The Diamondbacks are in LA to Face the First-Place Dodgers

The Arizona Diamondbacks (25-22) are in Los Angeles this week to face the first-place Dodgers (29-18). The three game series kicks off a six game road trip for the D-backs.

The Diamondbacks took two of three from the Colorado Rockies over the weekend, missing out on a chance to sweep due to a bullpen meltdown on Saturday. The D-backs were not the only team to take advantage of a soft spot in the schedule. The Dodgers were just shockingly swept at home by the last place Angels.

The D-backs are 12-9 on the road and the Dodgers are still 17-7 a home despite the weekend sweep. The two teams split a four game series at Chase Field May 8-11.

Standings

The Dodgers cling to a one game lead in the NL West over the Padres and Giants, and the D-backs are in fourth place, four games back in the division. The D-backs are three games behind the Giants for the third Wild Card spot. The St. Louis Cardinals, who the D-backs face later in the week, are a game ahead of the D-backs as well. The Braves, who started the year 0-7, are now 24-23 and just a game behind Arizona.

Pitching Matchups

Monday, 7:10 p.m. MST

Brandon Pfaadt RHP: 6-3, 3.73 ERA, 4.41 FIP in 50.2 IP

Pfaadt gave up four runs in four innings to the Giants on May 13, taking the loss. Prior to that he threw six scoreless innings against these same Dodgers at Chase Field, continuing a run of success against that team.

Landon Knack RHP: 2-1, 5.89 ERA, 4.34 FIP in 18.1 IP

Knack is among the 13 different pitchers who have started a game for the Dodgers so far this year. In four outings so far this year he's been hit hard twice and pitched well twice. He faced the Diamondbacks twice in 2024, including the fourth of July when he gave up four runs on three homers, including two to Christian Walker.

Tuesday 7:10 p.m. MST

Ryne Nelson RHP: 1-1, 5.13 ERA, 3.70 FIP in 26.1 IP

Nelson has been moved back into the rotation due to the injury to Eduardo Rodriguez. He previously had one start and nine long relief outings in 2025. Nelson threw two scoreless relief innings against the Dodgers earlier this year, and gave up just one run in 10 innings against them in 2024.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto RHP: 5-3, 2.12 ERA, 3.05 FIP in 51 IP

The D-backs got to Yamamoto for five runs in five innings in a victory over LA on May 8. He bounced back to get the win against the A's on May 14 throwing six innings and allowing three runs.

Wednesday 7:10 p.m. MST

Corbin Burnes RHP: 3-1, 2.56 ERA, 4.21 FIP in 45.2 IP

Burnes dominated the Rockies for six shutout innings, striking out 10 last Friday. That came on the heels of seven shutout innings against the Dodgers on May 10. He has not allowed a run since the second inning against the Mets on April 30, and has a 17 inning scoreless streak going.

Dustin May RHP: 1-4, 4.43 ERA, 4.05 FIP in 44.2 IP

May has been hit hard in four of his last five starts. The lone good outing in this stretch was against the Diamondbacks on May 10, when he gave up two runs in 6.2 innings in a tough luck loss. He gave up four runs in five innings to the Angels on Friday, also taking the loss.

Who's Hot, Who's Not

Gabriel Moreno went 5-for-9 with three doubles in the Rockies series, upping his batting average to .265. Ketel Marte went 4-for-12, with his solo homer on Sunday providing the margin in a 1-0 victory. Geraldo Perdomo has continued to fill up the stat sheet going 4-for-9, with three doubles, three RBI, two stolen bases and two walks. He's been hands-down the best shortstop in the NL this year.

Corbin Carroll cooled off a bit over the weekend, going just 3-for-14. He's still batting .279 with a .940 OPS, including 14 homers and a league leading four triples. Jordan Lawlar is still looking for his first base hit of the year. He's gone 0-for-8 with a walk since being called up as he sees a steady diet of breaking pitches.

Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith led the Dodgers offense over the weekend, combining to go 14-for-34 with two homers and five RBI. Andy Pages cooled off, going 2-for-13 and Mookie Betts went 1-for-11.

Bullpens

There can be no argument the Dodgers have the better bullpen than the Diamondbacks, as do almost every team in the league. They have a 3.90 reliever ERA to go with a 3.65 FIP. The Diamondbacks have a 5.34 ERA and 4.50 FIP.

It's interesting to note however that due to the Dodgers' starting pitchers averaging the fewest innings per game started in MLB (4.6), their bullpen has been heavily taxed. Their relievers have thrown 201 innings, the most in MLB by a margin of 16 over the second highest team. No fewer than six relievers already have over 20 innings pitched and are on pace for roughly 75 innings or more.

On top of that, Kirby Yates, who had thrown 18 innings, just went on the injured list with a hamstring injury. None of this is likely to help the D-backs immediately. Closer Tanner Scott has only worked once in the last week, throwing 12 pitches on Saturday. But it's something to watch over the course of the year.

The D-backs bullpen has struggled to keep runs off the board since the onset for health issues for A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez, both of whom are on the injured list. Martinez is nearing a return, but will not be activated for this series. He will head to Triple-A Reno instead for a rehab outing. Puk is on the 60-day IL and not eligible to return before June 18.

Shelby Miller has been closing games for the D-backs. He is 4-for-6 so far in save chances and the last two have been of the white knuckle variety, working out of bases loaded jams both times.

See also the Snakes Territory Podcast with Jesse Friedman and Jack Sommers for more on the recently concluded Rockies series and Dodgers preview: