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No D-backs line-up available at the time of writing, since we are about to head up the hill from Phoenix foe a couple of days, leaving SnakePit Towers in charge of SnakePit Jr. and the SnakePuppy. I trust all will be well, and we will not come back to find the Towers a smouldering ruin, and Jr. running round with the SnakePuppy's severed head on a stick.... Still, there will be plenty of stuff going on the 'Pit in my absence - judging by an email I might not have been intended to receive, ponies may be involved! - and I look forward to reading about Arizona making up for the first two teams to face him, and soundly beating up Kershaw. Er, in a strictly baseball sense, of course! :)
EDIT: There are lineups now! EDIT 2: There's a new lineup now, Hill sitting out another day with that hand injury.
Diamondbacks
1. A.J Pollock - CF
2. Gerardo Parra - RF
3. Martin Prado - 3B
4. Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
5. Miguel Montero - C
6. Alfredo Marte - LF
7. Josh Wilson - RF
8. Chad Cliff Pennington - SS
9. Patrick Corbin - P
Dodgers
1. Jerry Hairston - LF
2. Mark Ellis - 2B
3. Matt Kemp - CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
5. Juan Uribe - 3B
6. Andre Eithier - RF
7. A.J. Ellis - C
8. Justin Sellers - SS
9. Clayton Kershaw - P
We now return you to the rest of Jim's pre-written preview.
But it won't be easy. Kershaw's line over his last seven starts - the two this year, and the final five from last season:
Kershaw: 51 IP, 27 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 17 BB, 53 K, 0.53 ERA
Seven consecutive starts allowing one or zero runs. Holy hell, that's impressive. In fact, there have been only five longer streaks in the recorded history of baseball. [Though look at Gibson's: 11 games and 11 complete games, with eight shutouts. Holy pitching] However, the odds seem in our favor. 19 pitchers have reached the current seven-game mark, but the vast majority (14) faltered right there. Obviously, it has to end some time, and we already drove a stake through the heart of one streak of dominance, Gallardo's, this season.
Counterpoint. The current D-backs have a line of .173/.257/.235 against Kershaw, with exactly zero home-runs in 111 PAs. Martin Prado: 1-for-15. Paul Goldschmidt: 1-for-11. Jason Kubel: 1-for-8. Hope based on past performance consists largely of Gerardo Parra's 3-for-10. He's also the only Diamondback to have been hit by Kershaw, in September 2011. You might remember that. The Dodgers thought Parra had admired a home-run the previous night, Kershaw "angrily yapping" from the dugout - Kershaw then plunked him the following game, and was immediately ejected. So, much like last night, there is history - and LA may want to hit someone. Just sayin'...
The good news is, Corbin has done even better against the current Dodgers, though the sample-size there is much smaller. They are 5-for-25 with one walk and no extra-base hits, for a .422 OPS. He faced Los Angeles twice last year, allowing two runs over 11.1 innings, and that's the level of performance we probably need from him again tonight, at minimum. I would not be relying on obtaining anything tomorrow, between the hours of 4-6pm at participating restaurants, with the purchase of a large drink. Arizona needs to take advantage of any opportunities, and make them count. Tonight will likely be a test of our small-ball resilience.