Tonight at 9:40 p.m. ET, a pair of National League West division rivals square off as the Los Angeles Dodgers (86-63) travel to Arizona to battle with the Diamondbacks (75-73) in the first battle of a four-game set at Chase Field. The game can be live streamed here. Dodgers fans can listen to the game on the radio at 570 Fox Sports L.A while D-Backs fans can access all the action by turning their dials to AZ Sports 620.
The Dodgers enter the four-game set in need of just two wins over the Diamondbacks in order to clinch the division while the D-Backs look to keep their hopes at catching Los Angeles alive. Arizona enters the contest 10.5 games behind the Dodgers and eight games back in the wildcard race, and are hoping to gain some ground starting with a win tonight while the Dodgers just need to win two of the four games to clinch the team's first NL West title since 2009.
The Dodgers will send out rookie southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-6, 3.07 ERA in 27 starts) to the mound while right-hander Trevor Cahill (6-10, 4.22 ERA through 22 starts) will toe the rubber for the Diamondbacks.
The injury bug has fallen on the Dodgers throughout the year but the team has still been able to weather the storm and put itself in a position to have a magic number of four standing in its way of playoff baseball. Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig has been banged up and ailing from tightness in his left hip, which limited him to just a pinch-hitting role on Sunday as he grounded into a game-ending fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the team's 4-3 loss at home to San Francisco.
It's unknown if Puig be back in the lineup when the series opens Monday. Carl Crawford also sat out Sunday with tightness in his back.
Puig is hitting .338 with 16 homers, 37 RBIs, 20 doubles and 11 stolen bases through 91 games this season.
Along with Puig, the Dodgers have been without shortstop Hanley Ramirez since Thursday and outfielder Andre Ethier since Friday, but look to get some good news with Matt Kemp, who has been sidelined since July 21 with a sprained left ankle and tight right hamstring, hoping to workout with the team prior to Monday's game.
"I'm pretty confident that these guys are getting healthy and we'll be able to get everybody back in there," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said to MLB.com.
Ryu will hope to lead the injury-riddled Dodgers to victory Monday night despite being shaky in his last four outings. After going 12-3 with a 2.91 ERA in his first 23 starts, Ryu is 1-3 with a 4.01 ERA in his last four and is coming off of an outing where he gave up 10 hits and three runs to the Diamondbacks last Wednesday. Despite his struggles, Ryu isn't worried about losing his role as a starter in the postseason.
"I feel no pressure whatsoever," Ryu told MLB.com. "I'm just trying my best and letting the pieces fall where they may. We're just trying to win as a team."
It'll be a tall task for the Dodges as Cahill is 5-0 lifetime against Los Angeles throughout his career with an ERA of just 2.00 in nine career starts against them. Cahill earned a no-decision in his last outing against the Dodgers last Tuesday.
"I didn't feel great, by any means," Cahill told MLB.com following his last outing.
He'll hope to do better tonight and the Diamondbacks offense will look to make sure Ryu's recent struggles continue. One player for Ryu to watch out for is D-Backs' first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who is first in the National League with 114 RBIs and second in the NL in homers with 32. He's also hitting .301 on the season.
The Dodgers will look to inch their way closer to the postseason with a victory over the Diamondbacks while Arizona will look to spoil Los Angeles' plans and keep their hopes alive with a win at home.
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