The Dodgers will return to Los Angeles to face the Seattle Mariners on Monday night following a three-game series on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Starter Brandon McCarthy will have the opportunity to redeem himself as he's scheduled to face James Paxton, who has never faced the Dodgers in his career.
Los Angeles dropped two of three in Arizona, but experienced an offensive awakening on Sunday. They clubbed 16 hits, drew four walks and scored seven runs against three D-Backs' pitchers after amassing a total of 10 hits and three runs in their two previous games.
Third baseman Alex Guerrero may be in the lineup again tonight after going 3-for-5 with one home run and four RBIs in his first career start on Sunday. Injuries to Juan Uribe and Justin Turner have forced Don Mattingly to exhaust his options and put the 28-year-old in the starting lineup despite him having played in only 12 career games before yesterday's matchup.
On the other hand, Seattle will continue their California road trip and head from Oakland to Los Angeles after taking two out of three from the Athletics. Slugger Nelson Cruz, the team's biggest offseason acquisition, belted two home runs and four RBIs in that series after going one for his first 15 at-bats of the season. Seattle will send left-hander James Paxton to the hill in the team's first interleague matchup of the year.
Paxton showed promise in 2014 after finishing 6-4 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.203 WHIP in 13 starts (74 innings) and earned himself a spot in the Mariners' rotation for 2015. The 26-year-old was handed a loss in the team's opening series against the Los Angeles Angels after giving up just two runs on four hits and a walk in six innings of work. He'll look to get his first win of the season going up against the 10-year veteran Brandon McCarthy.
The right-hander was one of the Dodgers' offseason acquisitions and signed a four-year, $48 million deal, but was knocked around in his debut against the San Diego Padres last week. He got the win despite giving up four runs on nine hits and one walk in five innings. McCarthy has some experience against the Mariners back when he was a member of the Texas Rangers (2007-2009) Oakland Athletics (2011-2012).
He's 2-6 with a 3.88 ERA, 1.111 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 13 games (11 starts) against the Mariners, totaling 72 innings, but the lineup he'll face tonight is completely different than the one he was used to seeing a couple of seasons ago.
The game will start at 10:10 p.m. ET and you can check out the live stream here as well as the live radio broadcast here (if you're a Dodgers fan) or here (if you're a Mariners fan).
