Arizona @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 8, 2015 ) Arizona 3, LA Dodgers 9

Dodger Stadium has become a house of horrors for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have dropped seven straight and 11 of their last 12 matchups at the venerable ballpark. The Diamondbacks look to end the slide Tuesday as they continue their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who moved one game ahead of San Francisco in the NL West with Monday’s 9-3 series-opening victory.

Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick returned to the starting lineup for the first time in five games Monday and tallied three hits, but third baseman Justin Turner fouled a ball off his left knee in the third inning and is listed as day-to-day. Rookie center fielder Joc Pederson failed to reach base safely Monday for the first time in 21 games and is 2-for-18 since homering in a franchise-record five straight games. Pederson is in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year honors along with Arizona’s Yasmany Tomas, who has entered the race with a .331 average and 21 RBI in 145 at-bats. Tomas has moved to right field with the return of third baseman Jake Lamb, who missed nearly six weeks due to a foot injury.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Robbie Ray (1-0, 0.82 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Carlos Frias (4-3, 4.25)

Ray started in place of Archie Bradley (right shoulder tendinitis) on Thursday and made a strong impression by holding the Mets to six hits in five scoreless innings. The 23-year-old will look to be more efficient in his third major-league start Tuesday after needing 110 pitches to get through five frames against the Mets. “For the most part, my stuff was good,” Ray told reporters. “I just have to work on putting batters away.”

Frias tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings against Arizona on May 1, but he’s 2-3 with a 5.19 ERA in his last six starts. The 25-year-old needs a bounce-back effort following a rough outing Thursday, when he allowed 10 hits and five runs (three earned) on a season-high 107 pitches over 6 2/3 innings in a 7-1 loss to St. Louis. “He’s got really good stuff, I feel like,” Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward told reporters. “We just took what he gave us, didn’t try to do too much.”

WALK-OFFS

1. Arizona CF A.J. Pollock is batting .361 with two home runs in his last 16 games against the Dodgers.

2. Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez has hit safely in his last 16 games against the Diamondbacks.

3. Arizona selected SS Dansby Swanson of Vanderbilt with the No. 1 overall pick in Monday’s MLB draft.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4