The Arizona Diamondbacks start an odd stretch of eight games in seven days on Sunday, Aug. 23, when they take on the Cincinnati Reds in the series finale at Chase Field.
The Diamondbacks' scheduled starter, left-hander Mitch Bratt, looks to get right after a rough outing in Boston on Aug. 17.
Then the Chicago Cubs come to Phoenix for their only visit of 2026, with three games beginning Monday, Aug. 24. The Monday, Aug. 24, and Tuesday, Aug. 25, games are at 6:40 p.m., while the Wednesday, Aug. 26, game is set for 12:40 p.m.
Then the Diamondbacks go back on the road for four games in three days at San Francisco, including a Saturday day-night doubleheader at Oracle Park with those games at 1:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. The Thursday, Aug. 27, game time is 6:45 p.m., and the Friday, Aug. 28, game is at 7:15 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 30, is a day off for Arizona.
The Cubs are atop the National League wild-card standings and still in contention for the NL Central title. They're led by Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is a narrow favorite over the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani to win the NL MVP award.
Chicago went into Aug. 19 leading Major League Baseball in most walks drawn and highest on-base percentage.
Outfielder Seiya Suzuki has also had a big year offensively for the Cubs.
The Giants are far back in the NL West and wild-card standings and are playing out the rest of this season with nothing on the line. They are 1-8 against the Diamondbacks this season and traded away three of their top players at the deadline earlier in August: pitchers Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, infielder Luis Arraez and outfielder Heliot Ramos.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks' week includes Cubs and always-beatable Giants