• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Diamondbacks open series with Astros

Apr 28, 2008 - 1:52 PM Houston (12-14) at Arizona (18-7) 9:40 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) - The Arizona Diamondbacks are running away with the National League West. The Houston Astros are just trying to stay near .500.

The Diamondbacks will be looking to pad their record when they host the Astros on Monday.

Arizona owns the best record in the major leagues, leading the majors in both runs scored and runs allowed. The hot start has them owning a 6 1/2 game lead over the Dodgers after less than a month of play.

Dan Haren (3-1, 3.03 ERA) has been a big part of the hot start, slotting into the rotation behind Brandon Webb to give the Diamondbacks one of the best one-two punches in the majors.

Webb tossed six solid innings Sunday to lead them to a 2-1 win over Jake Peavy and the San Diego Padres, giving the Diamondbacks wins in three of their last four games.

Haren will be looking to bounce back from his worst outing of the year when he allowed six runs - five earned - and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings to take his first loss last Wednesday at Los Angeles. Prior to that effort, the righthander had posted three consecutive wins without allowing more than one earned run.

The Astros have dropped two in a row, losing 5-1 Sunday to Kyle Lohse and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Chris Sampson (1-2, 6.38) will try to turn it around for Houston on Monday. The righthander picked up his first win of the season Wednesday, allowing two runs and eight hits in seven innings at Cincinnati.