Dodgers in town for NL West showdown with D-Backs

The Diamondbacks and Dodgers did an eerie dance in the first half of the season.

When the Diamondbacks lost, it seemed, Los Angeles did, too, even when it had chances to get back into first place in the NL West that the D-Backs dominated early but lead by only one game now.

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That all stops today, when the D-Backs and Dodgers play the first game of a three-game series, the first of seven games between them in the next 17 days and the first of 13 meetings the rest of the season.

“It’s the best way to come back from the All-Star break,” catcher Chris Snyder said of consecutive series against the D-Backs and the Chicago Cubs.

“You couldn’t ask for better teams to play. The Dodgers have been right with us. Then we get the Cubs, who are the best team in baseball.”

The D-Backs (47-48) raced to an early lead in the NL West by going 21-10 inside the division, although the majority of those games were played in April. Only the Cubs have a better division record in the majors.

Manager Bob Melvin will start Doug Davis, Dan Haren and Brandon Webb in the Dodgers series, statistically his best arms in the first half.

Also benefiting from the break, Los Angeles will start its top three – Hiroki Kuroda, Chad Billingsley and Derek Lowe.

“The first team that goes out and starts playing well right away could set a tone,” Melvin said.

“Hopefully, that’s us.”

The D-Backs play 38 of their final 65 games against the West, so the division may not be settled until it was last year, on the final weekend of the season, when Webb won in Colorado to give the D-Backs the title.

And while the Dodgers series is meaningful, Chad Tracy added: “We’ve got the whole second half.

“No game is more important than any other. Usually the division is won by one game. That game could be the first game of the year or the last. But we have to beat these guys to stay in first place. I’m looking forward to playing them.”

While the D-Backs’ record may seem uninspiring, the team can draw strength from the fact it was only two games better, 49-46, and in third place in the division at this point last season before recovering to win 90 games.

The D-Backs did not make any major adjustments at the 2007 trade deadline, and the addition of Tony Clark on Thursday could be the biggest move they make this time.

“No troops are coming in to save the day,” continued Tracy, who will be the regular first baseman the rest of the season, with Conor Jackson moving to left field.

“That’s OK. We’ve done it before. We proved we could do it the second half of last year.”