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PHOENIX — Arizona left fielder David Peralta reworked his swing in the offseason Mike White Color Rush Jersey , moving his hands lower and closer to his body with an eye toward getting the ball into the air. It is taking off.

Peralta has 14 homers and 36 RBIs in 62 games, and he already has tied his career high in homers with more than half to season remaining. Along with Paul Goldschmidt, Peralta has helped the Diamondbacks (39-30) score a major league-high 99 runs in June after winning the first two games of a four-game series against the New York Mets.

Peralta had two hits to extend his hitting streak to seven games and scored a run in a 7-3 victory Friday. He had three homers in the first two games of the series, including his second career two-homer game Thursday.

Arizona will look to build on a 10-3 June when it sends left-hander Patrick Corbin to the mound to oppose Mets left-hander Steven Matz on Saturday. Matz, originally scheduled to start the series opener Thursday, was pushed back because of a blister issue.

The Mets are headed the other way. After opening the season 11-1, they have lost 12 of 13 to fall a season-low 10 games below .500 (28-38).

Peralta’s power improvement came as a result of discussions with hitting coaches Dave Magadan and Tim Laker and input from the Diamondbacks’ analytics department, which showed Peralta how often his hard-hit balls stayed on the ground.

“I made a little bit of change with my hands to try to elevate the fastball more,” said Peralta. “Why not put it in the air and see if it is going to better results? When I tried it in the beginning, it felt kind of weird.”

By the start of spring training, Peralta said he was feeling good with the new stroke. Either way, he was determined to stay the course.

“I put it in my mind that it didn’t matter if I got into a slump, I was just going to keep doing it because you have to trust the process Leighton Vander Esch Color Rush Jersey ,” he said.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo liked what he saw of the new approach in spring training.

“It’s allowing him to get the barrel to the ball more frequently,” Lovullo said. “He’s just a good hitter. He’s focused so much on being a complete hitter, using the whole field. Now he’s picking his spots to drive the ball.”

While the Diamondbacks’ offense is rolling, the Mets have scored three runs or fewer in 11 straight games, the first time that has happened since 1981. They have lost six of their last seven series, splitting the other, and the best they can do in Arizona is another split after losing the first two games.

Dominic Smith, recalled at the start of the week, hit his first homer of the season Friday, which was the Mets’ 22nd homer in their last 20 games. Eighteen of those, including Smith’s, have come with the bases empty.

“We need to go out there and score some runs. That’s simply stated,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters.

“We haven’t scored a ton and I think our hitters will. I think we have to get everybody in the right spot to start doing that. When we start scoring runs Royce Freeman Color Rush Jersey , we are going to win because our pitching has been tremendous.”

Corbin is 6-2 with a season-high 3.10 ERA after giving up five runs (four earned) in a no-decision against Pittsburgh on Monday. He has given up 12 runs (11 earned) in his last three outings, including a season-high six in a loss to Cincinnati on May 30.

He did not figure in the decision while giving up two runs in the Mets’ 5-4 victory at Citi Field on May 19. Corbin had one of his best starts of 2017 against the Mets, giving up one run and four hits in eight innings on Aug. 22. He is 1-3 with a 4.75 ERA in eight career appearances against the Mets.

Corbin ranks fourth in the NL with a 1.00 WHIP, and his 110 strikeouts are third.

Matz, 2-4 with a 3.53 ERA in 12 starts, faced the Diamondbacks on May 19. He gave up four runs in four innings but did not receive a decision when the Mets rallied for a 5-4 walk-off victory in the last of the ninth inning. He has no decisions in two career starts against Arizona, although he has given six runs and four homers in 10 innings. He has never pitched at Chase Field.

CHICAGO — If the Chicago Cubs were looking for a glimmer of hope in an otherwise forgettable road trip, a seven-run seventh inning provided a spark.

A day before the Cubs open a nine-game homestand on Friday against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday’s seven-spot helped deliver an 11-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers that helped the Cubs earn a split of the four-game series.

The Cubs lost six of the eight games on that road trip, but that victory in Thursday’s series finale may have been just what the Cubs needed. Despite their recent struggles, the Cubs won’t get too wrapped up in their recent skid.

“We’re in June,” center fielder Albert Almora Jr., told reporters. “Obviously J'Mon Moore Color Rush Jersey , we want to get on a roll and start playing good baseball and this is a good way to move into our home (stand) now.

“We’re not where we want to be obviously, but this is a step in the right direction.”

Thursday’s outcome was better than the news that came earlier in the day.

Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish experienced pain in his right triceps during a bullpen session Thursday, which will prevent him from returning to the starting rotation this weekend.

“It didn’t go that well and he wasn’t able to cut it loose,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters, according to the Cubs’ official website. “We’ll re-evaluate once we go back to Chicago and let you know the next step. For right now, he’s not going to be able to pitch on Saturday.”

Darvish’s injury has opened the door of opportunity for Mike Montgomery, who will open the series against the Twins. Montgomery (2-2, 3.39 ERA) transitioned into the rotation from the bullpen in late May and has been effective. But after allowing no more than one earned run in each of his first five starts, Montgomery struggled in his last outing when he allowed four runs over six innings against the Cincinnati Reds.

Montgomery is 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two career appearances, including one start, against the Twins. The lone start came in 2015, when he allowed one run and four hits over six innings, but did not get a decision.

The Twins enter this weekend’s series off a marathon 13-inning DJ Chark Color Rush Jersey , 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Minnesota avoided a sweep while playing the third of six games they will play in Chicago this week.

After Fernando Rodney allowed the tying run to score in the ninth inning, the Twins pulled out the victory with a bases-loaded walk to Max Kepler. The Twins will face the Cubs having lost five of their past seven games.

Like the Cubs, the Twins hope a win can build momentum after Minnesota’s recent slide erased any positive energy that came earlier this month in series wins over the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox.

“Obviously, this series and the last series have been unfortunate coming off two huge series wins,” second baseman Brian Dozier told reporters Thursday. “But that’s kind of how we’ve played the first few months of the season, which is not good. But I keep saying this team has potential to catch fire and do good things. I know we keep waiting on that and waiting on that, and in a perfect world, it would start today. But I think the mindset is where it needs to be. We just have to start winning more games.”

Jose Berrios will start for the Twins. Berrios (8-5, 3.15) has not lost since May 27 and is coming off a strong seven-inning effort against the Texas Rangers in which he allowed no runs and two hits and struck out 12.

Berrios will face the Cubs for the first time in his career on Friday.