Arizona @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 13, 2010 ) Arizona 5, LA Dodgers 9
A return to the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium appeared to ease much trepidation for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers came back from a six-game road trip to start the campaign by unleashing their offense with four home runs in a 9-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake went deep for the first time and Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier added long balls.
Through seven games, the Dodgers have scored a total of 45 runs and nine or more runs on two occasions.
However, hitting hasn’t been the issue. Pitching has been a big reason why the team is sitting at 3-4, as the bullpen blew late leads in the final two games against the Florida Marlins to end the trip.
Starter Clayton Kershaw showed flashes of brilliance and wildness in earning Tuesday’s win. The young left-hander struck out seven batters, but also walked five in allowing a pair of runs over 5 1/3 innings. The bullpen was able to limit the damage the rest of the way.
Now it’s Chad Billingsley’s turn to try to get the Dodgers consecutive victories for the first time this year in the second game of the series against Arizona on Wednesday.
Billingsley was steady in his opening start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, striking out seven batters and allowing one run in five-plus innings of work.
The Dodgers hope this version of Billingsley can maintain success for the entire season after the right-hander went 4-0 in April in earning an All-Star appearance last year, but fluttered so badly down the stretch that he wasn’t in the rotation during the postseason.
Billingsley, who is 6-5 with a 3.52 ERA in 13 starts against the Diamondbacks, will be opposed by Rodrigo Lopez.
The right-hander, who is making his second start in a Diamondbacks’ uniform, picked up a win over the Pirates in his debut.
Lopez, who twice won 15 games in his career, is 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA in four starts against Los Angeles.
Mark Reynolds homered for the third time in the early going on Tuesday, a season after notching 44 homers. For his career, he is just a .187 hitter with 37 strikeouts facing Los Angeles on the road.
Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier returned to the lineup after being limited to pinch-hitting duty over the previous four games because of a sprained ankle. He is batting .333 with six RBIs and three runs scored.