After outscoring the San Diego Padres a combined 21-2 in the final two games of the regular season at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers now hit the road for a big three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
This series was expected to potentially decide who wins the National League West, but with the Diamondbacks going on a free fall in the month of September, losing 16 of 21 games, they were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday.
The Dodgers still have everything to play for though as they lead the Colorado Rockies by just 1.5 games in the division, and the Diamondbacks would love nothing more than to play spoiler for their biggest division rivals.
Luckily for the Dodgers, they send their ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound in the series opener. In 24 starts this season, Kershaw comes in with an 8-5 record to go along with a 2.45 ERA, 3.21 FIP and 1.02 WHIP while striking out 145 and walking just 28 in 150.1 innings.
Kershaw has had a lot of success against Arizona in his career, going 15-9 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 30 starts against them. He has struggled a bit at Chase Field though, holding a 3.65 ERA and 5-8 record in 14 career starts there.
Opposing Kershaw is southpaw Robbie Ray, who has also fared well against the team he is facing. In 14 starts against the Dodgers, Ray is 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with an impressive 114 strikeouts in 85.2 innings.
The 2018 season has not been Ray’s best though. In 22 starts, he is 6-2 with a 3.92 ERA, 4.25 FIP and 1.32 WHIP while striking out 150 and walking 63 in 114.2 innings.
He has given up three earned runs or less in nine straight starts though, yielding a 2.40 ERA over that span.
Not many Dodgers have had success against Ray in their careers, but among those who have is Kiké Hernandez, Matt Kemp and Chris Taylor.
Hernandez has slashed .286/.375/.714 with three home runs in 28 at-bats against him, while Kemp is 7-for-16 (.438 batting average) with two home runs and Taylor is 7-for-18 (.389 batting average).
Diamondbacks All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is out of the lineup on Monday, but in his place is Christian Walker, who has faced Kershaw twice this season in pinch-hit appearances and took him deep both times.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Chris Taylor
3B: Justin Turner
1B: David Freese
SS: Manny Machado
CF: Kiké Hernandez
RF: Matt Kemp
2B: Brian Dozier
C: Yasmani Grandal
P: Clayton Kershaw
Diamondbacks lineup:
CF: Chris Owings
3B: Eduardo Escobar
2B: Ketel Marte
1B: Christian Walker
SS: Nick Ahmed
CF: A.J. Pollock
LF: Socrates Brito
C: John Ryan Murphy
P: Robbie Ray
