First pitch: Friday, 10:10 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -160, Arizona +150, Total: 7.5

The Arizona Diamondbacks will travel to Los Angeles on Friday night and attempt to steal a victory away from the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Arizona has had quite the disappointing season and currently sits 19 games behind the Dodgers in the division while coming away with victories in four of its past seven contests. The D-backs took the last two games against San Diego; splitting the series as their pitching dominated by allowing a mere two runs in the wins. On Thursday they earned a 5-1 victory while starter Randall Delgado and four relievers combined to give up just four hits. OF David Peralta (.292 BA) has been making a name for himself and comes into this contest with a seven-game hitting streak in which he is 9-for-28 (.321) with two triples, 2 RBI and four runs. The Dodgers have impressed in 2014 and have a two-game lead over the Giants atop the NL West. They have not been doing very well lately though, as they have lost each of their past two series against San Diego and Washington. They took the Nationals to extras on Wednesday and eventually lost 8-5 in the 14th inning. As the team has struggled, SS Hanley Ramirez (.262 BA) has done worse, going hitless in his past five games (0-for-19). The pitching matchup for Friday's contest will feature LHP Vidal Nuno (2-9, 4.46 ERA) for the Diamondbacks and RHP Dan Haren (11-10, 4.27 ERA) for Los Angeles. Arizona has actually been better on the road (30-38) than at home (29-43) this year and could get lucky against a Los Angeles team that is barely over .500 (35-34) at Chavez Ravine. The matchup between these clubs has been nearly even over the past three seasons with the Dodgers holding the slightest of an edge (27-26), but has dominated in 2014 with a 12-4 record against their division foes. Some trends to watch include that L.A. is 6-21 (.222) with a tired bullpen that has thrown nine-plus innings over the previous two games in the past two seasons while going 40-21 (.656) when coming off a loss on the year. The Diamondbacks have been left without slugging 1B Paul Goldschmidt (hand) for the rest of the season, while the Dodgers have no injuries to their offense.

The Diamondbacks grabbed Vidal Nuno in a trade with the Yankees, and since the move he is 0-4 with a 3.23 ERA (0.93 ERA) while striking out a solid 7.2 batters per nine innings. He certainly has dealt with some luck as batters are hitting a woeful .225 BABIP since joining his new club. Arizona has not taken advantage of his solid performances, as the team is 1-9 in his starts while averaging 2.7 runs per game in his outings. His last time out was possibly his best start of the year, as he lasted eight strong frames, giving up a single run on two hits while striking out seven batters with zero walks against the Rockies. Nuno has never faced the Dodgers in his young career and will likely work around 1B Adrian Gonzalez (.278 BA) who leads the team with 35 doubles, 19 homers and 92 RBI. Meanwhile, C A.J. Ellis (.194 BA) has not found his stroke and has just 10 extra-base hits in 227 at-bats while walking 16.4% of the time. Arizona’s bullpen has gone 21-24 (.467) this season with a serviceable 3.72 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, and has converted 34-of-53 (64%) saves. Addison Reed (3.54 ERA, 31 saves) has a tremendous 5.2 K-to-BB ratio on the year, but has struggled with homers (1.69 HR/9); leading to five blown saves.

Dan Haren has not been the same over the past three seasons, as he has posted ERAs north of 4.30 since 2012. He still maintains some of the best control (1.9 BB/9) in the majors, but has seen his strikeouts dip (6.8 K/9) and has allowed 25 homers in 156 frames (1.44 HR/9) in 2014. He has been doing much better in his past few outings, giving the Dodgers a quality start in four of his past five games while dropping his ERA nearly 50 points. Against the Padres in his most recent outing, Haren lasted six innings and allowed two runs (0 ER) on five hits and one walk while striking out three batters. In his career, Haren is 4-2 with a 3.96 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in games against the Diamondbacks, and has faced them four times in 2014, going 3-1 while walking a single batter and giving up 35 hits in 24.1 frames. SS Chris Owings (9-for-11, 2 doubles) has dominated Haren so far in his young career, while 2B Aaron Hill (10-for-31, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 7 K's) has also done very well in the matchup. On the other hand, C Miguel Montero and OF Mark Trumbo are a combined 4-for-20 (.200) with seven whiffs against him. The Dodgers’ relievers as a group have gone 12-22 (.353) with a 3.69 ERA and 1.33 WHIP while getting the save in 42-of-53 (79%) chances. Closer Kenley Jansen (3.20 ERA, 39 saves) is a strikeout machine (14.4 K/9), but has been unlucky with batters hitting .371 BABIP against him as he has blown five of his save opportunities.