Los Angeles @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 22, 2014 ) LA Dodgers 7, Arizona 5

The Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers since the latter’s infamous postgame party in the stadium pool after clinching the National League West title last September. Arizona and the Dodgers have already met this season, however, with L.A. sweeping a doubleheader in Major League Baseball’s debut in Australia last month. The Dodgers are coming off back-to-back extra-inning games in a two-game split with the visiting Detroit Tigers, but enjoyed another off day Thursday, their fourth since their U.S. opener March 30, while Arizona played a late-night extra-inning game in San Francisco the same night.

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig returned in a pinch-hitting role Wednesday night after missing two games with a sprained thumb and struck out looking with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth inning. The Dodgers still managed to score three runs and tie the score before losing in the 10th inning, 7-6. The Diamondbacks are coming off a 10-inning win, having downed the Giants in the finale of their three-game series to take two out of three.

TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles), Fox Sports Arizona Plus

PITCHING MATCHUPS: Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Brandon McCarthy (0-1, 7.82).

Ryu will make his major-league leading fourth start of the season as he attempts to bounce back from a shaky outing Friday against Giants, lasting just two innings while giving up eight runs (six earned) and eight hits in the 8-4 loss. He has already defeated the Diamondbacks once this year, throwing five shutout innings in a 7-5 victory in Australia last month. He made five starts against Arizona in his rookie season last year, finishing 1-2 with a 4.65 ERA as the Diamondbacks hit .300 off the left-hander.

McCarthy is 2-0 in his career against the Dodgers, beating them last September in Arizona to keep them from clinching the NL West title for another day. He pitched into the seventh inning in both his appearances against the Dodgers last season and the Diamondbacks found ways to win each time, the first on a two-run homer by Paul Goldschmidt in the top of the ninth. Puig was still in the minors at that time, but he was around for McCarthy’s second start against the Dodgers in September and clubbed a 442-foot homer in that game.

WALK-OFFS

1. Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .324 in his career at Chase Field with 16 home runs in 210 at-bats.

2. Dodgers OF Matt Kemp, who’s hitting. 324 in his career in the month of April, 24 points higher than any other month, is off to a 3-for-18 start this season.

3. Goldschmidt is hitting.349 with nine home runs in 45 career games against the Dodgers.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 3