The Diamondbacks will look to move even closer to a playoff spot on Wednesday night, Sept. 24, with their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Arizona is tied at 1 in the third inning with Los Angeles while the other wild-card contenders — the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds — are having trouble.

The Reds, who started Hunter Greene, fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who started Paul Skenes, 4-3 in 11 innings.

The Mets trail the Chicago Cubs 10-2 in the seventh inning.

McCann back behind plate for DBacks

The Diamondbacks gave catcher James McCann the start behind the plate for the second consecutive game, leaving the club’s normal frontline catcher, Gabriel Moreno, as the designated hitter.

The change speaks to how highly the Diamondbacks value McCann’s defense, pitch-calling ability and leadership behind the plate.

“There’s an ease to him being back there,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I think he slams his finger down on the PitchCom and the pitcher is like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s go.’ I think there’s a lot of experience that, at this time of year, we have to draw from that experience.”

Lovullo said he expected Moreno to be back behind the plate for the series finale on Thursday, Sept. 25.

As to how the playing time would be distributed over the final three days, he said it might be “matchup dependent.”

“He’s going to get (Zac) Gallen and (Brandon) Pfaadt,” Lovullo said, referring to the starting pitchers with whom he has been pairing McCann recently. “How I piece it together from there, I’m not sure. I’ll have a lot of conversations with the coaching staff and (bench coach) Jeff Banister.”

—Nick Piecoro

Catfish? DBacks ‘bottom-feeders’ keying rallies

Leadoff man Geraldo Perdomo gave the Diamondbacks a walk-off win over the Dodgers on Tuesday night, Sept. 23, but it was the bottom of the order that keyed the game-winning rally.

This is becoming something of a trend. In each of their past three games, all wins for the Diamondbacks, they have received significant contributions from the bottom of the lineup.

“We believe in that group,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “(Numbers) 7-8-9 (in the lineup) has a huge impact on what happens in the game every night.

“And if they’re getting on base, driving up pitch counts, controlling at-bats – if two of those guys get on, you’re going to go two deep at the top of your lineup. That’s traditionally where your best hitters are hitting. They know what their responsibility is.”

In the win over the Dodgers, Ildemaro Vargas (hit by pitch), Tim Tawa (walk) and James McCann (sac bunt) set the table for Jorge Barrosa, who entered the game for defensive purposes an inning earlier and delivered the game-tying sac fly.

The bottom of the order has been nothing special for the Diamondbacks for most of the year. The top of the order, however, has been.

The Diamondbacks’ 7-8-9 hitters rank 19th in the majors with a .233/.296/.349 line. Their top three hitters, however – usually Perdomo, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll, in some order — are the best trio in the majors, with a .273/.364/.515 line.

Lovullo said the coaches have been trying to define the responsibilities of the bottom-of-the-order hitters, which he thinks has helped lead to better production. He also said he and the hitting coaches have been kicking around ideas for a possible nickname for them.

“We’re working on that right now,” Lovullo said. “I mean, what are catfish known as? They’re bottom-feeders, right? They’re part of the ecosystem. We’re thinking along those lines.

“They’re very important to what happens inside of our lineup, and we want them to understand how important they are.”

—Nick Piecoro

First pitch guests

The Diamondbacks celebrated NASCAR Night on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in conjunction with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race on Sunday, Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.

Driver Kyle Larson was the second of two people to throw ceremonial first pitches. Larson has three wins on the circuit this season.

The other was former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, a native of nearby Gilbert who played all or parts of 17 NFL seasons with the Rams, Bengals, Bills, Bucs, Titans, Texans, Jets, Commanders and Dolphins.

Fitzpatrick is now an analyst for “Thursday Night Football,” the broadcast of which he’ll be a part Thursday, Sept. 25, when the Arizona Cardinals host the Seattle Seahawks.

-José M. Romero

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34, KPNX, Ch. 12

Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.34) vs. Dodgers LHP Blake Snell (5-4, 2.44).

At Chase Field: Nelson gave up two runs in five innings in a loss to the Phillies last week. He was in good position to complete six innings before getting derailed by a 31-pitch fifth inning. … It snapped a string of five consecutive quality starts for Nelson. … He has fared well against the Dodgers in his career, posting a 1.55 ERA in 29 innings. He faced them earlier this season, giving up just one run in five innings. He also had a two-inning relief appearance against them in which he retired all six batters he faced. … Snell made two starts to open the year, landed on the injured list for four months, then returned in early August and proceeded to dominate. He has a 2.53 ERA in 46 1/3 innings since returning, striking out 63 while walking 17. … One of his few somewhat rough outings since coming back came against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 29, when he gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Coming up

Thursday, Sept. 25: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (13-14, 4.70) vs. Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-8, 2.58).

Friday, Sept. 26: At San Diego, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-8, 4.91) vs. Padres RHP Yu Darvish (4-5, 5.51).

Saturday, Sept. 27: At San Diego, Diamondbacks RHP Nabil Crismatt (2-1, 2.61) vs. Padres RHP Michael King (5-3, 3.57).

Sunday, Sept. 28: At San Diego, Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (13-8, 5.00) vs. Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (13-5, 2.87).

(This story has been updated to add new information.)