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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers go for their fourth sweep in six home series this season, hosting the Marlins at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. They turn to Carlos Frias in the series finale, on a winning streak of his own.
Frias won in relief on April 27, and has won both of his starts since. Given the up-and-down shuttle between Los Angeles and Triple-A Oklahoma City so far this season, that Frias is even making a third straight start is a testament to his success in the early going this season.
We are talking only about 12⅔ major league innings so far, but Frias has a 2.13 ERA with 11 strikeouts and only two walks. In this small sample size, his velocity is up this season, on both his four-seam fastball (97.13 mph, up from 95.29) and his sinker (from 94.38 to 96.81 mph), per Brooks Baseball.
Frias also has a ground ball rate of 62.2 percent that is the 16th-highest among the 325 major league pitchers with at least 10 innings this season. It matches his philosophy, which Frias described last season with Triple-A Albuquerque.
"I'm not a strikeout pitcher, I'm a ground ball pitcher. I know my role," Frias said last July. "You have to get a ground ball. You never see a ground ball hit over the fence."
Hot home start
The Dodgers' 15-2 start at Dodger Stadium is their best home start in the modern era (1901-present). They are 25-4 in their last 29 home games, dating back to 2014.
At 22-10, the Dodgers matched 2004 and 2009 for their best 32-game start in the last 32 years. The last season with a better start was 1983, when the club started 23-9. That division-winning club in 1983 didn't lose for the 10th time until game number 34.
Adrian Gonzalez has hit nine of his 15 doubles and six of his nine home runs at Dodger Stadium this season, hitting .406/.431/.797 at home with 17 runs and 17 RBI in 17 games. Scott Van Slyke is 16-for-33 (.485) with eight extra-base hits and 14 RBI in 39 plate appearances at home.
Howie Kendrick is the only Dodger to start all 17 home games this season, hitting .394/.444/.682 with eight doubles and thee home runs at home. Justin Turner is hitting .333/.375/.767 with four doubles and three home runs at Dodger Stadium this season.
Game info
Time: 4:50 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA