Dodgers Go For More Desert Dominance Behind Kershaw

Dodgers Lineup @ Arizona-5-17-14

Gordon 2B

Puig RF

Hanley SS

Gonzalez 1B

Kemp CF

Crawford LF

Uribe 3B

Ellis C

Kershaw P

Clayton Kershaw-2-0 vs. Chase Anderson-1-0

Beating up on the Snakes sure is fun. It’s like a vacation from the regular schedule. And hey here’s some more wins for you! After the Dodger’s relaxing and pleasant 7-0 shutout win over Arizona on Friday night, I’m ready to do it all over again. I mean I know it’s the Dbacks, and they suck this year, but that doesn’t make this any less fun. The Dodgers picked up a Game on the Giants last night, thanks to the Fish beating them 7-5 in Miami. So the Dodgers are now 23-20, and four games back of San Francisco in the NL West race.

yes beating the Snakes makes us smile too Clayton-H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers will look to win the series tonight behind their ace Clayton Kershaw. Poor Snakes. They already had to deal with Zack Greinke on Friday night. Greinke just tossed eight shutout innings, picking up his National League leading seventh win. If we haven’t been talking about Greinke as a legitimate Cy Young winner this season, we really should be. The guy has been phenomenal. A 7-1 record, 2.03 ERA. He even had two hits last night.

And then there is the reigning Cy Young winner, Clayton Kershaw. The ace lefty had a no-decision in his last start against the Giants at Dodger Stadium. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits through seven, and whiffed nine. The Dodgers ended up losing that game in extra innings. Kershaw has missed time this year with his teres major muscle strain, but has still been excellent as usual.

Kershaw is 2-0 this season, with a 1.74 ERA. Kershaw has whiffed 25 and walked just one. That’s an incredible pitching line. 25 whiffs, and one walk. Geez. He’s allowed just four earned runs in 21 innings. His hits allowed are up a bit, 9.1 per nine, (last year he had allowed 6.3 per nine), but I am sure that will even out.

Kershaw already has beaten the Snakes once this season. That was on Opening day in Sydney, Australia. Kershaw has always dominated the Snakes. The lefty is 8-6 with a 2.17 ERA against the Snakes. In those 18 starts he has whiffed 123 And walked 38 in 112 innings. Although at Chase Field he has proven to be a little more human. He is 3-5 with a 3.00 ERA in eight starts at Arizona.

The Snakes are batting just .197 (35 for 178) against Kershaw. With Paul Goldschmidt with the only home run against him. Although the Dodgers have kept Goldy very quiet this season. Check out the rest of the Snake’s numbers against Kershaw.

Arizona will counter with rookie right hander Chase Anderson. The 26-year old Wichita Falls native was drafted by the Dbacks in the ninth round of the 2009 draft. This will be Anderson’s second major league start. His MLB debut came against the White Sox back on May 11. He pitched well and got the win. In that game he tossed 5.1 innings of one-run ball. He allowed just two hits and struck out six. I don’t know much about this youngster, but according to the scouting reports, he has a plus changeup, and a breaking ball. His fastball isn’t great, but he mixes speeds and pitches well.

Chase Anderson-Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

I still don’t know how the Dbacks can be so bad at home. Arizona is now 4-18 at Chase Field this season. However they are 12-10 on the road. The Dodgers can relate as they play better on the road (14-7) than they do at home (9-13).

I remember back in 1988 when the Mets beat the Dodgers 11 out of 12 times during the regular season. So  it doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme, but being 8-1 against Arizona is pretty fun. If we could just beat the Damn Giants like we do the Snakes, then life would be pretty good.

Anyways, remember Yasiel Puig has a 15 game hitting streak. He also set the Dodger record for having an RBI and a hit in seven consecutive games. The guy is maturing and developing into a super star before our very eyes. It’s pretty awesome. It’s a lot of fun watching this talented young man blossom into a terrific player. As Stacie said before, if you can’t enjoy watching Puig play Baseball, then you are probably dead inside. Or you don’t find joy in life.

Oh and the Dodgers are healthy! Uribe is back! A.J. is back! Now it’s time to make a run at those Giants. The time is now.

Can the Dodgers continue their desert dominance over the Snakes? Check in with us later to find out. We’ll have all the particulars for you after the game

Game Time – 5:10 PM

Go Blue!