The Los Angeles Dodgers have now lost eight of their last nine games, including dropping three of four against the Padres. L.A. has also now lost three straight series for the first time this season. This is the team’s only real losing streak. A return home should help get the Dodgers back on track, but they’ll be going up against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a best of three starting Monday. Arizona swept the Dodgers last week as part of their now 10-game winning streak.
This series will be contested from Monday, September 4, 2017 through Wednesday, September 6, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The games on both Monday and Wednesday will be shown nationally on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
Robbie Ray opens the series for the Diamondbacks. With the Dodgers slumping, the southpaw could get into the lineup’s collective head. He held L.A. to one run on four hits in his last start. He struck out 10 in 6.2 innings in route to a win. Ray has yet to lose a start against the Dodgers this year; he’s made four.
Ray hasn’t missed a beat since he returned from the DL. He’s allowed only two runs in two starts since his return. He’s also now back up to 100-pitches.
The southpaw is 11-5 overall with a 2.97 ERA. The D-Backs are 14-8 in his starts.
To make things even better for Arizona, Ray has been especially strong on the road, going 6-1 with a 1.49 ERA.
To counter Ray, the Dodgers will turn to one of their own countless southpaws. Rich Hill gets the starts.
Hill gave up five runs in the first inning against Arizona his last time out and wound up going just 3.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits. He’ll need to rebound from that performance, but should do just that. He went seven innings, allowing one run and two hits the last time he faced the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
Hill’s blow up in his last start was also the first time the veteran allowed more than three runs in a game since mid-June. It’s a tough ask to come out strong after nine no-hit innings the start prior.
In the middle game of the series, the matchup swings even more in the Diamondbacks’ favor as they look to Zack Greinke opposite Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Much like the Game 1 matchup, the D-Back’s hurler is coming off a strong performance against the Dodgers last week while Ryu allowed six runs without making it past four frames.
Greinke’s last start notwithstanding, the ace is only 1-2 with a 4.58 ERA against the Dodgers this year and was lit up for five runs in five innings the last time he pitched at Dodger Stadium. He is, however, 16-6 with a 3.08 ERA overall.
On the other side, Ryu is 5-7 with a 3.71 ERA in 20 starts. He is yet another sub-4 ERA arm for L.A. He’s a solid arm, but will need to do a better job keeping the ball in the park than in his last start when Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Rosales and Chris Hermann all took him deep.
As we move into Wednesday’s matchup, the theme continues where the Arizona arm pitched brilliantly against the Dodgers last week and the L.A. arm suffered against the D-Backs. In this case, Taijuan Walker tossed five-scoreless, striking out 10, in the win while Kenta Maeda lasted only three innings.
Who's Hot?
As Cody Bellinger goes, so goes the Dodgers. Maybe it was a bit of a coincidence that L.A. took off after Bellinger’s promotion. Likewise, maybe it was a coincidence that their worst slump of the season started with Bellinger on the DL.
Regardless of the legitimacy of the correlation, the connection is there and it shouldn’t be a surprise. Bellinger has been a beast. He’s also one of few bats swinging well right now. Since coming off the DL, he’s 7-for-24 with two homers and triple. He went 2-for-4 in the team’s loss to the Padres on Sunday. Chris Taylor also went yard in the game which is appropriate as he’s the only other Dodgers swinging well over the last week.
On the pitching side, Tony Cingrani threw a scoreless innings on Sunday, striking out two. He’s pitched 3.1 innings in the last week without allowing a base runner.
For Arizona, Paul Goldschimdt is lighting it up in the second half. He’s batting .317 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs, adding a dozen doubles and 30 walks, giving him a 1.053 OPS. He’s done well against the Dodgers in his 16 head-to-head games this year, too. He’s batting .288 with 13 RBIs and a .959 OPS.
J.D. Martinez has offered great protection for Goldy since he was acquired. He’s only batting .237 in his 39 games, but has hit 14 homers and driven in 34 RBIs while posting a .237/.323/.597 slash line.
Another strong bat lately has been Chris Iannetta. The catcher was brought in more for his glove than his bat, but over his last 20 games, he’s batting .293 with six homers and a .397 OBP.
Who's Not?
In a slump, most of the team can be classified in this category and that’s the same situation for the Dodgers.
L.A. hasn’t gotten the relief out of the pen that it expected. Aside from a few arms, it’s been a rough go for Dave Roberts whenever he signals to the pen.
Offensively, Curtis Granderson is just two for his last 24 with 10 strikeouts. Logan Forsythe has only one hit in his last six games, spanning 17 at-bats.
For the Diamondbacks, the offense has really swung the bat well in their 10-game winning streak. There aren’t too many cold bats right now aside from A.J. Pollock. The center fielder may be one of the more talented players on the roster, but he’s batting .189 in his last 26 games. He’s hit a few homers, but has also struggled making solid contact.
On the mound, the bullpen outside of Archie Bradley continues to be worrisome. Fernando Rodney has produced, but how long can he walk the tight rope.
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