Dodgers hope for back to Diamondbacks series sweeps

The Dodgers start a three-game set with the Diamondbacks, looking to gain more ground in the division race

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What is the story about?

The Dog Days of August are almost over, and somehow, the Dodgers survived them. The team had slogged their way through July, but August brought a lot of reinforcements in the line of lots of players returning from the injured list.

Through the month, the Dodgers lost the division lead but gained it back again. They currently have a two-game lead on the San Diego Padres. Just as importantly, they are now tied with the Philadelphia Philles for the second-best record in the NL, which would entitle them

to a bye in the first round of playoffs.

The Dodgers on Friday start their last home stand of the month, a three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs didn’t have quite the season they were envisioning, and currently sit at 66-69, 11.5 games out of first in the NL West.

The Diamondbacks will send Zac Gallen to the mound to start the series. Gallen has a record of 9-13 with a 5.13 ERA. Most of his season has not been great, but in August he has turned things around.

So far in August, Gallen has thrown four quality starts. He entered the month with just eight in his previous 22 starts. For most of the season, his ERA has been in the fives, with June being the worst at 6.23. His ERA so far this month is down to 3.10. He has been the proverbial ace of the staff as of late, as this season saw Corbin Burnes out for the season, and Merrill Kelly traded to the Texas Rangers at the deadline.

However, Gallen is 0-5 lifetime at Dodger Stadium, and most of the lineup sees him well. Even Michael Conforto has a .280 average and a homer against him.

The Dodgers will counter with Blake Snell, fresh off of paternity leave and daddy to a brand-new baby girl. Snell looked strong in his last two outings, both against the Padres, allowing only two earned runs over 13 innings of work.

On the flip side, even though the Diamondbacks have had a disappointing season, the team isn’t going to roll over for the Dodgers. Over the last month as a team, the D-backs have the fourth best average against left-handed pitchers. In that same time span, they also have the second-best average against fastballs and third best slugging against lefties.

L.A. and Arizona haven’t faced each other since they did twice in May. The Dodgers hold the series edge with a 4-3 record against. The Dodgers only faced Gallen once in those seven games, tagging him for four runs in 5.2 innings.

But, that Gallen is not the same Gallen as now, and this Diamondbacks team is sure to hype themselves up to take on the division leaders and maybe help play spoilers. The Padres will be in Minneapolis to face the Twins, who have almost the exact inverse record of the Padres. The Dodgers will need to carry their momentum from their last four wins into this series.

Friday game info