Thinking of home runs as Dodgers open homestand with Brewers

The Dodgers look to stay undefeated in the Will Venable era as they open a four-game series against the Brewers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Thursday is the first of seven games between these two teams in a 15-day span.

Scott Kazmir takes the mound in the series opener on Friday night, facing the Brewers for the first time in his career. They are the 30th MLB team he will have faced in his major league career, and should he earn a victory on Friday night the left-hander would be the 18th pitcher to beat all 30 major league teams.

Kazmir hasn't allowed a home run in his last four starts, with a 2.86 ERA during that span, with 27 strikeouts and seven walks in 22 innings. On the season he leads the staff with 12 home runs allowed, tied for 10th-most in the National League.

The Brewers, who at 69 home runs this season rank 10th in the NL (the Dodgers rank eighth, with 72), have hit just six home runs in their last eight games, and five of those came in one game, on June 11 against the Mets. In six of the last eight games, Milwaukee has been kept in the park, and have lost four of those six games.

Milwaukee is 9-21 in games in which they don't hit a home run, and 21-15 when they do go deep.

Junior Guerra made his major league debut in 2015 at age 30, in his 10th professional season after 193 appearances in the minors, independent and foreign leagues.

At age 31, he has been quite effective for the Brewers, with a 3.31 ERA in eight starts, including five quality starts in his last six outings. He has had success by allowing just five home runs in his 49 innings, though he has allowed three homers in his last two starts.

Four of Guerra's five home runs allowed in 2016 have been solo shots.

The Dodgers have hit home runs in six straight games, including four home runs in Tuesday night's win in Arizona. LA is 25-17 when they hit a home run in 2016, and 10-15 when they don't.

The Dodgers have hit four home runs in three of their last 10 home games.

Game info

7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA