(Sports Network) - The Arizona Diamondbacks try to make it two straight wins in the Kirk Gibson-era this evening when they continue their three-game set with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field.
The D-Backs gave their new manager a win in his first game on Friday, as Chris Young drove in a career-high five runs and scored three times while finishing a triple shy of the cycle in Arizona's 12-5 win.
The victory came a day after the club fired manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes. Jerry Dipoto took over the general manager duties in the interim, while Gibson was named the manager of the team for the remainder of the season.
"I felt like it was my first major league game again to be honest with you," Gibson said. "It's a great feeling. I don't know how many people would really enjoy that type of feeling, but it's like euphoric, and it was like my first at-bat. You just have to control things and keep the game slow, and the guys did a great job tonight."
Edwin Jackson (6-6) made his first start since tossing a no-hitter against the Rays last Friday. It was hardly a flawless outing, though, as the right-hander walked eight batters and used an incredible 149 pitches - the most ever in a no-hitter - in the team's 1-0 win.
This time around, Jackson got through just one inning before giving up a hit. He ended up allowing four runs on seven hits in five frames to win his third straight start. He also fanned four batters and walked three.
Blake DeWitt drove in three runs for the Dodgers, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. James Loney had three hits, knocked in two runs, and scored once in defeat.
Los Angeles starter Hiroki Kuroda (7-6) got rocked in 1 2/3 frames, giving up a season-high six earned runs on eight hits.
"It looked like he was decent with the fastball," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of Kuroda. "Every time he tried to use something other than the fastball, he just couldn't throw it where he wanted to, like last outing, where he gave up a three run homer and settled in. He wasn't able to do that tonight."
Getting the call for Arizona tonight will be veteran right-hander Rodrigo Lopez, who has won his last two starts. Lopez was terrific in beating the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, as he held them to a run and two hits in six innings to run his record to 4-6, while lowering his ERA to 4.42.
Lopez is just 1-3 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 3.72 ERA in eight games (seven starts).
Heading to the hill for the Dodgers tonight will be 22-year-old left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who is 7-4 with a 3.19 earned run average. Kershaw pitched well enough to win on Sunday versus the New York Yankees and was in line for the win before Jonathan Broxton blew the save in an eventual 8-6 loss. Kershaw, though, surrendered two runs and four hits in seven innings and struck out five without walking a batter for the first time this season.
Kershaw beat the D-Backs the last time he faced them and is 1-1 in four starts against them with a 4.12 ERA.
The Dodgers have had their way with the Diamondbacks this season, winning eight of the 10 meetings, including three of four in Arizona.