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The Diamondbacks and Dodgers open their NLDS series Friday night in Los Angeles. Taijuan Walker takes the mound against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. Check back for live updates throughout the game.

Lovullo explains D-Backs’ controversial lineup

LOS ANGELES – Torey Lovullo raised eyebrows with his starting lineup for Game 1 of the National League Division Series, going with Jeff Mathis over Chris Iannetta at catcher and sitting third baseman Jake Lamb in favor of Adam Rosales in the matchup against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.

Lovullo said he “liked the way Jeff matches up with Taijuan (Walker),” the Diamondbacks starter opposite Kershaw. Mathis, regarded as a defense-first catcher, was behind the plate all nine innings in Wednesday’s wild-card victory over the Colorado Rockies.

The Diamondbacks are expected to alternate between the two catchers throughout the series.

One thing Lovullo said was not a factor was Iannetta’s relationship with Walker. During a start on Sept. 23, Iannetta caught a pitch from Walker and fired it back to the mound, the ball flying by Walker’s head and into center field. There was no one base at the time, but it appeared to be a tense one between the two.

“I know that they have a longstanding relationship and they’re like brothers out there,” Lovullo said. “I know certain things you may have seen throughout the course of the year would give you the feeling that it wasn’t a great relationship, but believe it or not it’s a strong, kind of pushing-forward type of relationship.”

Iannetta, who was with Walker on the Seattle Mariners last season, told Fox Sports Arizona that there was “nothing personal” about the exchange.

“We’re great friends,” Iannetta said. “It was just me trying to get on him, trying rile him up any way that I could. I know and I’ve seen it over the last year with Seattle and after we came here, when he’s fired up he’s real locked in and he pitches a lot better.”

As for decision at third base, Lovullo said a big factor for him was the fact that Lamb has never faced Kershaw. He also said he’s been using Rosales against lefties regularly over the past two months and didn’t want to diverge from the script.

Lovullo was asked if he wished he had gotten Lamb a start against Kershaw earlier this year, a question he said the Diamondbacks’ front office had already asked him. He noted that Kershaw started against them only twice this year, and that there were times when he was trying maximize the team’s chances to win by sitting Lamb, who struggles against lefties.

“But, yes, in a perfect world, I do regret not getting an opportunity to get a spin at him,” Lovullo said. “But at that time you can’t project forward and figure out that we’re going to be sitting in this seat at this moment.”

–Nick Piecoro

Game Info

When: First pitch is set for 7:31 p.m. Friday. 

Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (9-9, 3.49) vs. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.31).

TV: TBS.

TV broadcast crew: Brian Anderson, Dennis Eckersley, Joe Simpson and Lauren Shehadi.

Radio: KMVP-AM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Live streaming: MLB.tv will stream the NLDS and NLCS.

PREDICTIONS: Can the Diamondbacks upset the Dodgers?

Diamondbacks Game 1 lineup

Brandon Drury is starting for the Diamondbacks at second base tonight, while Adam Rosales, not Jake Lamb, is starting at third.

Jeff Mathis is getting another start at catcher ahead of Chris Iannetta, which manager Torey Lovullo attributed to the way Mathis ‘matches up’ with Taijuan Walker. 

1. David Peralta LF

2. A.J. Pollock CF

3. Paul Goldschmidt 1B

4. J.D. Martinez RF

5. Brandon Drury 2B

6. Adam Rosales 3B

7. Ketel Marte SS

8. Jeff Mathis C

9. Taijuan Walker P

Games 2 and 3 starters revealed

Robbie Ray will start Game 2 and Zack Greinke will start Game 3 for the Diamondbacks against the Dodgers, manager Torey Lovullo said in Los Angeles before Friday’s game.

Greinke lasted only 3 2/3 innings during his start in the NL wild-card game on Wednesday, and Ray came in to pitch 2 1/3 innings in relief.

“(I’m) ready to go whenever they ask me to,” Ray said on Thursday. “Obviously, they haven’t decided anything yet. But I’m sure that’s something we’ll talk about today and leading into tomorrow and figure something out.”

Asked to compare the way he feels Thursday to the day after a start, Ray said, “Not even close. It feels like a day after a bullpen.”

By starting Game 2, Ray would then be able to start a potential Game 5 on regular rest. And having him available to face the Dodgers twice if the series goes that long would figure to be a huge factor for the Diamondbacks.

In five starts against the Dodgers this season, Ray has posted a 2.27 ERA with 53 strikeouts and only 12 walks in 31 2/3 innings. The numbers are even better at Dodger Stadium: 0.92 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with eight walks and 37 strikeouts.

“I feel like I’ve had a good amount of success against them this year,” Ray said, “and I feel like I match up pretty well against this lineup.”

Diamondbacks’ NLDS roster unveiled

LOS ANGELES – The Diamondbacks’ roster for the National League Division Series includes a pair of changes from the one they used in Wednesday’s wild-card game, with right-hander Taijuan Walker and slugger Christian Walker both being added.

In their place, the Diamondbacks removed catcher Chris Herrmann and outfielder Rey Fuentes.

The Diamondbacks will have 14 position players and 11 pitchers.

Taijuan Walker was left off the wild-card roster but was added in order to start Game 1 of the division series on Friday night.

Christian Walker, who is not related, gives the Diamondbacks a potential right-handed power bat off the bench. Walker, 26, spent most of the season in Triple-A Reno, where he won Pacific Coast League MVP honors after hitting .309 with 32 homers.

In 11 games at the big-league level in September, Walker went 3 for 12 (.250) with two doubles, a homer, a walk and two hit by pitches. Walker has only 39 at-bats at the major league level in his career.

Remaining off the roster is infielder Chris Owings, who has been out since late July with a fractured right middle finger. He had been working his way back by getting at-bats at instructional league.

On Wednesday, the team was uncomfortable with the fact that Owings had played only one game – at Salt River Fields – in the past two-plus months. That lack of recent reps might still be the drawback for Owings today.

BICKLEY: Diamondbacks playing with house money in LA

MLB clears D-Backs coach of Apple Watch espionage

Diamondbacks coach Ariel Prieto was cleared of using an electronic watch to steal signs, or any other activity outlawed in major-league baseball, following an investigation from MLB.

The league fined Prieto and the Diamondbacks an undisclosed amount after Prieto was caught wearing the watch in Wednesday night’s wild-card win over the Colorado Rockies.

MLB released a statement Friday that said a forensic investigation was conducted and found no evidence of wrongdoing. 

READ THE STORY: Diamondbacks coach cleared of sign stealing with Apple Watch

Game 3, 4 times

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced the start time for Game 3 of the National League Division Series in Phoenix next week.

First pitch will be at 7:08 p.m. Monday for the third game of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gates will open at 5 p.m., according to the Diamondbacks.

If the series makes it to Game 4, that will start at 6:08 p.m. on Tuesday, and gates will open at 4 p.m.

READ THE STORY: Diamondbacks in the playoffs: Start times announced for NLDS Game 3 and 4

D-Backs not intimidated by LA

The Diamondbacks head into the best-of-five series with the Dodgers riding a wave of confidence, bolstered not only by their win over the Rockies but how they played the Dodgers in the regular season. Arizona won the season series 11-8, including a three-game road sweep of Los Angeles in early September.

Of course, that’s when the Dodgers were going through a stretch in which they lost 15 of 16 games; they got back on track and went 7-3 over the final 10 games of the season.

Still, the Diamondbacks think they match up well with the Dodgers. At the very least, they won’t be, to use manager Torey Lovullo’s word, intimidated.

The Diamondbacks’ first order of business is figuring out a way to get to Kershaw. He was 2-0 against Arizona in the regular season with a 0.59 ERA while striking out 19 batters in 15 1/3 innings. He’s 14-8 with a 2.55 ERA in his career against the Diamondbacks.

READ THE STORY: Diamondbacks believe they match up well with Dodgers

Walker gets the nod

Taijuan Walker was tabbed as the Game 1 starter on Thursday afternoon. Walker has thrown well against the Dodgers with a 3.24 ERA in three starts against them, including a 1.64 ERA in two starts in Los Angeles.

Walker, of course, will be matching up against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, whose 2.31 ERA was the best in the National League. Kershaw faced the Diamondbacks twice this season, allowing just one run in 15 1/3 innings.

“I think the biggest thing is to just focus on myself, focus on my game plan, focus on the pitches I have to execute,” Walker said. “Kershaw is the best in the game. It’s definitely going to be a fun one tomorrow, but I think I’ve just got to focus on myself.”

The Diamondbacks appear to be leaning toward starting Robbie Ray and Zack Greinke in the following two games.

READ THE STORY: Walker’s start leaves D-Backs leaning toward Ray, Greinke in Games 2, 3

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