The Los Angeles Dodgers earned a Cactus League win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday as Jake Peter, Alex Verdugo and D.J. Peters all homered, leading to the 7-6 victory.
The Dodgers are back at Camelback Ranch on Saturday as they host the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a pair of All-Star lefties in Alex Wood and Robbie Ray squaring off.
Wood struggled a bit in his first start of the spring, giving up two runs in one inning of work as he gave up a hit and walked two while striking out one. The outing was the first time Wood got to pitch exclusively out of the stretch in a game environment, a change he’s downplayed.
Wood is coming off a career season in which he went 16-3, yielding a 2.72 ERA, 3.32 FIP and 1.06 WHIP. He struck out 151 and walked 38 in 152.1 innings over 27 games (25 starts).
J.T. Chargois, Joe Broussard and C.C. Lee are among the available relievers to follow Wood. Chargois struck out a pair in a perfect inning in his Dodgers debut.
Ray is also making his second start of the spring. Although he looked sharper than Wood in his first outing. He pitched two hitless innings, issuing just one walk while striking out three.
The 26-year-old went 15-5 with a 2.89 ERA, 3.72 FIP and 1.15 WHIP in 28 starts for the Diamondbacks last season. He struck out 218 compared to just 71 walks in 161 innings of work.
Ray faced the Dodgers in the National League Division Series last October, and he struggled a bit, allowing four runs to score in 4.1 innings of work, giving up four hits and walking four.
He’ll see some of the same batters, as Chris Taylor, Justin Turner and Yasiel Puig are in Saturday’s lineup. Comparatively, Wood misses the majority of the Diamondbacks’ heavy hitters.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor
3B: Justin Turner
LF: Matt Kemp
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Kyle Farmer
DH: Travis Taijeron
SS: Donovan Solano
1B: Matt Beaty
2B: Omar Estevez
Diamondbacks lineup:
CF: Rey Fuentes
SS: Chris Owings
2B: Ketel Marte
RF: Steven Souza Jr.
1B: Christian Walker
LF: Yasmany Tomas
C: Jeff Mathis
DH: Socrates Brito
3B: Kristopher Negron
