Brandon McCarthy, Dodgers go for another home sweep of Rockies

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers try for their first seven-game winning streak in two seasons on Sunday afternoon, going for a sweep of the Rockies at Dodger Stadium for a third straight time that Colorado has visited Los Angeles.

The last time the Dodgers had a winning streak longer than six games was a 10-game streak from Aug. 7-17, 2013, part of the historic 42-8 run that catapulted the team in-season from last place to first place.

The Dodgers on Sunday will also look to improve to 4-0 in the final game of a series, sending Brandon McCarthy to the mound against Eddie Butler.

McCarthy has had a bizarre start to his Dodgers career. On one hand he has been fantastic, with 19 strikeouts and only one walk in 12 innings. But he has also allowed six home runs, including four in his last start. He is 10th in baseball in strikeouts but only seven behind the leader — teammate Clayton Kershaw — and everyone ahead of him has made three starts. McCarthy is second in home runs allowed, one behind Cole Hamels, who has three starts.

McCarthy is third in the majors with a 37.3-percent strikeout rate.

Troy Tulowitzki is 5-for-9 (.556) with a home run against McCarthy, while Nolan Arenado is 2-for-6 (.333) with two home runs.

Justin Turner gets the start at third base in Sunday's series finale, just his second start of the season. His first started didn't last three innings as he was spiked in the left hand on a slide last Saturday in Arizona. Turner is 4-for-5 with a double and a walk against Butler.

Juan Uribe is just getting a day off in a day game after a night game. Asked why Turner is starting over Alex Guerrero, manager Don Mattingly had the simplest answer.

"I like Turner," he said.

Turner is 2-for-10 so far on the season, appearing in eight games. He was tied for last on the team with one start, but also tied for first with four pinch-hit plate appearances.

Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford are sitting on Sunday, still dealing with hamstring soreness and flu-like symptoms, respectively.

"Stan [Conte, team trainer] just said he basically came in a little sore today, which is kind of understandable since he didn't play in four days. He had a lot of action yesterday. We're taking this regular soreness. Hopefully it's nothing serious. This buys us until Tuesday night," Mattingly said. "We don't view this as an injury. Stan thought he would be able to double-switch in if needed."

Crawford received intravenous fluids on Saturday and might get another injection on Sunday. His best case scenario for Sunday seems to be as a pinch hitter, if anything. He won't play the field in the series finale.

"Carl got some fluids tonight. I'm not sure if he's going to get in or not today," Mattingly said. "Hopefully he gets in and get some more fluids, and hopefully he can pinch hit or something."