Dodgers look to ride the offensive wave vs. Mariners

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers look for a third straight victory on Tuesday night, sending David Huff to the mound trying to neutralize the left-handed hitters of the Mariners.

Then again, Huff in his career has a bit of a reverse platoon split going, with lefties hitting .300/.366/.474 with a .367 wOBA against him compared to .278/.329/.462 and a .343 wOBA for right-handed batters. Though in 2014 he was better against left-handed batters, holding them to .257/.304/.305 and a .276 wOBA, compared to .268/.354/.394 with a .333 wOBA for righties.

Huff pitched three innings and threw 50 pitches on Thursday for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and during spring training pitched at least that long only twice, topping out at 3⅓ innings. In other words, it is unrealistic to expect Huff to pitch deep into Tuesday night's game.

"I'm just trying to go as long as I can until my body literally quits," Huff said Monday. "I'll try to get as many outs as I can, trying to give the bullpen a little rest."

Which means the Dodgers might need to rely on their offense a little more than usual on Tuesday against Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners. That might be a winning strategy since to date the offense has been relatively productive, scoring 4.57 runs per game.

The Dodgers are hitting .263/.339/.496, first in the National League in home runs (11) and wRC+ (138); tied for first in walks (27) and triples (three); and second in OPS (.835), OPS+ (135), wOBA (.354), slugging percentage (.496) and on-base percentage (.339).

With 31 extra-base hits (17 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs), the Dodgers are tied with the 2010 team for their most extra-base hits through seven games in franchise history, dating back to 1914.

Adrian Gonzalez, hitting .556/.625/1.259, enters Tuesday tied with Miguel Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu for the major league lead with 15 hits. It is the tied for the most hits through seven team games by a Dodger in franchise history, along with Zack Wheat (1923), Johnny Frederick (1930) and Reggie Smith (1980)., per Stats LLC

Gonzalez needs two hits on Tuesday to keep pace for the most Dodgers hits through eight games, matched by Smith, Babe Herman (1929) and Tommy Griffith (1919).

Gonzalez has never faced Iwakuma. The only current Dodger with more than three plate appearances against the Seattle right-hander is Howei Kendrick, who is 9-for-24 (.375) with four doubles against him.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network