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A National League Division Series clash between the teams defined the 2023 season for both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The NL West rivals will size each other up again on Friday night when the Diamondbacks host the Dodgers in the opener of a four-game Labor Day weekend series in Phoenix.

Right-hander Zac Gallen (10-6, 3.65 ERA) is slated to start for the Diamondbacks against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw (2-2, 3.72).

The Diamondbacks lost the rubber match of a three-game series Thursday afternoon with a 3-2 setback to the visiting New York Mets. The host Dodgers earned a series win that night by beating the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 in the finale of a three-game set.

While Thursday’s results ensured the Diamondbacks couldn’t surpass the Dodgers this weekend — Los Angeles leads the NL West by four games — Arizona remained a game ahead of San Diego in the race for the league’s top wild-card spot by virtue of the Padres’ 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Diamondbacks’ Cinderella march to the World Series last fall was highlighted by a three-game NLDS sweep of the Dodgers, who posted a 100-62 record and won the NL West by 16 games over second-place Arizona.

“This group is hungry, and they want to go out and play a complete baseball game,” manager Torey Lovullo said after the Diamondbacks lost their first home series since they dropped two of three against the Minnesota Twins from June 26-28. “So we respect every opponent, we know (it’s) the L.A. Dodgers that are coming in here, and we want to do our job the best way we can.”

A second straight win over the Orioles concluded a successful homestand for the Dodgers, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games despite first baseman Freddie Freeman missing the last three games due to a hairline fracture of his right middle finger. Freeman was 3-of-23 last week against the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.

Faring well against the Orioles, Mariners and Rays — all of whom are competing for American League playoff berths — provided a much-needed boost of confidence for the Dodgers. Los Angeles was 6-1-1 in series this month but lost a series to the Philadelphia Phillies from Aug. 5-7 and split a four-game set with the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers from Aug. 12-15.

“Great homestand — really good baseball playing against teams that are in pennant races,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t think it was a litmus test or anything, but it’s still good to go out there and find ways to win baseball games.”

For Arizona, Gallen earned the win in his most recent start last Saturday after allowing two hits over six scoreless innings as the Diamondbacks beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

Gallen is 1-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 12 regular-season starts against the Dodgers but earned the win in Game 2 of the NLDS last Oct. 9, when he gave up two runs over 5 1/3 innings in Arizona’s 4-2 victory.

Kershaw didn’t factor into the decision last Saturday after surrendering five runs over five innings as the Dodgers fell to the Rays 9-8 in 10 innings.

Kershaw is 22-12 with a 2.73 ERA in 44 regular-season starts against the Diamondbacks but is 1-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two postseason starts against the NL West rival.

Kershaw took the loss in Game 1 of the NLDS last Oct. 7 after giving up six runs on six hits while recording just one out in Arizona’s 11-2 win.

–Field Level Media