Los Angeles @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 3, Arizona 1
Daniel Hudson has turned around his fortunes since joining the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trading deadline.
Now the Diamondbacks hope he can change their luck against the Los Angeles Dodgers when the teams continue their three-game series on Saturday at Chase Field.
The Diamondbacks had a modest three-game winning streak snapped by a 3-1 loss in Friday's series opener, which marked the Dodgers' 11th win in 13 meetings between the NL West rivals this season.
But the Dodgers have yet to face the 23-year-old right-hander, who has been Arizona's best pitcher down the stretch.
Hudson (7-2, 2.49 ERA) has made the most of his change of scenery, going 6-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 10 starts since the Diamondbacks acquired him from the Chicago White Sox in a trade for Edwin Jackson. He was 1-1 with a 6.32 ERA in three starts with Chicago.
Each of Hudson's 10 outings for Arizona have been quality starts, and he has allowed two runs or fewer in nine of those starts.
John Ely's time with the Dodgers got off to a similar start, but he has struggled lately.
Ely (4-8, 5.00 ERA) began his rookie season with six quality starts in his first seven outings, including two against Arizona.
He earned a win against the Diamondbacks on May 11 at Chase Field, limiting them to two runs over six innings. The hurler also threw seven scoreless innings on June 1 in Los Angeles, but he settled for a no-decision in a 1-0 victory.
Ely's promising rookie campaign took a wrong turn in mid-June, and he's lost seven of his last eight major-league decisions with a stint in the minors sandwiched between.
The 24-year-old right-hander hasn't earned a major-league win since June 29 in San Francisco, where he held the Giants to one run over seven innings. He has only one quality start in four big-league outings since then.
In his return to the Dodgers on Sept. 11, Ely held the Houston Astros to three runs over six innings but didn't factor in the decision in a 6-3 win. He didn't fare as well his last time out, giving up six runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 12-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Ely will try to pick up where Clayton Kershaw left off in Friday's series opener. The Dodgers' ace left-hander held Arizona to one run and four hits over eight innings, helping Los Angeles notch its sixth win in seven games at Chase Field this season.
Kelly Johnson continued his hot play at the plate with two of Arizona's four hits. The second baseman is batting .389 with five homers and nine RBIs over his past nine games.
The Dodgers did just enough to make Kershaw a winner Friday, scoring three runs on six hits. They have scored more than three runs only twice in their last 10 games, averaging 2.8 runs and hitting .209 as a team during that stretch.