First pitch: Thursday, 10:10 p.m. ET
Line: Arizona +145, Los Angeles -155, Total: 7.5

The Dodgers will be going for their sixth win in seven games when they host the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Arizona has been one of the league’s more surprising teams this season, as the Diamondbacks currently sit at 52-33 and are atop the NL Wild Card standings. They have, however, lost two straight games and five of their past seven. They’d really like to win this one on Thursday, as it would be brutal if they were to be swept by the team they are currently chasing in the NL West. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have now won two straight games and 10 of their past 13. Los Angeles just might be the best team in baseball this season, but obviously a lot can change in the second half of the year. The starters in this Thursday night game are set to be LHP Robbie Ray (8-4, 3.06 ERA, 128 K) for the Diamondbacks and LHP Rich Hill (5-4, 4.00 ERA, 61 K) for the Dodgers. One trend that favors the Diamondbacks in this game is the fact that they are 47-32 against the money line against teams whose hitters strike out seven or more times per game this season. The Dodgers, however, are an impressive 17-2 against the money line in home games versus teams with a bullpen that has a WHIP of 1.350 or better this season.

The Diamondbacks will be sending Robbie Ray to the mound on Thursday, and the lefty has not been his best self lately. Ray has allowed four earned runs in two of his past three starts, and the Diamondbacks are hoping that he can get back on track in this meeting with Los Angeles. With Rich Hill starting for the Dodgers, Ray can’t afford to let his team fall too far behind. That means he’ll need to turn in a quality start at the very least here. Fortunately for Arizona, Ray allowed only one earned run and struck out 10 batters in an Apr. 17 start at Dodger Stadium. The team will be hoping that this ballpark brings out the best in him. Offensively, look out for 1B Paul Goldschmidt (.315 BA, 19 HR, 66 RBI) in this one. Goldschmidt just might be one of the top-five hitters in MLB, and he has had some success against Hill in his career. Goldschmidt is 2-for-5 in his career against the lefty, and he’ll be hoping to keep it up on Thursday. It’d be huge for Arizona if he could go yard.

Rich Hill will be making the start for the Dodgers on Thursday, and the lefty just might be coming off of his best performance of the season. Hill pitched seven innings of shutout ball against the Padres on Jul. 1, striking out 11 batters and walking just one. Hill has now pitched seven innings in two straight starts, and that is really big for the Dodgers. One of his issues earlier in the year was that he was not working deep enough into games. Perhaps he has figured some things out for the second half of the year. As for Los Angeles’ offense, the stars in this lineup are always capable of stepping it up. One unheralded name to keep an eye on is, however, OF Kike Hernandez (.219 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI). Hernandez is far from being one of this team’s best hitters, but he is 7-for-18 with a double, a triple, three homers, and five RBI against Ray in his career. He’ll be hoping to keep it going with a big performance on Thursday.