After having their five-game winning streak snapped, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to avoid losing any more ground to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West standings. They enter play two games out of first place in the division.
Arizona calls on Zack Greinke, who is in the midst of another excellent season. He’s 13-8 with a 2.93 ERA, 3.58 FIP and 1.05 WHIP across 168.2 innings pitched (27 starts).
Greinke was dominant in his most recent outing against the Seattle Mariners, tossing six frames of one-run ball — the lone run being unearned — with six strikeouts to two walks.
However, since departing Los Angeles as a free agent in 2015, Greinke has struggled against his former team. In nine games, he has posted a 4.44 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with 57 strikeouts and 18 walks over 54.2 innings pitched.
Greinke has two starts under his belt against the Dodgers this season, having pitched to a 4.38 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 12.1 innings — earning wins in both games. He enters with an impressive track record at Dodger Stadium, sporting a 30-7 record, 2.34 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 338.2 career innings (51 starts).
The Dodgers counter with Hyun-Jin Ryu, who makes his 10th start of the season. He enters with a 4-1 record, having posted a solid 2.18 ERA, 3.07 FIP and 1.02 WHIP in 45.1 innings pitched.
Ryu was hit hard in his last outing against the San Diego Padres, but nevertheless controlled the traffic on the base paths and limited the damage. He allowed a season-high 11 base knocks but managed to escape with only two runs crossing the plate in 5.2 innings of work.
In his career against the Diamondbacks, Ryu is 3-3 with a 3.90 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 64.2 innings pitched, having accumulated 54 walks compared to 23 walks (12 starts). That includes two previous outings against them this season, to which he yielded three runs in five frames.
The Dodgers offense is looking to rebound from striking out 15 times in the series opener. Chris Taylor, who went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, is not in the lineup. That puts Joc Pederson in the leadoff spot and drops Brian Dozier to batting seventh.
Cody Bellinger, who bats cleanup, is 6-for-18 with three home runs in his career against Greinke.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Manny Machado
CF: Cody Bellinger
C: Yasmani Grandal
1B: Max Muncy
2B: Brian Dozier
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Diamondbacks lineup:
RF: Steven Souza Jr.
CF: A.J. Pollock
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
LF: David Peralta
3B: Eduardo Escobar
SS: Nick Ahmed
2B: Ketel Marte
C: Jeff Mathis
P: Zack Greinke
