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Diamondbacks look to strengthen division lead vs. Dodgers

Sep 21, 2007 - 2:43 PM LA Dodgers (79-74) at Arizona (86-67) 9:40 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks have seen their lead in the National League West Division shrink to the smallest of margins. They could not have picked a better time to play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks look to strengthen their division cushion Friday when they host the Dodgers in a contest between a pair of NL West teams heading in opposite directions.

Arizona leads the red-hot San Diego Padres (85-67) by only one-half game in the division despite having won 10 of its last 14 contests. The Padres, who are riding a seven-game winning streak, also lead the Philadelphia Phillies (83-70) by 2 1/2 games in the wild card race.

In desperate need of a win, the Diamondbacks welcome in a Dodgers team mired in a five-game losing streak.

Livan Hernandez (10-10, 4.86 ERA) will try to improve upon his last start against the Dodgers when he takes the mound for the Diamondbacks on Friday.

Hernandez surrendered five runs and six hits over six innings on Saturday against Los Angeles. The 32-year-old veteran struggled with his control, walking three batters while throwing 60 of 103 pitches for strikes, as Arizona suffered a 6-2 setback.

For the season, Hernandez is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers counter with Esteban Loaiza (1-2, 7.20), who faced the Diamondbacks in his last start on Saturday. The righthander worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed just one hit in the outing, but it happened to be a three-run home run by Luis Gonzalez.

Los Angeles owns a 9-6 record against Arizona this season but has lost four of the last six meetings between the division rivals.