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The Dodgers road trip moves on to Phoenix, with three games against the Diamondbacks beginning Monday night, with a division title to clinch well within reach.
San Diego is off Monday, so the earliest the Dodgers could possibly clinch the National League West is Tuesday. Los Angeles has a magic number of two to clinch a ninth division title in ten years.
Dodgers/D-backs matchup
| Stat | Dodgers | D-backs |
|---|---|---|
| Stat | Dodgers | D-backs |
| Record | 96-43 (.691) | 65-73 (.692) |
| Split | 47-25 road | 37-34 home |
| Matchup W | 9 | 2 |
| Run diff. | +310 (1st) | -12 (19th) |
| RS/game | 5.44 (1st) | 4.50 (11th) |
| wRC+ | 122 (1st) | 95 (1st) |
| HR | 190 (4th) | 154 (14th) |
| SB | 88 (t-6th) | 81 (t-12th) |
| RA/game | 3.21 (1st) | 4.59 (22nd) |
| ERA | 2.88 (1st) | 4.28 (22nd) |
| ERA+ | 147 (1st) | 98 (20th) |
| FIP | 3.52 (3rd) | 4.20 (23rd) |
| IP/start | 5.43 (9th) | 5.34 (12th) |
| K rate | 24.6% (5th) | 19.9% (23rd) |
| BB rate | 7.1% (3rd) | 8.2% (15th) |
The Dodgers have clinched a division once in Arizona, and it was quite memorable with the bulk of the 2013 team running to celebrate in the pool beyond the right field wall in Chase Field.
They face a Diamondbacks team that has been playing better since just before the All-Star break. Arizona bottomed out at 13 games under .500 on July 16, but since then the D-backs are 27-21 (.563), second-best in the division to the Dodgers. During that time, LA and Arizona are the only two teams in the division to outscore their opponents in total.
The Dodgers are 9-2 against the Diamondbacks this season, including 5-2 in Phoenix. They lost two of three at Chase Field from April 25-27, then the Dodgers swept four games in Arizona from May 26-29. The Dodgers also swept the D-backs in four games at Dodger Stadium from May 16-18.
New in Phoenix is speedy outfielder Corbin Carroll, the club’s top prospect who was called up on August 29. Carroll has three doubles and two home runs in his first 11 major league games, hitting .275/.341/.500 with a 132 wRC+ in the early going.
The Dodgers miss Arizona ace Zac Gallen this time around, since Gallen struck out 11 in six innings in a win at Coors Field on Sunday. Gallen did allow three runs, snapping his scoreless streak at 44⅓ innings, the longest streak in D-backs history. But they very likely will face Gallen when theses two teams meet for five games next week at Dodger Stadium, including a split doubleheader on Tuesday, September 20.
That makes for eight games between the Dodgers and D-backs over the next 11 days.
Dodgers-Diamondbacks pitching matchups
Monday: Tyler Anderson vs. Ryne Nelson
6:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
Tuesday: Clayton Kershaw vs. Merrill Kelly
6:40 p.m., SportsNet LA
Wednesday: TBA vs. Zach Davies
6:40 p.m., SportsNet LA
Dustin May would be on four days rest on Wednesday. If the Dodgers want to insert a spot starter to give the rotation extra rest, the series finale would be the likely day it happens.
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