Dodgers DBacks Game 2 Preview

After a laughable performance on Friday night, the Dodgers look to get back in the win column in Arizona.

Alex Wood was just not good last night. He faced 15 batters and got five outs. In the first inning, Wood allowed three singles, a walk, a triple and a homer. In the second, Wood allowed two singles, a homer and got bitten by an error before being pulled for Pedro Baez, who came in and allowed a double and a homer.

The optimist in me wants to say that if you ignore the first two innings, the Dodgers won the game 4-2. They were down 12-0 with two outs in the ninth and a runner on, and then got a single and an error that led to a Justin Ruggiano grand slam. If Yoenis Cespedes is getting MVP talks, I demand Ruggiano also get some.

Aug 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (12) throws during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

All in all it was a dumb, painful loss (made worse by a SF win), but it still only counts as one loss and these types of games will happen over the course of a 162-game season. As long as there’s no hangover effect tonight, last night’s loss matters exactly as much as their other 60 this season.

Moving forward to tonight’s battle of old friends, Mike Bolsinger gets his second start since the trade deadline. He was “better than Latos” which should definitely be a new sabermetric, as he allowed three runs in five innings in San Diego. He’s had two good starts against his former team this year, giving up two runs in 11 innings. Ender Inciarte and and Welington Castillo are the only DBacks with more than one hit off Bolsinger in the past, and Paul Goldschmidt is miraculously 0-4 with two strikeouts against Bolsinger.

On the other side, former Dodger Rubby De La Rosa gets his 29th start of the season tonight. He’s pretty good proof that wins are a dumb stat, as he’s 12-7 with a 4.49 ERA (4.69 FIP). Arizona averages 5.27 runs per game when Rubby starts, so this could be a high scoring game.

In three career starts against the Dodgers, De La Rosa owns an impressive 9.19 ERA (highest against any team) and has allowed 16 runs in 15 innings. Justin Turner, Joc Pederson, Andre Ethier, Jimmy Rollins and Yasmani Grandal have each taken Rubby deep.

Rollins is still out of the lineup in favor of Corey Seager. I’m all for Seager getting as much playing time as possible and playing his way onto the playoff roster, but if Rollins is healthy I would also like Turner to get some days off to get out of his slump.

Grandal is back and starting for the first time since last Saturday. He was supposedly hitting bombs in batting practice last night, so hopefully his shoulder issues are all cleaned up. I love A.J. Ellis and Austin Barnes, but a healthy Grandal is a top-5 offensive catcher in baseball and his pitch framing is incredible, especially compared to Ellis’

First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PST and will be shown on Sportsnet LA

Next: Construct The Playoff Rotation- Starting Rotation