Diamondbacks 1 - 2 Dodgers
Final
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Dodgers seek to pad division lead vs. Diamondbacks

Sep 5, 2014 - 3:11 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers are beginning to feel hot around the collar atop the National League West standings and will try to further distance themselves Friday in the opener of a three-game series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers have lost four of their last six games and have just a two-game lead on the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. They lost two of three meetings with the Washington Nationals to begin a nine-game homestand and dropped Wednesday's rubber match, 8-5, in 14 innings.

Andre Ethier scored on a fielding error in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings and Carl Crawford belted a two-run homer in the home half of the 12th for a 5-5 score. However, the Nationals put up three runs in the top of the 14th and the Dodgers couldn't muster any rally in the bottom half.

"We had a few chances, but it didn't work out for us," said Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly.

Justin Turner had three hits, including a home run, and Crawford ended 3-for-7 with two runs scored for Los Angeles. Kevin Correia was dealt the loss and Carlos Frias made his first start, tossing six scoreless innings of three-hit ball.

Dan Haren, who is 11-10 with a 4.27 earned run average, gets the call for the Dodgers Friday and he is 3-1 in the past 4 decisions. Haren, a former Diamondback, has a 5-4 mark in 12 starts at Dodger Stadium this season and is 5-2 with a 3.70 ERA in seven career games (6 starts) against Arizona.

The D-backs split a four-game series at San Diego to start a 10-game trek and won the last two portions of the set at Petco Park. In Thursday's 5-1 triumph, Randall Delgado tossed five scoreless innings in his first start since April for the win and A.J. Pollock finished with three hits.

Ender Inciarte and Aaron Hill both had two hits and an RBI for Arizona.

"Randall did a great job for us," said Hill. "For us to get a few runs and for the bullpen to shut the door, it was perfect."

Arizona will also visit San Francisco on this journey and hands the ball to Vidal Nuno tonight at Dodger Stadium. Nuno is still searching for his first win in an Arizona uniform since coming over in a trade with the New York Yankees and is 0-4 with a 3.23 ERA in 10 starts with the D-backs. Nuno was the hard-luck loser in Saturday's 2-0 loss to Colorado and gave up just a run in eight innings.

Nuno, a left-hander, will face the Dodgers for the first time.

The Diamondbacks lost two games at home to Los Angeles last week and is 4-12 in the season series.






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