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LAD@SD: Capuano's season debut against the Padres

The Dodgers generated excitement in the front office during Spring Training, but April has so far belonged to the men in uniform. The Dodgers head into Thursday's series finale with a National League-best 5-1 record. A blend of strong starting pitching and production from the heart of the order have manager Don Mattingly's club off to its best start since the Dodgers also opened the 1999 season with a 5-1 mark.

Mattingly did not want to overemphasize his club's hot start, but noted that the Dodgers started slow last season and felt they never really recovered.

"I'm sure if you look at articles from last spring, every club wants to get off to fast starts. But we do remember last year, we got behind the 8-ball and couldn't make up ground," Mattingly said.

The second-year skipper will hand the ball to Chris Capuano in hopes that the left-hander can make it a trifecta of strong starts as the Dodgers go for the sweep. Clayton Kershaw and Wednesday's starter Chad Billingsley combined to allow just two earned runs over 13 innings. Capuano is coming off a start in which he allowed four earned runs and walked five in 4 2/3 innings at San Diego on April 7.

Across the field, Clint Hurdle will lean on Jeff Karstens to help avoid the Pirates' third sweep in Los Angeles in their last seven visits to Chavez Ravine. Karstens was very sharp in his season debut, taking a no-decision in a one-run, five-hit effort over six innings against the Phillies.

Pittsburgh will face its third southpaw in its last six games. The amount of left-handers has led Pirates manager Clint Hurdle to juggle his lineup a bit, though one constant has been Alex Presley, despite the platooning of other lefties such as Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez.

"It's a challenge for [Presley] when he's the only left-handed hitter in the lineup," Hurdle said. "Alex definitely wants more this year, he wants to do more. His focus has been great, and he's developed a little sharper edge to his style of play. We'll see where he can take it."

Pirates: Presley's hit streak continued
Alex Presley went 1-for-4 on Wednesday, and has now hit safely in all five games this season. The outfielder is hitting .333 (7-for-21) with two RBIs. Presley is a career .258 hitter against the Dodgers, though two of his four career home runs have come at the Dodgers' expense.

• Wednesday's game snapped the Pirates' streak of four consecutive one-run games to begin the season -- the longest such streak in franchise history. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last National League team to start the season with four straight one-run games was the 2002 Montreal Expos.

Dodgers: Kemp picking up where he left off
Matt Kemp has kept up his MVP-caliber pace so far in 2012. The Dodgers center fielder is hitting .400 (10-for-25) with two home runs and nine RBIs. Kemp has tallied four multi-hit games in six starts this season, though his streak of five consecutive games with at least one RBI was snapped on Wednesday. Karstens has so far had the upper-hand with Kemp, limiting him to one hit in six at-bats with one strikeout.

Worth noting
• Wednesday marked the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's signing with the Dodgers

• The Dodgers own the highest home winning percentage among all National League teams since 1962 (.570), leading the Giants (.563) and Cardinals (.559).

• Roberto Clemente's .377 batting average is the highest mark among all hitters who accumulated at least 120 plate appearances at Dodger Stadium.

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