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Slumping Dodgers lean on Greinke against Diamondbacks

Sep 17, 2013 - 2:52 PM (Sports Network) - Zack Greinke will try to keep his unbeaten streak intact when he takes the mound Tuesday for the suddenly slumping Los Angeles Dodgers in the second matchup of a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Greinke is 6-0 with a 1.58 earned run average in his last nine starts and the Dodgers are 8-1 in that time. Greinke, who has pitched at least six innings in 13 straight starts, has posted back-to-back no-decisions and threw six innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 win over San Francisco on Thursday.

The right-hander is 14-3 with a 2.74 ERA in 25 starts and looks to stay hot on the road as evidenced by his 6-2 mark in 12 away assignments. Greinke hasn't pitched well in seven career starts against the Diamondbacks, going 1-3 with a 5.66 ERA, but is 1-0 in two starts this season.

Arizona will counter with Patrick Corbin and the All-Star hurler ended a three-start slide his last time out in a 4-1 win at Los Angeles on Wednesday. He limited the Dodgers to a run over 6 1/3 innings, allowed eight hits and struck out two batters. Corbin walked two batters as well.

Corbin, a left-hander, is only 2-5 in his previous seven decisions and 14-6 with a 2.92 ERA in 29 starts this season. Corbin, who sports an 8-2 mark in 15 home starts, is 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA in six games (5 starts) lifetime against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles opened its final road trip of the season with Monday's 2-1 loss and its magic number to clinch an NL West title remained at four. The Dodgers haven't won the division since 2009 and struggled against Arizona pitching, as D'backs starter Trevor Cahill allowed the one run in 5 1/3 innings and three relievers kept L.A. off the board the rest of the way.

Hyun-Jin Ryu went the distance for the Dodgers, allowing two runs and two hits in eight innings of work. The Dodgers have lost four in a row and nine of their last 12 games.

"I threw 100 pitches but that one pitch was the decision-maker of the game," Ryu said. "It was an error on my part. I believe no matter how good a pitch it was, if it is a home run, it's a mistake."

Yasiel Puig was back in the lineup after a hip issue and was credited with the lone RBI. Slugging outfielder Matt Kemp struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the game and had been sidelined since July 21 with a sprained left ankle and a tight right hamstring.

"It felt good to finally compete," Kemp said on the Dodgers' website. "Felt good to have the adrenaline rush and get the first at-bat out of the way. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted but it is what it is."

Kemp was activated prior to the game and could return to the starting lineup Tuesday if manager Don Mattingly feels his legs are back to full strength.

Meanwhile, D'backs All-Star Paul Goldschmidt set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning and had one of his club's two hits. Goldschmidt has homered in back-to-back games with seven RBI in that span.

Arizona has won three in a row and four of five games and sit eight games off the final wild card berth in the National League.

Arizona leads the season series with Los Angeles by a 9-7 margin. The D'backs ended a five-game slide to the Dodgers with a 4-1 win last week.