LA Dodgers Look To Forget their Troubles in a Series Against the Arizona Diamondbacks

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LA Dodgers Look To Forget their Troubles in a Series Against the Arizona Diamondbacks

The LA Dodgers may have had a tough first half of the season, but they hope the second half will be much better when they start the second half of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are in contention in the NL West after defying all expectations during their first half, but it was the disappointing Los Angeles Dodgers who went into the All-Star break on a roll.

With Clayton Kershaw on the mound Friday night, there’s a good chance the Dodgers’ surge continues.

Kershaw has pitched at least eight innings while winning three of his last four starts, and he’ll seek a fifth consecutive victory over the Diamondbacks.

Arizona (49-43) has a payroll nearly half of Los Angeles’ $104 million, but it’s the Diamondbacks - coming off a 97-loss season - who are challenging for the West lead.

But after being a half-game ahead of San Francisco for first place through June 24, Arizona has fallen behind the Giants after dropping nine of 15 heading into the break, including its final two games in St. Louis last weekend.

“We didn’t win the last two games, but they’ve just got to go and chill out,” manager Kirk Gibson said after Sunday’s 4-2 loss. “We’ve been grinding so hard for so long ever since the first day of spring training.

“It’s been a tough go for the last month and we’ve come through it very well.” The Dodgers’ often disastrous first half - which included the club filing for bankruptcy - actually came to a pretty impressive conclusion. Los Angeles (41-51) went into the break with four consecutive wins while allowing just one run.

With a staff that’s tossed seven shutouts in the last 20 games, manager Don Mattingly is optimistic about the second half despite an offense that’s been held to two runs or fewer 39 times.

“When the season started, I thought we’d be in the mix, and at this point, we’re on the outskirts,” Mattingly told the Dodgers’ official website. “We have tons of games left in the division. I’m not cashing in any chips, that’s for sure.”

Handing the ball to Kershaw (9-4, 3.03 ERA) should make Mattingly even more optimistic. The left-hander closed out June with consecutive complete games, then after a rocky start against the Angels, pitched eight innings against the Mets on July 7 in a 6-0 victory.

Kershaw, who threw a perfect inning of relief in the NL’s All-Star game win, has been close to flawless lately against the Diamondbacks. He’s won all four outings since 2010 and allowed one run over 20 2-3 innings in his last three starts in the series while striking out 28.

Stephen Drew and Justin Upton are a combined 1 for 24 with 11 strikeouts against Kershaw, but the Diamondbacks have some reason for hope as Kershaw is 2-3 with a 4.93 ERA in eight road starts.

Perhaps Brandon Allen will have better success. Arizona called up Allen, who was hitting .308 with 18 homers with Triple-A Reno, on Thursday in an attempt to get better production from first base after the disappointing platoon of Juan Miranda, Russell Branyan and Xavier Nady wasn’t working.

Joe Saunders (6-7, 3.86) gets the ball for the Diamondbacks looking to win a fourth straight decision, with the first three coming on the road. He walked four July 7 at St. Louis but allowed one hit over five innings in a 4-1 victory.

The left-hander is 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in six starts versus Los Angeles. The Dodgers get a good pitching performance and win game one against Arizona.

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