LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers and Pirates met six weeks ago in Pittsburgh, with the home team winning all three games. Los Angeles hopes to return the favor this time around, with three weekend games at Dodger Stadium
Both teams have played quite well since their Aug. 7-9 series, with the Dodgers going 22-12 (.647) and the Pirates going 22-15 (.595), the second and fifth-best records, respectively, in the National League during that span.
Zack Greinke gets the call on Friday night, making his 30th start of the season, looking for his 30th straight start of six innings or more. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the only Dodgers have had only two pitchers with a longer streak, with both Andy Messersmith (1975) and Burt Hooton (1978-79) reaching 34 straight.
Greinke leads the majors with 27 quality starts this season (Jake Arrieta is second with 26 and Clayton Kershaw is third with 25, the same order in which they will finish in National League Cy Young Award voting). With one more quality start, Greinke will have the most quality starts by a Dodgers pitcher since Orel Hershiser, who had 28 in 1988.
The last Dodgers with 29 quality starts in a season were Messersmith and Doug Rau, both with 29 in 1975. The last time the Dodgers had a pitcher with 30 quality starts in one year was 1969 with Claude Osteen having 31 and Bill Singer 30 that season.
Jeff Locke starts for the Pirates in the series opener, the third of four straight left-handed starting pitchers faced by the Dodgers. Locke is 1-2 with a 3.50 ERA in four games, including three starts, against the Dodgers in his career, though he hasn't faced them since 2013.
Locke hasn't yet allowed a home run in September, and in his last four starts has a 3.68 ERA with 18 strikeouts and five walks in 22 innings.
The Dodgers lost a four-game series last season to the Pirates at home, but that was just the second series loss to Pittsburgh at Dodger Stadium since 2001. The Dodgers are 36-13 at home against the Pirates since the start of 2001.
Game info
Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA