PHOENIX — Give Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray an “A” in self-evaluation.

Ray won his final six regular-season decisions in 2017 after missing a month with a concussion suffered when he was struck in the head by a line drive in St. Louis on July 28. Then last Wednesday Derek Rivers Jersey , he spun six scoreless innings in a 2-1 victory over Florida in his first start after missing 58 days with an oblique injury.

Ray will face the Cardinals again on Monday, in the first game of a three-game series at Chase Field. Right-hander Carlos Martinez will start for the Cardinals.

“Obviously, I’m not going to go out there if I don’t feel 100 percent,” said Ray, a first-time All-Star in 2017.

“There is a constant line of communication between me and Torey (manager Lovullo). He was open with me. He wanted me to make another rehab start. I made it clear that I felt like I was ready. It felt good to be back on the mound and to be good to put up some zeroes for this team and help us win.”

Both Arizona and St. Louis enter the series after being swept, the Diamondbacks losing three to NL West rival San Francisco and the Cardinals dropping three to NL East-leading Atlanta.

That was only a slight hiccup for the Diamondbacks, whose 19 victories in June tied for the most in the majors. They led the majors with 11 triples and were second in runs in the month. Starting pitchers had 15 victories, also the most in the majors, capped by wins by Ray and Zack Greinke in the final two games of a four-game series in Miami early last week.

The D-backs have lost only two of their last 10 series, both to San Francisco, while recovering from a 2-15 skid in May.

“You are going to have ups and downs,” Ray said. “That was a little bit of an extended down, but good teams find a way to break out of that. I feel like we’ve done that this month.

“It’s another thing we have going on. The dynamic in this clubhouse, we are never down on ourselves. Guys were in here playing music every single day. Nothing has changed. We understand that there is a process, and you have to stick with it. The second that you start changing who you are and over-analyzing a little bit Solomon Thomas Jersey , it can weigh on you.

“We just come in there every day like it’s a new day. We prepare every day the same way, and we don’t change anything.”

The Cardinals have been careening a bit. They have lost four in a row after winning four straight, a run that ended another three-game losing streak. They have lost 12 of 18 since peaking at eight games over .500 on June 11.

St. Louis has scored 11 runs in their last four games after clobbering Cleveland’s Corey Kluber, scoring six runs off his in 1 2/3 innings, the shortest outing of his major league career.

Martinez (4-4) won that game, his first in five starts since returning from the disabled list, giving up two runs with eight strikeouts in six innings. He had a 1.62 ERA in eight starts before going on the disabled list and has 6.75 ERA in five starts since returning. His issue has been walks, 43 in 72 2/3 innings.

The Cardinals have considered moving first baseman Jose Martinez to the outfield in an attempt to increase their run production, but Martinez started at first again Sunday.

“The bat has to be (in the lineup),” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told reporters over the weekend. “You’ve got a guy who’s been as consistent as anybody we’ve had all season. So you’ve got to find a place for him.

“We’ve never ruled out the outfield. None of that is out of the question. We haven’t featured that yet but it’s something that has been in the conversation. He’s been doing work out there, too. But, right now, it’s how do we improve at first base?”

Carlos Martinez has had good success against Arizona, with a 2.88 ERA in eight appearances. That ERA ranks 20th among active major leaguers with at least 30 innings against the Diamondbacks. Martinez has been even more successful at Chase Field, with a 2.11 ERA Willie Snead IV Jersey , fifth among those with at least 20 innings.

Martinez has given up one homer against the Diamondbacks, that coming to Gerardo Parra in their first meeting. Since then, he has gone 33 1/3 innings without giving up a homer to them.

Ray (3-0) is 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA in four career starts against the Cardinals. He was removed after being struck by Luke Voit liner in the second inning of the July 28 start last season.

It was a new routine that caused him to miss Jacksonville's offseason conditioning program.

The All-Pro cornerback has no regrets, though, about the time away from coaches and teammates.

"How do I put this the nicest way possible?" Ramsey said Tuesday after the first of a mandatory, three-day minicamp.

"I don't think any of my teammates had an issue because they know I was going to come back ready. But at the same time, if they did, I don't think I would care 'cause once I get out here I know what I was doing was the right thing for me."

Ramsey worked out in Jacksonville before his first two NFL seasons and fell behind both times because of injuries.

"It was an offseason of getting back to the basics for me, kind of doing what got me to the position I'm in right now," he said. "It was also an offseason for me that I kind of labeled as 'no-setback season,' just 'cause in the previous two years I haven't even made it this far."

He had surgery in May 2016 for a torn meniscus in his right knee. He had surgery last June for a sports hernia.

Ramsey still managed to become the best player on a stout defense.

The fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft emerged as one of the top defensive backs in the league last year, locking down No. 1 receivers on a weekly basis. He was voted to the Pro Bowl in his second season and made the more exclusive All-Pro team.

"I thought I was good in the past two years, and stay tuned," he said.

Ramsey already has matchups circled months before the season, beginning with Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants in the opener and continuing a few weeks later against Kansas City's Tyreke Hill. The list also includes familiar faces such as former teammate Allen Hurns Armani Watts Jersey , Houston's DeAndre Hopkins, Philadelphia's Alshon Jeffery, Indianapolis' T.Y. Hilton and Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown.

"It's what I love, but I can't just love it," Ramsey said. "I've got to prepare for it, too, so that's what I've been doing this whole offseason. That's what I'll continue to do."

The Jaguars welcomed Ramsey back for minicamp, but coach Doug Marrone planned to work him in slowly.

"Jalen has worked extremely hard with training with his dad. He's anxious to go out there and say, 'I'm ready to go. Let's go,'" Marrone said. "I'm more like, 'OK, listen, we're going to get you in there for a couple and take you out. We just want to see where you are.

"The worst thing you can do as a coach is put someone out there that maybe is not ready. Not to say that Jalen is not ready, but we want to make sure that we are doing the right thing for all of the players."

Ramsey had 107 tackles, 31 pass breakups and six interceptions in his first two seasons. He's earned the respect of opponents as well as teammates Ty Montgomery Jersey , which made his decision to skip Jacksonville's offseason program an easier one.

"I know what I was doing is going to get me prepared as best as anything for the season," he said. "Once I put that out on the field, there won't be any issues. I have a good relationship with all my teammates anyways, so if they did they would hit me up. I did it respectful. ... I hit up people. I was like, 'Hey, yo, look, this is my plan for the offseason.'

"And it's not that I felt like I owed anybody an explanation. It's just that's how we vibe. That's the locker room. ... I was like, 'Yo, I know y'all fixin' to start it up. I'm not coming. I'm doing my thing. No worries.' They said it right back: 'You good, bro.'"