Sydney Cricket Ground - Sydney, Australia
First pitch: Saturday, 4:00 a.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -160, Arizona +150, Total: 6.5

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks head “down under” as they open the 2014 MLB season in historic fashion in front of 45,000 fans at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia.

Los Angeles will look to dominate this season behind the largest payroll in all of baseball after winning the NL West by 11 games last year. They have added to their roster with plenty of new arms for 2014, only improving on a team that is widely considered to have one of the best all-around rosters in the league. The Diamondbacks were busy this offseason trying to make a move on the Dodgers after finishing second in the division last season with an 81-81 record. Their big moves were getting OF Mark Trumbo in a trade with the Angels and also adding a reliever with closing experience in RHP Addison Reed. Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, LHP Clayton Kershaw, will toe the rubber in this game for L.A. and was an easy choice for the award after going 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 232 K’s in 2013. For Arizona, LHP Wade Miley will get the start after projected Opening Day starter, Patrick Corbin, suffered an elbow injury that could take him out for the entire season. Miley was 10-10 last year, while carting a 3.55 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 147 K’s. The season series between these two clubs in 2013 was extremely close as the Diamondbacks held a slight edge, going 10-9 against their rival. However, the year was basically split into two halves for the teams, with the Dodgers winning seven of the final 10 games meetings. Each of these teams has also been tremendous on its respective opening days, with Los Angeles winning its past six season openers and the Diamondbacks riding a seven-game Opening Day winning streak.

There is an easy argument for Clayton Kershaw as the best pitcher in baseball right now as he has led the NL in ERA and WHIP in each of the past three seasons while winning two Cy Young Awards by the age of 25. He has pitched 17 times in his career against the Diamondbacks, going 7-6 with a strong 2.22 ERA and 116 K’s in just 105.1 IP. He could not earn a win against them last season though, going 0-1 with a 2.11 ERA and .221 opponents' BA. No player on Arizona’s roster has had too much experience against the lefty, with no player having more than 26 AB against him. The only D-backs player to have a home run against Kershaw is stud 1B Paul Goldschmidt, but he has gone only 2-for-20 (.100, 9 K’s) in this matchup. Other players on the team have also really struggled, such as OF Mark Trumbo (0-for-7, 3 K’s), 3B Martin Prado (3-for-23, 3 K’s) and C Miguel Montero (5-for-26, 11 K’s). OF Cody Ross is the only player with any real career success against Kershaw, going 8-for-23 (.348 BA) with three doubles. However, Ross remains out indefinitely with a hip injury. The Dodgers' bullpen combined for a 3.49 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 2013 while converting 46-of-65 save opportunities (71%) and has added RHP Chris Perez to improve upon their late inning relief appearances. Closer Kenley Jansen (1.88 ERA, 0.86 WHIP in 2013) converted 28-of-32 save chances (88%) last season and will look to be one of the top relievers in the game once again this year.

Wade Miley was not expected to get the Opening Day start, but the 27-year old now has two full seasons under his belt and is ready to help lead this team. As a groundball pitcher, Miley does not get a lot of strikeouts as evidenced by his career 6.5 K/9 rate, and will depend quite heavily on the ability of his defense behind him to make plays throughout the season. The left-hander has actually had quite a bit of success against the Dodgers over his eight career games (7 starts) against them, compiling a 3-1 record, 3.59 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. His last start against them was not his usual, though, as he allowed 10 flyballs compared to just six groundballs, eventually pitching five innings (3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K) and earning a no-decision. Miley will be happy to see that OF Matt Kemp will miss this game with an ankle injury as he has gone 5-for-12 against him with 2 HR and 3 RBI over his career. He will still need to face SS Hanley Ramirez, though, who has had quite a good career (5-for-11, 1 HR, 3 RBI) in this matchup. Another big bat on the Dodgers, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, has gone only 2-for-9 against Miley, with each of his hits going for doubles. Gonzalez has been slowed by back problems, but should play in Saturday's opener. The Diamondbacks’ relievers pitched to a 35-22 record (.614) last season with a 3.52 ERA and 1.27 WHIP while converting just 38-of-67 save opportunities (57%.) The addition of RHP Addison Reed (3.79 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in 2013) from the White Sox could really help though, as the 25-year-old right-hander had 40 saves in 48 opportunities (83%) for Chicago last season.