Dodgers and Phillies travel East tied one win apiece

Southpaw Cliff Lee gets the Game 3 call in cold, wet Philadelphia for the home team Sunday night against Hiroki Kuroda and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As the Beach Boys reminded us more than 40 years ago, "The West Coast has the sunshine." So far this postseason the East Coast has had all of the rain.

After two good days of weather in Los Angeles for Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS, the Dodgers and Phillies now try to knock out Games 3, 4 and 5 in Philadelphia. Soggy, cold, windswept Philadelphia. Though the forecast certainly doesn't guarantee a Game 3 will be played tonight at Citizen's Bank Park, the books all agree the Phils are going to win it with the moneyline opening at -175 on Philly and hanging right at that price.

The total originally was placed at 8½, but that number has been bet down a half to 8 at most shops.

Home field advantage is one reason Charlie Manuel's team is the big favorite today; Manuel's choice for starting pitcher, Cliff Lee, is the main reason however as the lefty who has been solid this postseason will face Hiroki Kuroda who is making his first appearance on a major league mound since Sep 28.

To say Kuroda has had one strange, injury-plagued season would be a bit of an understatement. Joe Torre tabbed the righthander as his Opening Day starter, but after making that April 6 outing Kuroda then missed the next two months with an oblique strain. He returned in early June and faced the Phillies out in LA in his second start back from that DL, tossing six scoreless and getting a no-decision in the Dodgers' eventual 3-2 win that lasted 12 innings.

Then came a scary moment on Aug 15 in Arizona when a line drive off the bat of D-Backs pinch-hitter Rusty Ryal struck the right side of Kuroda's head. He returned to the mound three weeks later and made five starts in September only to start feeling the effects of a neck injury, later called "a small herniation of the cervical spine," and missed the Dodgers' NLDS against St. Louis.

Kuroda tossed a simulated game earlier this week at the club's facility in Arizona, and Joe Torre made the decision to use him in this series and this game.

Lee was phenomenal in his two starts against the Rockies in the NLDS, tossing a complete game, five-hitter for the win in Game 1 and working into the eighth with just one earned run allowed in Philadelphia's clinching, come-from-behind win in Game 4. He last saw the Dodgers in LA back in June 2008, leaving that game in the eighth with a 4-1 lead but earning a no-decision in what would be a 6-4, 10-inning win for Cleveland.

The southpaw has seen Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez from their days in the AL, holding Thome to a 5-for-24 mark (.208) with one homers but getting handled by Manny (6-14, .429, 2 HR, 6 BB).

It's just too hard to bet against Lee at this point, especially with Kuroda's state unclear and both Manny and Matt Kemp not really getting it done at the plate for the Dodgers in the postseason. I like the Phillies to hit the ball tonight and am attracted to the over play, but will instead just eat the chalk and take them straight up on the moneyline.

STARTING PITCHERS
NLCS Game 3, Sun, Oct 18, 8:07 p.m. (ET): Hiroki Kuroda (12-8, 3.76 regular season; first postseason appearance) vs. Cliff Lee (8-4, 3.39 PHI; 16-18, 3.22 total regular season; 2-0, 1.10 postseason)

UMPIRE
A veteran of 12 regular seasons in the bigs, Sam Holbrook has plate duty for this one and brings an 18-15 Home/Visitor record and 13-20 O/U mark into the contest. His home team lean includes a 14-6 record for home favorites, 6-1 in this price range (-145 to -185).

This is Holbrook's fourth postseason. He last worked the plate in last year's ALCS, getting the call in Game 2, a 9-8 win for the Rays over the Red Sox in the ninth. Holbrook ejected Boston coach John Farrell in that final inning, you might recall, for arguing from the dugout over his strike calls, or lack of as it were.
Holbrook then came back and worked Game 7 of that series, a 3-1 Tampa win at home. He was pressed into Game 7 duties when Tim McClelland was forced into Game 6 duties due to Derryl Cousins suffering an injury early in that contest.

WEATHER
If you've been following the weather in New York for the ALCS this weekend, then you already know what it's going to be like in Philadelphia for Sunday. It's going to rain, it's going to be cold, and the wind is going to blow. The chance of rains does lessen as the evening arrives, though not by much, with a game time temp around 40º and winds from the NNW up to 22 MPH (in from left-center).

NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!