Kershaw Tries To Charm The Snakes For 16th Win

Beating up on the Snakes never gets old. The Dodgers did it again last night to win their eleventh out of fifteen against Arizona this year. The boys in blue used a six-run fourth inning, and two replay challenge reviews to down the Dbacks in their 9-5 win in game one. Tonight they’ll look to close out the final game of the two game series with another win. They have just the right man on the mound for that, Clayton Kershaw.

This is the final game the Dodgers will play at Chase Field this season as they close out the Arizona portion of their schedule. The Dodgers have won five out of seven at Chase Field, and the boys in blue hit very well there

Dodgers Lineup @ Arizona

Gordon 2B

Puig CF

Kemp RF

Hanley SS

Van Slyke LF

Turner 1B

Ellis C

Rojas 3B

Kershaw P

Clayton Kershaw-15-3 vs. Wade Miley-7-9

Last night the Dodgers used a 14-hit offensive with 13 singles, several walks, a sacrifice fly, and a two-run home run from Matt Kemp to charm the Snakes. Remember those stats I showed you from Tuesday night? Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez, and Hanley Ramirez are all raking it at Chase Field.

Here’s the issue, Kershaw hasn’t pitched well at Chase Field this season. If you remember he had that blowout game back on May 17, where he allowed seven earned runs on six hits in just an inning and a third. That was one of the shortest outings of his career. Very un-Kershaw like.

Did I actually lose here this year?-Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw is 9-7 with a 2.61 ERA in 20 starts against Arizona. He has 133 whiffs and 41 walks in 120 innings versus Arizona. However at Chase Field he has been mortal, posting a 3-6 record with a 4.10 ERA in nine starts. Although 65 whiffs against 21 walks is still very good. Kershaw is 1-1 against Arizona this season. The southpaw has not won a decision at Chase Field since 2011.

Overall Kershaw continues his quest for another Cy Young award. Overall Kershaw is 15-3 with an MLB best 1.82 ERA in 21 starts. He’s whiffed 184 and given up just 21 walks in 153.1 innings pitched. He is nothing short of incredible.

Despite Kershaw’s issues at Chase Field, he still has held the Snakes to a paltry .165 (17 for 103) average against with no home runs, and an OPS of .451. The only guy to watch for is Aaron Hill. The second baseman is hitting .313 (5 for 16) against Kershaw. Miguel Montero also has three doubles.

The Snakes will counter with left hander Wade Miley. The 27-year old Cajun is 7-9 this year with a 4.29 ERA in 27 starts. He’s whiffed 157 while issuing 58 walks in 170 innings pitched. Miley has had problems pitching at Chase Field as well. He’s much better on the road than at home this year. At home he has a 2-6 record with a 6.20 ERA. But on the road he’s 5-3 with a 2.65 ERA.

Miley has faced the Dodgers four times this year already. Miley is 0-3 against the Dodgers with a no-decision. The Dodgers beat him in Sydney Australia on opening night with a 3-1 victory. Miley threw five innings in that game, and allowed three earned runs on three hits with eight whiffs, but took the loss. Guess who he lost to in that game? Yup, that’s right Clayton Kershaw. Then Miley faced the Dodgers and lost on April 12. There was a no-decision on April 18, in which he allowed just one earned run through six frames. Finally he lost to the Dodgers again for the third time on May 16.

He’s coming off of 6.2 shutout innings against Washington on August 21. Overall Miley is 3-4 with a 4.13 ERA in 12 games versus the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are batting .276 (47 for 170) with nine home runs, 21 runs batted in, and an OPS of .853 against Miley. Scott Van Slyke has destroyed Miley to a tune of .438 (7 for 16) with four home runs and three doubles. Kemp has hit two home runs off of Miley, and Hanley, Puig and Gonzalez each have hit one.

The Snakes are clearly a different club without Paul Goldschmidt. But remember they are also without A.J. Pollock, Chris Owings, Cody Ross, and Gerardo Parra was traded to Milwaukee. The Dodgers remain five games ahead of the Giants in the NL West. The Giants will once again be at home to host Colorado.

Will the Dodgers get out of the desert with a sweep? Or will Kershaw get snake bitten again? Tune in tonight to find out. The Dodgers head to San Diego next for a weekend series after a second off-day on Thursday.

Game Time – 6:40 PM

Go Blue!