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D'Backs target series win over Dodgers

Jul 17, 2011 - 3:07 PM (Sports Network) - The Arizona Diamondbacks hope to make up some more ground in the National League West when they go for a series win this afternoon versus the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field.

Arizona ended a three-game losing streak with Saturday's 3-2 victory over the Dodgers in the second portion of this three-game set, as starter Ian Kennedy turned in another solid outing for his 10th win of the season. Kennedy had never won 10 games in a season before and limited LA to a pair of runs on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

"It feels great," Kennedy said of his 10th win. "To be just over the halfway point and reach my career high in wins, it's something that, if you would have told me I had nine at the break, I would have said, 'Get out of here.' But it feels really good."

Joe Paterson, Sam Demel and David Hernandez combined for two shutout innings of relief, with Hernandez notching his eighth save. Brandon Allen's three-run homer off of Hiroki Kuroda in the second inning was all the offense Arizona would need to pull within 3 1/2 games of San Francisco for the NL West lead. The Giants lost to San Diego, 11-3, on Saturday.

The Diamondbacks are 1-1 on a 10-game homestand versus the Dodgers, Brewers and Rockies.

Daniel Hudson has recorded three straight no-decisions, but hasn't lost since May 12. He hopes to keep his unbeaten streak intact when he toes the rubber for Arizona Sunday. Since losing his first four starts to the season, Hudson is 9-1 with a 3.22 earned run average in his last 15 starts, with the D'Backs going 12-3 in that span.

Hudson, who is 9-5 with a 3.74 ERA in 19 overall starts in 2011, was last in action during a 7-6 loss at St. Louis on July 9. He managed four strikeouts and three walks. The right-hander is 5-2 in nine starts at Chase Field this season and has never won 10 or more games in a season.

He defeated the Dodgers the only time he faced them in a 5-2 win last Sept. 25, as he held Los Angeles to a pair of runs and two hits in 8 2/3 frames.

Matt Kemp homered in his second straight game for the Dodgers last night and owns 24 long balls on the season. Kemp has driven in five runs in the past two games and has hit 24 of his team's 66 home runs this season for Los Angeles, which saw its season-best five-game winning streak come to an end.

Rafael Furcal was credited with the other RBI in defeat, while Kuroda absorbed the loss for surrendering Allen's blast in six innings of work. He also struck out seven batters and issued no walks.

"He got a good pitch in a good situation," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said of Allen's homer. "It was the difference for us today and welcome. We needed that. We're not swinging the bats very well at all and we were pretty much shut down the rest of the game."

LA will head to San Francisco for three games after this set in the desert.

Dodgers starter Ted Lilly looks to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season when he toes the rubber this afternoon. Lilly was 0-4 with an 8.71 ERA in four starts before earning the win against San Diego on July 10, when he tossed five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts.

Lilly improved to 6-9 in 19 starts and lowered his already-high ERA to 4.79 in the process. The lefty is 2-3 in nine road outings this season and lost to Arizona back on May 15 in a 4-1 setback from Dodger Stadium. Lilly was reached for four runs and five hits in six innings that day, falling to 3-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 career games (8 starts) against the Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers won 13 of 18 versus the Diamondbacks a season ago, but Arizona took two of three in LA in the first meeting between the teams this season. Los Angeles is 10-5 in its last 15 games at Chase Field.