In what could be a preview of the 2014 Major League Baseball season opener to be played in Sydney, the Arizona Diamondbacks visited the Los Angeles Dodgers for the third straight game in the series. The Dodgers won the first two games, 8-1 and 5-3, and tried to assert their supremacy over their cross-border rivals. The Dodgers are first in the National League West with an 85-59 win-loss record; the Diamondbacks are at the .500 mark, with 72-72.

There has been quite a history between these two ballclubs. On June 12, an ugly brawl broke out when the Dodgers' Yasiel Puig, arguably the best hitter in the roster, was beaned by a pitch from Arizona's Ian Kennedy. The Dodgers claim it was intentional; Kennedy maintains that he never meant to hit Puig at all. The situation quickly escalated -- Zack Greinke took a swing at Miguel Montero, then Kennedy hit Greinke, and then it was a free-for-all, resulting in six players being thrown out of the game.

Since then, the Dodgers have gone on a tear on their way to the top seed in the NL West. The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, were 37-29 before the brawl, but had seen their fortunes slump in the next few months. Wednesday's game, the last in the three-game series in Los Angeles, will determine if the Diamondbacks will be below .500 for the first time in the 2013 season or if they will start a recovery. They desperately need a win to keep up with the leaders in the race to a play-off for a wild card slot. For the Dodgers, a win will create more separation between them and the rest of the field, keeping them entrenched in the wild card round as well as improve their home record, which currently stands at 45-28.

Watch the Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks game here.