Arizona Diamondbacks @ LA Dodgers Live Stream & Tips - Diamondbacks to edge Dodgers in dead rubber

The Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the final game of a four-match series of MLB regular-season games on Friday, May 21, with the Dodgers 3-0 up. Los Angeles are currently 3rd in the National League West Division, with Arizona one place below them. 

The LA Dodgers are the reigning World Series Champions, and began 2021 playing like the favorites they are to retain their crown. But after a strong start they began losing too many games, and were 2-8 in their ten games prior to Tuesday’s win over the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers had topped the National League West Division but their loss of form resulted in them falling to third. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks have scored series wins over Cincinnati (twice), Atlanta and Colorado, and tied with Washington, San Diego and Miami, but need to tighten up their defense in they want to win more matches. 

I’m backing the Diamondbacks to defeat the Dodgers on Friday, based off their much better showing in their 4-2 defeat on Thursday, and LA’s rather irritating habit of losing the final match after winning a series. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the LA Dodgers have played each other 29 times over the past three seasons, with the score at 22-9 to the Dodgers. In 2020 they met ten times, finishing 8-2 to the Dodgers. In 2019 Los Angeles played the Diamondbacks 18 times, with the Dodgers once again leading 11-7. They have faced each other three times in 2021, with Los Angeles wining them all, most recently a 4-2 victory on Thursday. 

World Series winners in 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks last made the playoffs in 2017, and last won the National League West Division in 2011. Arizona have shown signs this season that they are potentially a decent team, but with a run differential of -30, they desperately need to shore up their leaky defense. The Diamondbacks finished bottom of the NL West Division last season, so right now they are on schedule to improve upon that. 

Arizona’s series against the Dodgers hasn’t been great thus far; a 3-1 defeat in their opening game on Tuesday was followed by an emphatic 9-1 thrashing on Wednesday. However they performed much better on Thursday, shutting the Dodgers out for the first three innings and taking a 2-1 lead in the fourth before LA scored three runs in the seventh that won them the match. 

The LA Dodgers began the 2021 season by going 13-2 in their opening 15 games, and winning eight matches in a row. The Dodgers season then took a turn for the worse following a 5-2 to defeat to the Sand Diego Padres on April 18, despite having already secured that series 2-1. In their next 20 games LA went 5-15, with no series wins, and dropped from top of the NL West Division to third. Alarm bells started ringing. 

Things began to improve with a 2-1 series win over the Seattle Mariners, followed by a 2-1 series win over the Miami Marlins. Against the Arizona Diamondbacks this week the Dodgers have looked sensational, especially when winning the second match 9-1. However, just when things appeared great in the Dodgers’ world, they have been rocked with the news that their best player Mike Trout is out for 6-8 weeks with a calf strain.