Arizona Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks in position to win series vs. Dodgers (Aug 09, 2017)

Published Aug. 9, 2017 5:48 a.m. ET

PHOENIX -- Jake Lamb knows the numbers.

So do the Los Angeles Dodgers.

When Dodgers manager Dave Roberts ordered an intentional walk to Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock with two outs in the seventh inning Tuesday, loading the bases with a 3-2 lead in order to let left-hander Tony Watson face Lamb, he did it with the certainty of man expecting sun in a Phoenix summer.

"I love the matchup. I loved it," Roberts said. "As good as Jake is, I will take Tony against him any day. (Watson) left the slider up, and (Lamb) still didn't take a good swing at it, but he elevated it and unfortunately for us hit the foul pole."

Lamb's contact resulted in a grand slam -- his second homer of the game -- off the right field foul pole to hand the Dodgers a rare loss, 6-3. The result ended Los Angeles' four-game winning streak and the Dodgers' historic 44-7 run that included a sweep of the D-backs in Los Angeles the week before the All-Star break.

Lamb, a left-handed hitter, was batting .143 with four homers off left-handed pitchers this season.

"Just the way that inning played out ... it's baseball," Roberts said. "It happens, but we will be ready for them tomorrow."

Arizona right-hander Zack Greinke (13-4, 3.10 ERA) will face Dodgers lefty Alex Wood (13-1, 2.33) in the second game of the three-game series Wednesday. Greinke and Wood are tied for second in the NL in victories, and Greinke ranks fourth in ERA.

Wood would be third in the league in ERA behind teammate Clayton Kershaw (2.04 ERA) and defending Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals (2.23) if he had enough innings to quality. He has thrown 104 1/3 innings, and he would join the qualifiers if he pitches at least nine innings Wednesday.

In 11 career games (seven starts) against the Diamondbacks, Wood is 4-3 with a 3.06 ERA. In three appearances (two starts) vs. Los Angeles this year, he is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA.

Greinke is 10-0 with a 2.39 ERA in 12 starts at home this season. He is looking to become the first NL pitcher to start 11-0 at home since he did it with the Brewers in 2001. He is 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his past seven starts overall.

Greinke is 3-3 with a 4.34 ERA in eight career starts against the Dodgers, including 1-2 with a 5.60 ERA in three turns last year after leaving them to sign with the D-backs.

The Dodgers (79-33) had won 13 of 14 before Tuesday. They enter play Wednesday in jeopardy of losing a series for the first time since June 5-7, when Washington won the first two contests of a three-game set in Los Angeles before the Dodgers took the third to begin their big run.

The Dodgers have won 14 of their past 17 series and split the other three, including a pair of two-game, home-and-home series against the Angels in late June. With the loss Tuesday, the Dodgers have dropped the first game only four times in 18 series.

Only the 1906 Chicago Cubs (46-6) had a better 52-game stretch in modern history. Over a longer span, the 1912 New York Giants had a 51-8 run starting in the seventh game of that season.

"More and more each day," Roberts said when asked if the team was cognizant of the ground it is breaking. "I think we can all appreciate it. It's great. It's the perfect storm, and it has been for a while.

"We're playing good baseball. Where we're at, and we feel good about our club, still a lot can change now until the end of September. Our focus all year long has been internally on how we are playing versus where we are playing or who we playing."