Dodgers Diamondbacks Game One Preview

The Dodgers are kicking off a three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Both pitchers on the mound tonight are facing their former clubs. Mike Bolsinger was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 15th round of the 2010 draft and Zack Greinke signed with the team this past off season. Bolsinger is coming into tonight’s start with a record of 1-3 and an ERA of 5.75. He has gone 20.1 innings in his four starts this season. In those innings, Bolsinger has struck out 19 batters while walking seven. He also has given up 13 earned runs. There is no doubt about it that Bolsinger has struggled since joining the big league club this season. Six of those earned runs came off of his last start when he faced the Rockies on June 6.

The Diamondbacks are sending Greinke to the mound. Greinke got off to a rough start, but seems to have settled down. He has an ERA of 2.57 in his last eight starts with 49 strikeouts and only ten walks through a stretch of 56 innings pitched. On the season, Greinke has a record of 8-3 and an ERA of 3.84. Greinke has won his last five consecutive starts, but the Diamondbacks are a team that have greatly struggled at home. They are just 12-23 at Chase Field this season and currently sit in fourth place in the NL West. While Greinke seems to have found his rhythm again, the team still has a poor home record.

The Dodgers coming into tonight have a record of 16-17 on the road. Overall, this should be a good three game series with Bolsinger on the mound tonight, Kenta Maeda tomorrow and Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday to wrap it all up. The Dodgers are now five games behind the Giants so it is important that they begin to win key games and games against teams who are currently struggling, like the Diamondbacks.

To some Dodger fans, Petco Park is known as Dodger Stadium South. If that is the case, Chase Field comes in a close second. With a Diamondbacks team that has yet to figure out how to win at home, there is likely to be just as much blue in the crowd this series as there is red.

Dave Robert’s and the Dodgers lineup was just announced. Chase Utley is in the lead off spot as he has been most of the year. The most exciting thing is that Scott Van Slyke is getting a start in left for the first time in what feels like forever. Other than that it is another typical lineup from Roberts.

In some other Dodger news, they officially released Carl Crawford this morning who was DFA’d a little over a week ago. Andre Ethier has made the trip back to his hometown of Phoenix and is working out at Camelback Ranch. It was announced that he will be at Chase Field the next three days, but no baseball activity yet according to David Vassegh.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM and will be shown on Sports Net LA.