Dodgers take on Diamondbacks for three games

The Dodgers arrived in Phoenix on Sunday night still buzzing from their weekend sweep against the Rockies. It was one thing to beat their NL West rival in three tight games but to win each one in dramatic fashion had to give the Dodgers even more confidence.

At 54-25, this Dodger team is now tied with the 1974 Dodgers with the best record in Los Angeles Dodger history after 79 games. And they will arrive at Chase Field with a 13-game lead.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks were able to end a six-game losing streak with their own walk-off win on Sunday. Tim Locastro singled home Nick Ahmed to give the Diamondbacks a much needed win.

The Diamondbacks are 38-39 and in third place in the NL West. They begin the series 15 games behind the Dodgers.

This is the Dodgers second series this month at Arizona, they will play a two-game series next week at Dodger Stadium before the All-Star break.

Game one: Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 2.85 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (8-3, 2.91 ERA)

Monday, June 24 — 6:40 p.m. PDT

As teammates, there was no greater one-two punch in baseball than Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. From 2013 - 2015, the duo had a total of 147 quality starts. Kershaw was 49-12 in 78 quality starts and Greinke was 44-7 in 69 quality starts.

Overall, Kershaw made 93 starts in those three seasons, the Dodgers were 62-31 in those games, Greinke made 92 starts in those seasons and the Dodgers were 64-28 in those games.

Kershaw had 23.1 bWAR during those three season with two Cy Young Awards and an MVP. Greinke accumulated 17.7 bWAR and he finished second in 2015 in the Cy Young Award race.

They have only faced each other once as members of the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, respectively. That game was on April 14, 2017 and the Dodgers won 7-1.

Game two: Julío Urias (3-2, 2.84 ERA) or Ross Stripling (3-2, 3.08 ERA) vs. Robbie Ray (5-4, 3.87 ERA)

Tuesday, June 25 — 6:40 p.m. PDT

Here’s where the series enters the unknown. The Dodgers will probably pitch both Julío Urias and Ross Stripling on Tuesday. Part of that is due to the innings restriction the Dodgers have placed on Urías and the other part is probably to hope both Urías and Stripling might be able to help against the Rockies over the weekend.

Stripling began this season in the starting rotation. He made six starts and in the first four of those six starts, he pitched five or more innings. Since then, Stripling has made 14 relief appearances, most of those were one inning outings though he did pitch two innings in his last appearance on June 20th.

Urías also started the season in the rotation and he made four starts and in three of the four, he pitched five or more innings. Then he made 12 relief appearances and eight of those, he pitched two or more innings. Urías made his first start since April on June 20th and he pitched three scoreless innings against the Giants.

Robbie Ray has made 17 starts against the Dodgers and he is 7-4 with a 2.89 ERA. He has made two starts against the Dodgers in 2019.

The first start was the second game of the season at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers would end up losing in extra-innings to the Diamondbacks. Ray pitched five innings and gave up three runs.

Ray’s second start was on June 3rd and in this game Ray pitched seven innings and gave up three runs. But that two runs too many as Walker Buehler pitched eight innings and struck out 11 for the win.

Game three: Tony Gonsolin (MLB debut) vs. Taylor Clarke (1-3, 6.48 ERA)

Wednesday, June 26 — 12:40 p.m. PDT

The Dodgers announced on Monday that right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin would make his major league debut on Wednesday and start against the Diamondbacks.

Gonsolin had pitched in four spring training games for the Dodgers, compiling nine scoreless innings of work. He gave up six hits and two walks. Gonsolin also had six strikeouts.

After being placed on the injured list in mid-April, Gonsolin returned action on May 26h. He has made six starts since then, his last start on June 20th was his longest of the season. He went five innings and gave up two runs and five hits. Gonsolin also struck out nine.

Taylor Clarke has made seven starts in his eight appearances as a rookie this season. He started against the Dodgers earlier this month at Arizona. He pitched five innings and gave up three runs (two earned) in a game the Dodgers would eventually win by a 9-0 score.

Clarke’s last start on June 21st against the Giants did not go well, he pitched three innings and gave up six runs.