The Arizona Diamondbacks open a four-game series Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates James Neal Jersey , and by the time they move on to Miami, their rotation could look different. As in, more intact.

Right-hander Zack Godley (7-5, 4.77 ERA) is scheduled to face Pittsburgh righty Ivan Nova (4-5, 4.42) in the opener and, in fact, the Diamondbacks (40-33) have starters penciled in all four games against the Pirates (36-37).

But starters Shelby Miller (Tommy John surgery) and Robbie Ray (strained right oblique) appear close to returning, particularly Miller.

“He’s getting close,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said of Miller. “With these outings and the feedback he’s giving us, he’s telling us that he’s getting closer every day.”

One possibility is that Miller will replace Matt Koch, who allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings Wednesday in a 5-4 loss against the Angels.

“Yet to be determined,” Lovullo said. “We’re going to huddle up and have some conversations … and figure out what the next course of action.”

In the meantime Colton Parayko Jersey , Godley is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA over his past two starts. That includes a 7-3 win Friday against the New York Mets when he gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

“I had to fight through myself pretty much for the first three innings and then after that kind of settled in a little bit and got some quick outs and was able to go deep into the game,” Godley said. “I was just kind of fighting myself body-wise, just kind of not finishing some of my pitches and leaving some up and in on righties and up and away on lefties.”

Getting through that impressed Lovullo.

“He’s battling himself,” Lovullo said of Godley’s early innings in that game. “He can’t duplicate pitches, and he just made some key pitches at the right time. … So, when you see things like that when a guy doesn’t have his best stuff, that’s what sticks out for me. Pretty impressive.”

Godley is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two appearances, one start, against Pittsburgh.

The Diamondbacks, who were off Wednesday, have won eight of their past 12 games. That includes taking two of three last week when the Pirates visited Chase Field.

Pittsburgh last lost two home games in a row against Arizona but had won six in a row before that.

The Pirates have won four of six after getting an impromptu day off Wednesday — their game against Milwaukee was postponed after a rain delay of more than two hours.

Nova, like Godley Ondrej Palat Jersey , is coming off two good starts, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA since he came off the disabled list (sprained finger).

On Saturday, he struggled with his curveball but it didn’t stop him from allowing just one run and five hits in six innings in a 6-2 win over Cincinnati.

“Even though I walked a couple guys, the fastball command is better than what it was before I hit the DL,” Nova said. “I think I’ve been able to control it a bit better. I think that’s been the key.”

Nova is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in three career starts against the Diamondbacks.

Pittsburgh will be without starting left fielder Corey Dickerson for at least the start of the series. He is on family leave.

Game 4 lacked the intensity of the three before it, and no overtime heroics were necessary. Instead, the workmanlike Washington Capitals turned in their most complete game of the playoffs, putting away the Columbus Blue Jackets to tie their series at two games apiece.

Not that the Blue Jackets did themselves any favors in the 4-1 loss Thursday night. They came out flat, squandered an early power play, surrendered pucks in the neutral zone and couldn’t seem to get any traction until late in the game.

Columbus had overcome deficits to win the first two games in Washington. When the series shifted to Columbus on Tuesday, the Capitals prevailed on a lucky bounce in double-overtime.

Now the best-of-7 series moves back to Washington for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon.

”All we’ve done is gotten on even terms,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. ”We got ourselves in a hole Phillip Danault Jersey , and we have to continue to push forward. The next game is a real pivotal game. Someone is going to take the lead in this series, and then your back is against the wall. We have to make sure we’re ready to go.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists for the Capitals, who made sure the game was never in doubt. Tom Wilson and Alexander Ovechkin each had a goal and an assist, and T.J. Oshie also tallied.

”We’ve been a confident group all year,” said Washington goalie Braden Holtby, who finished with 23 saves. ”I don’t think we’ve ever doubted ourselves. We came into this building with the right mindset.”

There was no comeback magic this time for the Blue Jackets, who couldn’t seem to shift out of neutral until coach John Tortorella started switching up the lines in the second period.

Boone Jenner scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky had 29 saves.

”There’s no sense asking me things about the game,” a bewildered Tortorella told reporters. ”I’m telling you, we laid an egg, so I’m not going to break it down for you. We sucked. We sucked. Let’s move by it and see if we play better Saturday afternoon.”

Washington led 1-0 after the opening period. Just after Columbus’ Thomas Vanek knocked the puck out of the blue paint with his glove, Kuznetsov shoveled the carom from the right boards out to Wilson Aleksander Barkov Jersey , who connected from above the circle at 6:16.

The Capitals got their second halfway through the second period on a power play when Oshie flicked in a rebound. Ovechkin beat Bobrovsky from the right circle early in the third period to give the Caps a three-goal lead.

A few minutes later, Jenner redirected Josh Anderson’s slap shot to make it a 3-1 game and finally give the record Nationwide Arena crowd of 19,395 something to cheer about. Kuznetsov added an empty-net goal with 2:19 left in the game.

”They scored that goal to kind of sneak back in it a little bit, and we didn’t miss a beat,” Washington defenseman John Carlson said. ”Our next shift I think we dominated them, and maybe one or two after that one, too. Those are the kinds of things you need to do to win.”

Columbus captain Nick Foligno also couldn’t explain what happened to the Blue Jackets after they had showed so much juice in the first three games.

”We know we have to be way better,” he said. ”Maybe it gives us a little kick in the rear to know we have a real good opportunity in front of us to go back there. Home ice hasn’t been too nice to each team. We feel good about ourselves and the fact that we haven’t played our best hockey yet. We’ve got to find it.”

NOTES: When a best-of-7 series goes to 2-2, the winner of Game 5 wins 78.8 percent of the time, according to the NHL. … Washington F Andre Burakovsky missed a second game with an upper-body injury. It’s not clear if he will play in Game 5. … The Capitals have scored the first goal in all four playoff games. … Washington has seven power-play goals in the series. … Ovechkin has three goals and three assists in the four games.

UP NEXT

Game 5 is Saturday in Washington.

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