The Los Angeles Dodgers road trip ended on a sour note, and the team now returns for the start of a six-game road trip. It begins Friday night with a wraparound four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
While the Dodgers are regarded as the favorite to win the National League West title this season, it’s the Diamondbacks who surprisingly sit atop the division standings with a 7-3 record. Friday night games at Dodger Stadium are typically accompanied by postgame fireworks, which may be the evening’s only explosions considering the pitchers’ duel.
Clayton Kershaw makes his third start of the season, and does so by facing former teammate Zack Greinke for the first time since the right-hander bolted for the desert on a six-year, $206.5 million contract.
Kershaw enters 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA and 0.77 WHIP. He was knocked around a bit by the Colorado Rockies in his last outing, surrendering four runs on eight hits, including three home runs, in six innings pitched.
Kershaw allowed back-to-back home runs for the first time in his career. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is a lifetime 12-8 with a 2.75 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 24 starts against the Diamondbacks. He’s collected 168 strikeouts in 147.1 innings in those outings.
In his lone start against Arizona last season, Kershaw allowed just two runs on five hits and had 11 strikeouts over 7.1 innings to earn a win at Chase Field.
Paul Goldschmidt has had the most success against Kershaw (two home runs, two doubles, eight RBIs), whereas no other Diamondbacks player has a batting average of .300 or better against the 29-year-old.
Greinke is coming off a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants. He allowed two runs on four hits and issued two walks in just five innings of work. Greinke did earn a win in his season debut, limiting the Cleveland Indians to one run in 6.2 innings.
His start on Friday is Greinke’s fourth time facing the Dodgers since he decided against re-signing with the team. The Florida native earned a victory in his first outing, limiting the Dodgers to just two runs on seven hits.
After that, Greinke went on to make two starts against the Dodgers in September, with one each at Chase Field and Dodger Stadium. In his return to Chavez Ravine, Greinke gave up eight runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings pitched. He allowed a career-high five home runs.
Joc Pederson, Yasmani Grandal, Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner and Corey Seager were responsible for the homers. Overall at Dodger Stadium, Greinke is 29-6 with a 2.19 ERA and 0.94 WHIP.
Seager is 5-for-8 in his career against his former teammate, while Turner is 4-for-11. Although there’s plenty of attention on the pitching matchup, Greinke is looking forward to batting against Kershaw, who did not share the same view on their forthcoming head-to-head meeting.
The Dodgers made a roster move prior to the series opener, reinstating Pedro Baez from the disabled list. Josh Fields was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move to add Baez to the active roster.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Andrew Toles
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Logan Forsythe
C: Yasmani Grandal
CF: Joc Pederson
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Clayton Kershaw
Diamondbacks lineup:
CF: A.J. Pollock
RF: Chris Owings
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
LF: Yasmani Tomas
2B: Brandon Drury
3B: Daniel Descalso
SS: Nick Ahmed
C: Jeff Mathis
P: Zack Greinke
