Clayton Kershaw looks to extend scoreless streak vs. Diamondbacks

As the Dodgers open their weekend series in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks, they will send ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound looking to continue his mound excellence.

Kershaw has yet to allow a run this season in his two starts, and his scoreless streak of 20 innings, dating back to 2012, is just two shy of his career high, set from May 8-19 last year. The last major league pitcher to open a season with three starts with no runs allowed was Zack Greinke in 2009, then with the Royals.

Greinke opened 2009, a season in which he would win the Cy Young Award in the American League, with 24 consecutive scoreless frames, and his streak was 38 straight scoreless dating back to his final two starts of 2008. Greinke's fourth start snapped the string of no runs allowed, when he had the audacity to allow a single unearned run in nine innings.

Kershaw is 7-5 with a 2.25 career ERA against the Diamondbacks in 14 starts, including 3-4 with a 2.89 ERA in seven starts at Chase Field. Last year Kershaw allowed just eight runs in four starts against Arizona but was 1-3.

No current active Diamondbacks player has hit a home run against Kershaw. Gerardo Parra has had the most success at .300 (3-for-10) with a double and a memorable hit by pitch. Miguel Montero has faced Kershaw the most but is just hitting .200 (4-for-20) with three doubles. Aaron Hill has held his own against Kershaw (3-for-11, three walks), while Martin Prado (1-for-15), Paul Goldschmidt (1-for-11), and Jason Kubel (1-for-8) have not.

Patrick Corbin starts for the Diamondbacks, looking for his second win of the year. He pitched against the Dodgers last year but briefly. Current Dodgers are a collective 5-for-25 (.200) against him, and no Dodger as more than one hit against him.

Game info

Time: 6:40 p.m. PT

TV: It's complicated