MLB Game Preview - Arizona at LA Dodgers

Fri Aug 9, 2019 10:10 PM EDT

The Arizona Diamondbacks are on a roll heading into their three-game series at the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday night.

Maintaining their momentum at Dodger Stadium won't be easy.

The Diamondbacks have won four of their past five games to pull within 1 1/2 games of the second wild-card spot in the National League.

They'll take on a Los Angeles team that has won five straight and eight of nine following a 2-1 win against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals (-1.5) on Wednesday afternoon. The Dodgers were down to their final strike when Russell Martin grounded a two-run single up the middle for their 10th walk-off win this season.

"It just seems like every day there's somebody different that you're pouring Gatorade on," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after the latest win. "It speaks to our ballclub, a testament to their desire and will to play 27 outs."

"There's always an excitement to play within your division," said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. "Our team enjoys playing against the L.A. Dodgers. I think we're ready to go."

Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray (10-7, 4.03 ERA) is set to make his fourth start against the Dodgers this season. He's 0-2 in those games with a 4.42 ERA. Overall, he's 7-5 with a 2.97 ERA in 18 career starts against Los Angeles.

He last went up against Los Angeles on June 25 and gave up three runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings of the 3-2 loss.

On June 3, he matched up against Walker Buehler -- the scheduled starter for the Dodgers on Friday night -- and allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. Buehler gave up one run and two hits in eight innings of the 3-1 win.

Ray also faced the Dodgers in his first start of the season and gave up three runs and three hits in five innings of a 5-4 win in 13 innings, the only victory by Arizona in its past nine games at Dodger Stadium, dating to last season.

Ray went 4-1 in July with a 3.26 ERA and won his only start in August so far, throwing five innings against the visiting Washington Nationals (-1.5) on Saturday and allowing four runs and six hits in the 18-7 win.

He is considered the staff ace after the Diamondbacks traded Zack Greinke to the Houston Astros for four prospects on July 31.

"I know that there's been a lot of change, but I think the team now feels it's us," Lovullo said. "This is the group. We're moving forward each and every day and we're marching on."

Buehler (10-2, 3.22) will be making his fourth start against Arizona this season. He's 1-0 in the first three games with a 4.50 ERA.

In his most recent outing, he threw the second complete game of his career and struck out 15 in a 4-1 win against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night. He has struck out at least 10 batters four times since striking out 11 in his matchup against Ray.

--Field Level Media