Matt Koch will aim for his fourth consecutive victory on Tuesday night Donte Jackson Color Rush Jersey , and the Arizona Diamondbacks will try for a two-game road sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.

Arizona (40-32) won the series opener 7-4 on Monday night to extend its lead in the National League West to two games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs and is batting .426 (29-for-6 with eight homers and 18 RBIs in his last 17 games.

The Angels (38-35) gave up the first six runs of the interleague series opener before dropping their seventh game in the past eight to fall 8 1/2 games back of the Seattle Mariners for the second wild card in the AL. They were 3 1/2 games back on June 9.

“It’s tough to spot them six,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters after the loss Monday.

Koch (5-3, 4.09) wasn’t expected to be part of the rotation this spring, but an arm injury to fellow right-hander Taijuan Walker prompted the club to recall Koch from Triple-A Reno on April 20.

He was 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA after four starts, lost three straight in mid-May, but has regrouped with the help of exceptional run support. The Diamondbacks have combined for 36 runs in his past four starts.

“You always have to be ready for your opportunity,” Koch told the told Sioux City Journal last week. “You never know when it’s going to come, how early or how late it is, you just have to be ready for it, whenever it is, and try to take advantage of it.”

Koch’s spot in the rotation isn’t set in cement, as veterans Shelby Miller (Tommy John surgery) and Robbie Ray (right oblique strain) are making rehab starts and nearing their returns.

Despite his recent success, his first career appearance against the Angels could determine whether Koch remains in the rotation. He said he’s not focused on that aspect of his performance.

“All I try to do is just get ready for that game and do all I can to keep the team in the game, and try to win,” Koch said. “I can’t really worry about all the other stuff that’s going on or your focus isn’t going to be on what you need to do.”

Koch would be more than willing to occupy a spot in the bullpen if it meant staying with the Diamondbacks.

“I want to be part of the team and if it’s best for the team for me to go to the bullpen I’ll do it, and if it’s best for me to stay in the rotation I’ll do it,” he said. It’s whatever they think will help the team most.”

The Angels are scheduled to send 28-year-old right-hander Felix Pena to the mound for his first major league start.

For the third time this season, Pena (0-0, 10.13) was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday. He has made two relief appearances with the Angels this season totaling 2 2/3 innings. Nine of his 10 appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake this season have been as a starter, and he’s 1-2 with a 3.51 ERA for the Bees.

Pena was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in October after making 36 relief appearances over the past two seasons. He has never faced the Diamondbacks.

Pro Picks heads into the postseason with an incredible record straight up, 70 games over .500. A coach would have a lifetime contract for such an impressive showing.

The key to picking NFL games Rashaan Gaulden Color Rush Jersey , of course, is winning against the point spread. In that area, well, we need a rally, three games under the break-even mark thanks to a particularly damaging Week 16.

A strong playoffs served us well last year. So let’s do it again.

No. 11 Tennessee (plus 7 1-2) at No. 8 Kansas City, Saturday

All four wild-card matchups have spreads in the same range. This one seems most out of whack.

While the Chiefs have not exactly recaptured their form of early in the schedule, when they were the NFL’s best, they are on the rise. The dynamic offense has been rekindled, particularly sensational rookie running back Kareem Hunt.

”We look at it right around Game 12, you kind of see where they’re at and if they have a bad play you say, `Whoop! There’s the rookie wall,”’ coach Andy Reid joked – yes, Reid has a very good sense of humor, folks.

”Sometimes I think that gets a little overrated, but we haven’t seen that with him. He’s done well and I think we’re probably a little hypersensitive to that when you get around the middle of the season, that 12th game.”

This is the 17th game, and the trend for the Titans hasn’t been good lately. They lost three in a row down the stretch and needed to squeeze past AFC South winner Jacksonville, which had nothing to gain last Sunday, to make the field.

The Titans won’t last long in it.

BEST BET: CHIEFS, 23-10

No. 7 Carolina (plus 6 1-2) at No. 5 New Orleans, Sunday

This is the best looker of the four playoff openers Billy Price Color Rush Jersey , a confrontation between two of the league’s strongest teams out of the NFL’s top division. The Saints or the Panthers are as capable as any NFC squad to get to the Super Bowl.

New Orleans knocked off Carolina twice in the regular season, and is the more balanced side. It’s also the more explosive team.

But if any of the road teams is going to spring an upset, it’s Ron Rivera and the Panthers, who have a much more recent record of postseason success than do Drew Brees and the Saints.

UPSET SPECIAL: PANTHERS, 27-26

No. 9 Atlanta (plus 6 1-2) at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, Saturday

So here come the more-experienced Falcons, ready to surge back to the Super Bowl and, this time, finish it off after building a big lead?

We don’t buy it.

These aren’t even close to being the same Falcons. Matt Ryan has had a problematic season, and the Falcons have made the kind of critical mistakes they avoided in 2016 – until the second half of that historic Super Bowl flop.

The Rams are young and eager and explosive and dynamic and … well, superior.

RAMS, 27-19

No. 12 (tie) Buffalo (plus 7 1-2) at No. 10 Jacksonville, Sunday

The feel-good story throughout Western New York – there are college football players who might not have been born when the Bills last made it this far – ends rapidly. Barring a stunning recovery from his ankle injury by LeSean McCoy, the Bills will be one and done, even though the Jags have a bunch of questionable areas on offense, particularly QB Blake Bortles.

JAGUARS, 19-13

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2017 RECORD:

Last week: Against spread (9-7). Straight up (9-7)

Season Totals: Against spread (117-120-10). Straight up: (162-92)

Best Bet: 9-8 against spread, 10-7 straight up.

Upset special: 9-8 against spread, 9-8 straight up

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