Dodgers at Diamondbacks
After absorbing their worst loss of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to regain their footing when they visit the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday in the opener of a three-game set. The Dodgers have won seven of the eight meetings this season against the Diamondbacks and outscored their National League West rivals by a 46-28 margin. Los Angeles was on the wrong end of an offensive explosion on Wednesday as Miami cruised to a 13-3 victory.
"You know this is going to happen to you a couple of times a year, but it's never fun," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after the rout. The cellar-dwelling Diamondbacks can relate to not having fun - especially at home, where they fell to 4-15 at Chase Field after suffering a 5-1 setback to Washington on Wednesday. Aaron Hill, who homered in the fourth inning to highlight a 6-for-12 series, helped Arizona to its lone victory against Los Angeles with a two-run single in the 12th inning of a 4-2 triumph on April 18.
TV: 9:40 ET, SportsNet Los Angeles, FSN Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Zack Greinke (6-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks LH Wade Miley (3-3, 4.82)
Greinke rebounded from a rain-shortened loss to yield two runs on six hits over seven innings in a 6-2 victory versus San Francisco on Saturday. The 30-year-old struck out eight batters -- his fifth outing of eight or more this season with two such performances coming in back-to-back starts against Arizona. Greinke permitted one run in each of those two outings, picking up the win on April 12 while settling for a no-decision six days later.
Miley recorded his first win since April 6 after tossing seven strong frames in a 4-3 triumph over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. The only damage the 27-year-old allowed was a two-run homer, but he did not walk a batter for the first time this season. Miley suffered the loss in each of his first two meetings with the Dodgers before settling for a no-decision against Los Angeles after yielding just a solo homer and matching a season high with eight strikeouts on April 18.
WALK-OFFS
1. Los Angeles OF Yasiel Puig, who is riding a career-best 14-game hitting streak, is 4-for-11 in his career versus Miley.
2. Arizona C Miguel Montero has hit safely in five straight and eight of nine games. The 30-year-old Venezuelan homered in his last meeting with Greinke on April 18 to improve to 6-for-18 in his career versus the hurler.
3. Dodgers C A.J. Ellis went 0-for-4 on Wednesday in his first start since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.