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Apr 13, 2016 - 1:09 AM Rubby De La Rosa felt dejected after a disastrous season debut when Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez called with an observation - he needed to be more aggressive.

The right-hander used that pointer in a perfect relief outing and plans to heed the advice of his longtime friend again when he faces the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine.

The two have been close since their time in the Dominican Republic after De La Rosa's grandmother was Martinez's nanny growing up. They were also in the Boston organization together when Martinez was a special adviser and the Dodgers traded De La Rosa to the Red Sox as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Adrian Gonzalez to Los Angeles.

After De La Rosa allowed seven runs and walked three in 3 1-3 innings of Thursday's 14-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Martinez reached out. De La Rosa has a 7.66 ERA while pitching fewer than six innings in each of his last six starts.

"He said, 'Be aggressive to home plate, throw the fastball,'" De La Rosa said. "He said, 'Believe me, they're not going to catch it. It's not easy for people to catch 95 mph, so be aggressive.'"

De La Rosa (0-1, 12.46 ERA) listened and struck out two while leaving the eighth unscathed against the Cubs on Saturday. Manager Chip Hale said the move of using De La Rosa in relief was two-fold - give the bullpen a break and have him work his throwing session in an actual game situation.

"It was a positive experience for him out there," Hale said. "His tempo was better and he just threw his pitches with conviction."

Hale hopes that carries over to his next outing. De La Rosa went 0-3 with an 11.21 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers (4-4) last season and gave up six runs in two-plus innings in the last one Sept. 12.

Howie Kendrick is 10 for 18 with a homer and a double against De La Rosa and went 1 for 4 in his season debut Tuesday, when Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth and added an RBI in the ninth to lift the Diamondbacks (3-5) to a 4-2 win. Los Angeles has dropped four of five.

Goldschmidt has homered in five of his last six at Dodger Stadium, a stretch during which he's batting .462 with eight RBIs.

''It was a nice come-from-behind win, especially against these guys,'' Goldschmidt said. ''Hopefully, we'll be battling them the whole year with the rest of the division."

Goldschmidt is 4 for 9 with two homers and a pair of walks against Alex Wood, who is looking to overcome a rough finish to his first start.

Wood allowed five runs in five-plus innings of Thursday's 12-6 loss to San Francisco after giving up three hits in his first four innings. The three runs he allowed in the fifth snapped the Dodgers' 31-inning scoreless streak to begin the season, one shy of tying St. Louis' record set in 1963.

''We were moving right along,'' Wood said. ''It didn't change my mindset. It's fine and dandy that I'm part of the streak, but we lost. That's all that really matters.''

The left-hander was much better the last time he faced the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs and three hits in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-0 loss Sept. 22.

Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal, who came off the disabled list Tuesday and had an RBI groundout pinch-hitting in the ninth, is expected to start.






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