PHOENIX -- The Los Angeles Angels got it exactly right when they selected Patrick Corbin in the second round of the 2009 draft.
Corbin has become a two-time All-Star, one on either side of a Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2014 season, and he has positioned himself to be one of the plums in the offseason free agent market.
Finally, the Angels will get to see him for the first time in a major league setting.
Corbin (10-4) was traded to Arizona at the July 2010 deadline, and he will make his initial appearance against the Angels in the first game of a two-game interleague series on Tuesday at Chase Field. Right-hander Felix Pena (1-3) is to start for the Angels.
Corbin was acquired by Arizona then-interim general manager Jerry Dipoto in package that included left-handers Joe Saunders and Tyler Skaggs in exchange for Dan Haren.
Skaggs is back in the Angels' rotation, Haren is back with the Diamondbacks as their pitching strategist, and Corbin is the one who got away.
He is among the NL leaders in victories, strikeouts and WHIP among other categories, and he will bring a streak of 10 consecutive starts without allowing a home run into the start. He has given up 11 homers in 155 2/3 innings.
The Diamondbacks bring a one-half game lead in the NL West race after taking three of four from San Diego last weekend. They were 5-4 on a road trip to three fifth-place teams, including Cincinnati and Texas.
Paul Goldschmidt set a franchise record by reaching base in 10 consecutive plate appearances in San Diego He was 18-for-36 with four homers and 10 RBIs on the trip, and he enters with a 12-game hitting streak.
"We know what the stakes are, we know exactly what's going on in the standings," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said after late homers by Daniel Descalso and A.J. Pollock lifted them to a 4-3 victory on Sunday.
"These are the types of games you have to find a way to win. To get a solo homer in the eighth and a solo homer in the ninth to win it ... it was an exceptional win. "
The Angels also had fun in San Diego, sweeping a three-game series early last week, but that was tempered when they lost three of four in soggy Texas last weekend. They have won eight of 13.
The Angels have done all of that without All-star center fielder Mike Trout, who has been on the disabled list with a right wrist injury retroactive to Aug. 6. He has been away from the team after the passing of his brother-in-law, Aaron Cox, last week.
Starters Kole Calhoun, David Fletcher, Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols and Justin Upton were 23-for-67 with three homers and 10 RBIs in Texas, but the Angels were outscored 25-23 in the series.
"We have been scoring some runs," Angels manager Mike Sciascia told reporters. "I thought we had good at-bats in this series, we just, on the mound we had some leads and didn't hold them very well."
They seemingly will need to be just as efficient against Corbin.
Corbin has won four straight decisions and has only one loss in his last 10 starts while becoming the third double-digit winner for the Diamondbacks, the only team in the NL with three. The back-to-back Zacks -- Godley (13-6) and Greinke (12-8) -- are the others. Godley precedes Greinke in the rotation.
Third in the NL with 190 strikeouts, Corbin has 41 strikeouts and three walks in his last five starts. His slider has been a dominant out pitch, and he is throwing it a career-high 40 percent of the time, according to Fangraphs.
"He has a really innate quality to locate balls at the bottom of the zone," Lovullo said after Corbin's last start, a 6-4 victory at Texas on Tuesday.
"You come to this ballpark, you wonder often what are going to be the conditions, and the ball does fly out of here. ... Patrick did a great job, exceptional job of keeping the ball down (and) out of trouble."
Right-hander Miguel Batista set the franchise record of 11 straight starts without giving up a homer in 2003. Corbin is tied with Boston left-hander Chris Sale, recently returned to the disabled list, for the longest streak without giving up a homer from a starter this season.
Pena, who has a 4.35 ERA, joined the rotation for good when he made his third start of the sesaon against Arizona on June 19. He did not get a decision in the Angels' 5-4 victory while giving up only two hits and one run in four innings.
Pena is coming off his best outing of the season, a 3-2 victory at San Diego in which he gave up six hits and one unearned run while striking out seven. He is 1-1 with a 1.31 ERA in his four road starts this season.
