The Arizona Diamondbacks will try to subdue All-Star CJ Abrams and the host Washington Nationals in the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

Abrams finished a triple short of the cycle and drove in three runs in Washington’s 5-3 win on Saturday. The Diamondbacks hold the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, while the Nationals are two games back.

“Definitely enjoying (the pressure),” said Abrams, who is batting .293 this season, with 25 homers and 79 RBIs. “It’s exciting. We’ve done a great job coming up to this point, we’re playing good baseball, so we look to continue to do that.”

Arizona rookie left-hander Kohl Drake (0-0, 1.80 ERA) will oppose veteran right-hander Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.60) in the finale.

Drake, acquired from the Texas Rangers last July in the Merrill Kelly trade, is coming off an impressive major league debut. Against the visiting Athletics on Tuesday, he pitched five innings, allowing a run on four hits in Arizona’s 6-5 win in 10 innings. Drake struck out five and walked two.

“Five innings, one earned run, I’d take that any day of the week,” he said.

Mikolas has followed an opener in his past two outings and could do so again on Sunday. On Tuesday, he entered in the second inning against the host Colorado Rockies and gave up three runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his team’s 8-7 loss. In his previous appearance, he had tossed four scoreless innings against the New York Yankees.

Mikolas is 3-3 with a 3.79 ERA in eight games (six starts) vs. the Diamondbacks.

On Saturday, Abrams provided a two-run double in the third inning, a solo homer in the fifth and later added a single and stole a base. He has 17 stolen bases and a career-high 25 home runs in 101 games this season. He leads the major leagues with 79 RBIs, another career high.

Abrams and fellow All-Star teammate James Wood (28 home runs, 15 stolen bases) became the second duo in major league history to record 25-plus home runs and 15-plus stolen bases in their club’s first 105 games of the season.

Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez accomplished the feat for Cleveland in 2018.

“The leadership that they have in the clubhouse with how well they’re connected with all the guys, and then going out there and performing, it just takes it to another level,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said of Abrams and Wood.

Tim Tawa had two hits and Gabriel Moreno had a two-run single Saturday for the Diamondbacks, who had won four straight games.

Manager Tory Luvollo shook up the top of his lineup, moving Ketel Marte (who leads the team with 18 home runs) into the cleanup spot. Arizona was held to three runs for the second game in a row, and the top four hitters in the order (Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Moreno and Marte) went 1-for-14 against Nationals ace Foster Griffin and two relievers.

“I’ll take those top four guys up against anybody. I think we can pound the baseball no matter who’s up on the mound,” Lovullo said. “Overall, I believe in this team’s ability to go out there and score five, seven runs every single night. That’s what we need to get to.”

After starter Mitch Bratt departed, the bullpen kept the Diamondbacks within striking distance by providing three scoreless innings for the second game in a row.

The Nationals traded infielder Curtis Mead, 25, to the Boston Red Sox for rookie left-hander Connelly Early, 24, on Saturday night. Early hasn’t pitched since June 30 and went on the injured list July 1 due to left elbow inflammation. The starting pitcher is expected to return in August.

Early is 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 games (all starts) over 91 2/3 innings this season, while Mead is batting .254 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs in 87 games.

–Field Level Media

Salvador Perez made Kansas City Royals history on Saturday. Perez and his team will now look to come away with a split of a four-game series in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

Perez, who has spent his entire major league career with Kansas City, homered off Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan in the seventh inning for his 318th career long ball. That put him atop the Royals’ all-time list, surpassing Hall of Famer George Brett.

During Perez’s postgame interview on the field, the entire team stood behind him after the 3-2 win. Perez, who made his major league debut in 2011, never dreamed when he started his career that he would reach this point.

“Just having fun. Play hard. Play as long as I can in the big leagues, just make it to the big leagues when I was in the minor leagues,” Perez said of his early years. “I never thought I would make it to 318 homers.”

It was a costly loss for Detroit, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped. The Tigers are desperately trying to get within striking distance of a playoff spot and convince their front office to not trade off key players and impending free agents such as Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Gleyber Torres.

“Obviously, you want to win them all, you want to execute perfectly,” manager A.J. Hinch said after his team’s setback. “Sport doesn’t always allow that.”

Framber Valdez will start the series finale for the Tigers. Valdez couldn’t get out of the first inning in his first start after the All-Star break.

Valdez was charged with six runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter before Hinch pulled him after 42 pitches of an 11-2 road loss to the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday.

“(Tuesday) was the worst game ever for myself being on the losing side,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “It feels terrible.”

He’s eager to get back on the mound and redeem himself.

“I was questioning myself, what’s going on?” he said. “I’ll do my best to make adjustments, to never let this happen again.”

Valdez (5-7, 4.57 ERA) had delivered his best outing of the season in his last start before the break, holding the Athletics to one run and three hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings on July 9.

He also had a strong outing against the Royals on April 14, limiting them to one run and four hits in seven innings. He’s 2-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 10 career outings (eight starts) against Kansas City.

The Royals’ scheduled starter is rookie Luinder Avila (5-3, 4.86). The right-hander was sharp in his last outing on Tuesday, as he lasted a season-high 6 1/3 innings and held San Francisco to two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts in a 3-2 home victory.

“Right from the get-go, aggressive fastballs down in the zone, upper-90s velo with good sink, slider in the zone,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, it was exciting to watch. That’s the high-end stuff that we know he has, and the ability to get in the zone, I know he’s worked really hard between starts.”

Avila praised the coaching staff for his success.

“All the credit goes to the pitching coaches,” Avila said. “They’re always there working with me. I just try to execute whatever they say.”

Avila tossed an inning of scoreless relief against Detroit on May 8.

–Field Level Media

The Miami Marlins’ losing streak has reached historical proportions.

If the Marlins lose again on Sunday afternoon in the finale of their three-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres, Miami will have dropped 12 consecutive games, the longest skid in team history.

“It’s almost like we’re playing just good enough not to win,” Miami manager Clayton McCullough said after a 7-2 loss to the Padres on Saturday night, marking the fourth time in team history the Marlins have lost 11 straight games, and the first time since 2011.

Miami lost its previous 10 games by three runs or less, but the Padres tacked on five runs in the final three innings on Saturday to run away with their second straight win.

“Every game is kind of its own chapter in a story,” McCullough said. “We had some chances early the last couple of days, first inning with some guys on, and you’re not able to cash in. … We just haven’t done enough within these games to find a way to get on top and to win, so we’re all in this together.”

The Marlins had won six straight before the skid began, giving them a 26-8 record from June 1 to July 9, the best in baseball.

“This storm cloud, or whatever these rough seas that we’re navigating right now, they’ll end,” McCullough said. “I wish I had a crystal ball to know when, but they will, and still a ton of confidence in everyone here that we’ll get this thing turned in a different direction.”

Eury Perez, the hottest pitcher for the Marlins, gave them seven solid innings on Saturday but couldn’t end the skid. The right-hander allowed three runs and seven hits, striking out two and walking one on a career-high 104 pitches.

Miami right-hander Janson Junk (4-6, 5.09 ERA) will get his chance on Sunday in his first-ever appearance against San Diego.

Right-hander Walker Buehler (6-5, 5.23) will start for the Padres, who will try to secure their first series sweep since June 22-24 against the Atlanta Braves.

Buehler is coming off a win against the Atlanta Braves in his last outing, holding them to two runs and two hits in 5 2/3 innings of an 8-3 road victory on Tuesday.

“He’s been throwing the ball well all year for us,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said of Buehler. “He just needs to continue doing what he’s always done his entire career.”

Buehler will try to pick up a San Diego team that had a hot start this season, climbing as high as 11 games above .500 in May before hitting a rut.

The Padres’ 4-2 win in the series opener on Friday prevented them from falling four games under .500 for the first time this season.

“There has never been a question of how talented this team is,” Buehler said after his last start. “And as cold as we’ve been on, kind of, both sides of the ball and lack of success, I think talent means that you can get equally as hot. … When you have talent, you have a chance.”

Buehler is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in seven career starts against Miami.

–Field Level Media