video thumbnail

LAD@PHI: Kuroda tallies seven K's over 5 1/3 frames

The Dodgers return home Monday after a 10-game road trip that could have been better but definitely could have been worse. The Reds will be waiting for them in Chavez Ravine and hoping that starter Bronson Arroyo pitches the way he did the last time he faced Los Angeles.

For the Dodgers, the grind continues. They earned a 10-8 victory Sunday over the Rockies and split the road trip at 5-5. Monday's game, in which they'll start Hiroki Kuroda, will open a 12-game homestand.

Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly, for one, is happy that his team, which sits in fourth place in the National League West, 6 1/2 games out of the top spot, is coming back home.

"I looked at our trip in general and knew it would be a rough trip," Mattingly said. "We knew it had a chance to be a disaster if we didn't play well. ... We have to hang in there until we get on a win streak. We know we've got to get on a roll to get in this thing."

The Reds, meanwhile, might enjoy the fact that Arroyo is leaving the small confines of Cincinnati. In his last outing, a loss to the Cubs, he gave up two homers, which gave him 16 long balls allowed for the season, tying him for the Major League lead with the Astros' Brett Myers.

"Bronson threw the ball well today," Reds manager Dusty Baker said after that start. "He just got bit by the long ball. We just have to figure out how to keep the ball in the ballpark."

Arroyo might be in a good spot to do that in spacious Dodger Stadium and against the team that he defeated June 3 by allowing just one earned run over six innings. Arroyo has a 4-4 record and 3.84 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) against the Dodgers in his career and is 1-3 with a 4.85 ERA in six games (five starts) at Dodger Stadium.

Reds: Seeking return to power
The Reds tallied five doubles against the Giants on Saturday and one more Sunday but have been held homerless in five games, their longest such streak of the season. They have the fourth-most home runs in the NL.

• Joey Votto and Scott Rolen each have home runs off Kuroda.

Dodgers: Kemp raking
Center fielder Matt Kemp has eight home runs and 21 RBIs in the past two weeks. He has 11 extra-base hits and has scored 13 runs during that span.

Kemp has hit two home runs and is batting .353 off Arroyo in his career.

• Five Dodgers have hit home runs off Arroyo.

Worth noting
• Reds closer Francisco Cordero's next save will be the 303rd of his career, tying him with Doug Jones for 20th on Major League Baseball's all-time list. Shortstop Edgar Renteria has 898 career RBIs and Votto has 98 career home runs.

• Kuroda, who has been supported by only two runs in his past three losses, is 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in four career starts against the Reds. He has struck out 18 Cincinnati batters in 24 2/3 innings.

MLB.com Comments