major leagues with 553 runs, is second in batting average and on-base percentage and third in slugging percentage. … Martin Prado is 3 for 4 against John Lester. Aaron Hill is 2 for 32 against Lester.
