Dodgers 6 - 1 Diamondbacks
Final
  for this game

Dodgers aim to extend great start in meeting with D-Backs

May 21, 2012 - 3:11 PM (Sports Network) - Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly isn't getting too excited yet with his club owning the best record in baseball after 41 games.

Already without Matt Kemp, Juan Uribe, Jerry Hairston, Jr. and others, the Dodgers' .683 winning percentage is tops in the major leagues. Mattingly is aware there are plenty of games left to play.

"We're still pretty early, even though it's not like it's the first two weeks or nothing," Mattingly told the club's website. "There's still lots of baseball to be played. There's still 120 games or something. That's a lot of ball."

The banged-up Dodgers have won four in a row and look to keep the streak going tonight in the opener of a three-game road series against the NL West-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. The Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals with Sunday's 6-5 win at Chavez Ravine, as rookie outfielder Scott Van Slyke clubbed his first career home run, a pinch-hit three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh.

"Not only hitting the home run but having it mean something and helping the team win was a little more exciting than the actual home run," said Van Slyke.

Andre Ethier and James Loney added an RBI apiece for NL West-leading Los Angeles, which won for the ninth time in 11 tries. LA starter Chad Billingsley allowed five runs -- three earned -- in a six-inning start and Javy Guerra tossed a scoreless seventh to pick up the win. Kenley Jansen then posted his fifth save of the season in the ninth.

Chris Capuano hopes to get back into the win column when he takes the ball this evening for Los Angeles. Capuano suffered his first loss of the season in Wednesday's 4-2 setback at San Diego, as he gave up four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He entered the game 5-0 with a 2.06 ERA.

Capuano, a right-hander, is 1-1 in four road starts this season and just 1-4 with a 4.14 ERA in seven career games (6 starts) against Arizona.

Arizona is back in the desert after going 4-3 on a recent road trip and will open a six-game homestand tonight against the rival Dodgers and Brewers.

The Diamondbacks took two of three games against the Kansas City Royals over the weekend and recorded a 2-0 win Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Pitching was key in the finale of a three-game series, as Wade Miley improved to 5-1 with seven shutout innings and both David Hernandez and J.J. Putz threw a scoreless inning of relief to preserve the shutout. Putz posted his ninth save.

"I felt good today. I had to battle a little bit," Miley said. "I had some guys on base and worked through it. I feel good every time out. I feel like I want to give our team a chance to win."

Justin Upton and John McDonald were each credited with an RBI for Arizona, which sits 9 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the division.

Rookie starter Patrick Corbin has the honor of facing the Dodgers in tonight's series opener and has alternated wins and losses in each of his four appearances this season. Corbin lost last Wednesday in a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Colorado, as he was reached for a season-high six runs and nine hits over six innings. He is 2-2 and saw his ERA go from 4.50 to 5.73.

Corbin won his only home start of the year in a 5-1 victory versus San Francisco on May 11, and has never faced the Dodgers in his career.

Arizona and Los Angeles split two meetings last week in L.A.






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