Diamondbacks-Dodgers Preview - MLB

Arizona (57-49) at Los Angeles (48-57)

Arizona’s Justin Upton(notes) has been one of the NL’s hottest sluggers the past two weeks, but even he can’t keep pace with Los Angeles’ Matt Kemp(notes).

Kemp and the Dodgers will try to hand the Arizona Diamondbacks their third straight loss Saturday night.
Upton homered for the sixth time in eight games Friday, but it wasn’t enough as Kemp had five RBIs in Los Angeles’ 9-5 victory.
Kemp had a three-run homer in the third and a two-run single in the fourth to help the Dodgers (48-57) win for the fifth time in six games.
“If I drive in runs, we win. I just want to do good for the team and try to make things happen around here,” he said.
Kemp, who has an NL-best 80 RBIs, is 6 for 17 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in his last four games against Arizona.
Despite his success, the Diamondbacks (57-49) still lead the season series 4-3. They had three homers among their six hits Friday, but dropped to 33-6 when scoring at least five runs.
“We gave up nine runs and six of them were earned,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “Three times we scored, they came right back in those innings. So we had a hard time shutting them down, for sure.”
Arizona has lost its last two following a four-game winning streak and remains four games behind NL West-leading San Francisco.
Upton will try to help his team bounce back Saturday. Of his last 17 hits, 13 have been for extra bases, although he is just 2 for 27 against the Dodgers this year after going 1 for 5 Friday.
The right fielder is 5 for 30 with a home run against Chad Billingsley(notes) (9-8, 3.92 ERA), who was a hard-luck loser against the Diamondbacks on May 1 after giving up an unearned run and one hit - Stephen Drew’s(notes) second-inning double - over eight innings of a 1-0 loss.
Billingsley improved to 5-3 with a 2.31 ERA at home after allowing one run and two hits with 10 strikeouts in seven innings of a 3-1 victory over Washington on Sunday.
He’s has won his last three starts at home while posting a 0.89 ERA.
The right-hander has been just as stingy lately against the Diamondbacks, going 1-1 with a 1.27 ERA in his last four starts while holding them to a .162 batting average.
Arizona will counter with Micah Owings(notes) (4-0, 2.36), who will make a second straight start after pitching effectively against Colorado on Sunday.
The Diamondbacks are seeking a fifth starter and Owings earned another chance after giving up two hits in five innings of a 7-0 win over the Rockies.
The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in three starts this year.
Owings pitched one scoreless inning of relief against the Dodgers on July 15, but he hasn’t started against them since 2009 with Cincinnati. He surrendered seven runs and nine hits in five innings of a 7-5 loss.
Kemp is 2 for 9 versus Owings while Casey Blake(notes), who is expected to come off the disabled list (sprained neck) Saturday, is 3 for 4 against him.