The Los Angeles Dodgers are still reeling from the boneheaded charging of the mound by San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin that resulted in the broken collarbone to Zack Greinke and now the team will throw Hyun-Jin Ryu for his third start against Ian Kennedy and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
The NL West division matchup puts two of the best hottest teams in the league against each other and the Diamondbacks are looking to keep their winning streak going against the Dodgers at home, as they are looking for a seventh straight win. The Dodgers will need to rely on primary ace Clayton Kershaw, who had been stellar over his first two starts before giving up two runs against Arizona in a 3-0 loss.
The Diamondbacks are 7-3 this season and the Dodgers are 6-4 and will be looking for a strong start from Ryu, who is 1-1 with a sub-3.00 ERA after having two solid starts to begin the season. The Dodgers won the game over the Padres that knocked Greinke out and Quentin was suspended for eight games, although he will appeal the decision.
The Dodgers are ranked 28th in runs scored this season with 27, while they are 18th in batting average with a .255 clip. The team is eighth in on base percentage with .339, while the team is ranked 22nd in slugging percentage. LA is third in the NL West behind the Giants and Diamondbacks, while Arizona is ahead with a 7-3 record.
The Diamondbacks have been one of the most surprising teams in the league after trading away Justin Upton in the offseason and they are ranked third in runs, scoring over twice as many as the Dodgers have through 10 games. The team is ranked fifth in batting average and eighth in slugging with .427 percent. The team is also ranked fifth in on base percentage.
