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Clayton Kershaw takes the baton in Game 2 vs. Diamodnbacks

Saturday marks the 30th time Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke will have thrown back-to-back regular season games. The Dodgers won both games 12 times, split both games 16 times, and lost twice only once.

By Eric Stephen
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers got a dominant pitching performance out of Zack Greinke in the opener of their series against the Diamondbacks on Friday, and will follow that up with ace Clayton Kershaw starting on Saturday evening in Phoenix.

Greinke, who pitched eight scoreless innings on Friday, has allowed 32 runs in his last 25 starts, with a 1.72 ERA during that span. Kershaw's ERA during that span is 1.71.

Perhaps the most telling note about Kershaw was his utter disappointment in his start last Sunday when he allowed three runs in seven innings, by far the worst of his three starts this season. He has 25 strikeouts and just one walk in his 20⅔ innings in 2014.

Saturday marks a run of early game starts for the Dodgers. They aren't scheduled to start a game later than 5:10 p.m. PT again until May 27.

Sat: at AZ, 5:10 p.m.
Sun: at AZ, 1:10 p.m.
Tue: at NYM, 4:10 p.m.
Wed: at NYM, 4:10 p.m.
Thu: at NYM, 4:10 p.m.
Fri: at Phi, 4:05 p.m.
5/24: at Phi, 12:05 p.m.
5/25: at Phi, 10:35 a.m.
5/26: vs. Cin, 5:10 p.m.

On Saturday, Kershaw is looking for his first win at Chase Field since 2011, having lost his last four starts in Phoenix. In Kershaw's last two starts he has allowed just four total runs in 14⅓ innings but got nothing to show for it because the Dodgers didn't score.

The Dodgers offense will try to rectify that against 26-year-old rookie Chase Anderson, making his second major league start. Anderson allowed one run and struck out six in 5⅓ innings last Sunday against the White Sox in Chicago. On Saturday he gets to join what has to be an extremely rare list of pitchers sharing a name with the ballpark.

Anderson has 397 strikeouts in 398 minor league innings, though he struggled in Triple-A Reno in 2013, putting up a 5.73 ERA and 1.591 WHIP in 88 innings. The right-hander opened 2014 as one of the oldest players in Double-A, and put up an 0.69 ERA in six starts for Mobile.

The two Diamondbacks that have struggled the most against the Dodgers this season have also struggled in their careers against Kershaw. Martin Prado is 5-for-27 (.185) with a double and four walks (.513 OPS) against Los Angeles this season, and is 3-for-26 (.115) with a walk (.264 OPS) against Kershaw.

Paul Goldschmidt is 4-for-23 (.174) with a home run, a double and two walks (.588 OPS) against Kershaw, and this season against the Dodgers is 8-for-38 (.211) with two doubles and two walks (.513 OPS). It's a far cry from the rest of his career, as he was hitting .344/.410/.571 with 32 RBI in 43 games against Los Angeles heading into the season.

Game info

Time: 5:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA

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May 17: Diamondbacks 18, Dodgers 7

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