Diamondbacks, Greinke, face Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins Friday night

The Diamondbacks are nearing their first postseason since 2011, but the Miami Marlins and NL-MVP candidate Giancarlo Stanton come first, starting with Friday night. Check back for updates throughout the game.

Iannetta does it again

Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta had a three-run homer in the first inning but then topped himself in the bottom of the sixth with a grand slam off Marlins’ reliever Dustin McGowan to give Arizona a 12-9 lead.

Iannetta’s grand slam, the fifth of his career, came on a 3-2 pitch and scored David Peralta, Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez.

A revved-up crowd at Chase Field went nuts and demanded a curtain call from Iannetta, who stepped out of the dugout and tipped his cap.

Iannetta’s eight RBIs are a career high; the team record is nine set by Erubiel Durazo in 2002. 

Christian Walker led off the inning with a pinch-hit home run, the second homer of his career, to cut Miami’s lead to 9-8.

Greinke out

Zack Greinke just finished up his worst outing of the year, being lifted after four innings with the Marlins ahead 8-7. The eight earned runs were the most Greinke has allowed all year and the four innings tied his shortest stint. 

Greinke’s final line: 4 innings, nine hits, eight runs, all earned, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 3 home runs allowed. 

Oddly, he gave up a hit to every Marlins position player except Giancarlo Stanton.

T.J. McFarland is on to pitch the fifth inning for Arizona

Back and forth

The Marlins tied it at 7 in the third after a three-run home run from first baseman Justin Bour.

Seven runs are the most right-hander Zack Greinke has given up this season.

Power surge

The Diamondbacks and Marlins combined for 11 runs through the first two innings with Arizona holding the edge 7-4.

Both pitchers were roughed up early; Diamondbacks starter Zack Greinke gave up a two-run homer to left fielder Marcell Ozuna in the first before catcher Chris Iannetta belted a three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning.

In the second, the Marlins continued to hit Greinke hard with doubles from shortstop Miguel Rojas and Dee Gordon scoring a pair. 

But the Diamondbacks responded, again, chasing Marlins starter Adam Conley from the game.

Greinke’s run-scoring double tied it at 4 before a David Peralta single scored Greinke. After that, a double from right fielder J.D. Martinez and single from Iannetta scored two more.

Bad news for Owings

The earliest Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings will be able to return this season is a potential National League Division Series, manager Torey Lovullo said.

An X-ray Friday of Owings’ fractured middle finger revealed that the break hasn’t completely healed, Lovullo said, adding, “It wasn’t the best news.”

Owings, who is on the 60-day disabled list, has been throwing and taking grounders but has yet to take full swings.

“The good thing is it’s not sore,” Owings said.

Lovullo said that while Owings has been able to increase his workload, “It’s just a matter of going in and playing in a major league game, impacting the ball and doing what he’s supposed to do without any lingering effects or potential of further damage or harm.”

Asked if the NLDS is a likely target date for Owings, Lovullo said, “I think that’s what is being floated around.”

The Diamondbacks received better news on catcher Jeff Mathis (fractured hand). Lovullo said Mathis has been cleared for more baseball activity, and Mathis said he’s hoping he can return for the season-ending series in Kansas City next week. Mathis, however, has yet to take batting practice or catch a bullpen session.

“Getting better every day,” Mathis said. “Started playing catch Wednesday and that felt pretty good.”

Lineup switch

Friday is the fourth straight game Lovullo has Paul Goldschmidt batting third and J.D. Martinez batting fourth, a switch from a mid-July decision to have Goldschmidt fourth in the lineup and Martinez fifth.

Lovullo said he was prompted to make the move when he shuffled a slumping A.J. Pollock down in the order last week. But Pollock, who was 6 of 16 with three homers and seven RBIs on the recently completed road trip, was back in the No. 2 hole Friday.

“I like the Goldy-JD spin at three and four,” Lovullo said. “It seems to suit them well and suit this team well.”

When Lovullo moved Goldschmidt out of his customary No. 3 hole in July, he said he liked the idea of Goldschmidt either coming up in the first inning with a runner on base or leading off the second inning.

His rationale for moving Goldschmidt back to hitting third?

“If you want to do something bad enough you’re going to find a reason or two to support what you’re thinking,” he said. “Is that something we’re going to permanently do? I don’t know yet but it’s working right now and we’re going to stay with it.”

Fuentes thankful

Outfielder Rey Fuentes said he was finally able to talk to his family in Puerto Rico on Friday, days after Hurricane Maria struck the island and left it without power.

Fuentes said his family, living on Puerto Rico’s north coast, is fine but that he’s trying to find out when the airport will open so he can fly them to the United States.

“I know it will be a long time without power,” Fuentes said. “It’s been a little stressful but there’s no injuries.”

Catching up with the Marlins

For a few days in late August, the Marlins looked like dark-horse contenders for one of the National League wild-card spots. But that dream ended after a 1-10 stretch from Aug. 28-Sept. 7 left them buried in the standings. RF Giancarlo Stanton has cooled down this month, hitting just .203 in 64 at-bats, though he does have five home runs. He had an incredible August, hitting .349 with 18 home runs to jump into the MVP race. The Marlins’ recent downturn is largely a result of a pitching staff that has struggled, posting a 5.68 ERA in the past 23 games. They are, however, coming off a strong showing against the Mets, whom they limited to three runs in a three-game sweep in Miami.

Friday’s game

When: 6:40 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (17-6, 2.87) vs. Marlins LHP Adam Conley (7-7, 5.20).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Greinke gave up just two hits and one walk in eight shutout innings against the Giants at AT&T Park. … He has a 1.29 ERA in his past four starts. … He threw well against the Marlins when he faced them June 1, allowing two runs (one earned) in seven innings. … Opponents are hitting just .220 off Greinke this season. … Conley logged a 3.82 ERA in 200 1/3 innings combined in 2015 and 2016, but he has a 5.20 ERA in 98 2/3 innings this season. … He has lost nearly 2 mph off his fastball from last year, going from 92 to 90.2 mph on average. … He has not thrown well recently, posting a 5.96 ERA in his past five starts.

Friday’s lineup

D-Backs magic number shrinks

The Diamondbacks have shrunk their magic number to clinch a playoff spot. 

And they didn’t even play Thursday.

Arizona’s magic number for a wild-card playoff berth is now at three thanks to the Brewers’ loss to the Cubs Thursday night. That means that the Diamondbacks will clinch a playoff berth with a combination of them getting three wins and Milwaukee losing three games.

The Diamondbacks are now six games up on the Rockies for the No. 1 NL wild-card berth with nine games remaining in the regular season.

The Brewers remain one game behind Colorado for the second NL wild-card spot, and the St. Louis Cardinals are now just 1.5 games back of the second spot. 

All three division champions in each league make the playoffs.

Coming up

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (9-8, 3.45) vs. Marlins LHP Dillon Peters (0-2, 5.40).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (14-13, 4.14) vs. Marlins RHP Dan Straily (10-9, 4.17).

Monday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (14-5, 2.95) vs. Giants RHP Johnny Cueto (7-8, 4.49).

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