MLB odds a Coin Flip in Dodgers and Cardinals Series Finale
One night after beating Chris Carpenter 1-0, the Los Angeles Dodgers go for a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals against the Redbirds' other ace, Adam Wainwright.
For a baseball fan with no rooting interest, or a bettor with no action on the game, it's the type of pitching matchup to just sit back and enjoy. Unfortunately for the Dodgers and Cardinals, and those placing wagers on the game, Wednesday's battle isn't so casual.
Los Angeles and St. Louis continue their series at Dodger Stadium with Game 2 pitting Adam Wainwright (8-4, 2.05) for the Redbirds against Clayton Kershaw (8-4, 3.06) of LA. Early baseball odds on Tuesday listed the Dodgers and Kershaw 110-120 favorites with the total down there at 6 ½. The total has held but the chalk on the Dodgers has dropped at most shops to a near pick 'em.
Dodgers bats dominated in a 12-4 win in Game 1 on Monday while it was all about the pitchers in Game 2. A scoreless game for the first 7 ½ innings, LA scraped across a run in the bottom of the eighth for a Game 2 triumph when Carpenter and the Cards were the 120-125 favorites.
The Cardinals start play Wednesday 33-26, tied atop the NL Central with Cincinnati and down nearly four units on the money line. The win last night gave Los Angeles a half-game lead in the NL West with a 35-24, up 4.7 units on the season.
Wainwright is coming off his first career shutout last Friday at home, an 8-0 whitewashing of the Brewers. The St. Louis righty allowed just two hits and a walk with the Cardinals prohibitive 220 favorites in that contest.
All but one of his dozen starting assignments this campaign have gone into the books as quality starts. Wainwright has worked at least seven innings in nine of the outings.
He last faced the Dodgers here in LA in Game 2 of the 2009 NLDS. Wainwright tossed eight innings and allowed just a run on three hits with seven strikeouts. In a virtual pick 'em contest at the window, Wainwright turned the game over to his bullpen in the ninth with St. Louis nursing a 2-1 lead.
The Dodgers rallied, thanks in large part to a Matt Holliday error, scoring twice in the final frame for a 3-2 win and 2-0 lead in the series. LA completed the NLDS sweep two days later in St. Louis.
Kershaw's ERA is almost exactly a run higher on the season as Wainwright's but the end results have been the same with LA winning eight of his 12 trips to the mound. Since a forgettable outing against the Brewers on May 4, the Dodgers have won five of the southpaw's six assignments with Kershaw sporting a 1.57 ERA over those 40 innings.
His last appearance against the Cards came in that same Game 2 of the NLDS that Wainwright pitched for St. Louis. Kershaw got knocked around giving up nine hits in his 6 2/3 innings of work, one of those hits a Holliday clout.
These two hurlers also faced each other one time in the '09 regular season, and it was also a 3-2 final at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 19 with St. Louis coming out on top. LA is 3-2 in Kershaw's five career starts against the Cards, including the NLDS battle last October.
Kerwin Danley has plate duty for this one, information that is useless to anyone looking for a totals trend. Danley's slight 7-6 lean to the 'under' includes a 1-1 deadlock when the number is eight or below.
Wednesday's forecast calls for clear skies, no chance of rain and a game-time temp in the upper-70s, maybe 70ºF on the dot. Winds are listed out of the southwest at 5-10 mph (3B on-deck circle out to right-center).
Both teams will have Thursday off before starting weekend series on Friday. The Dodgers remain at Chavez Ravine for a three-game Freeway Series with the Angels. St. Louis will continue its road trip with a series in Arizona over the weekend, the only non-interleague set for three days.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
One night after beating Chris Carpenter 1-0, the Los Angeles Dodgers go for a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals against the Redbirds' other ace, Adam Wainwright.
For a baseball fan with no rooting interest, or a bettor with no action on the game, it's the type of pitching matchup to just sit back and enjoy. Unfortunately for the Dodgers and Cardinals, and those placing wagers on the game, Wednesday's battle isn't so casual.
Los Angeles and St. Louis continue their series at Dodger Stadium with Game 2 pitting Adam Wainwright (8-4, 2.05) for the Redbirds against Clayton Kershaw (8-4, 3.06) of LA. Early baseball odds on Tuesday listed the Dodgers and Kershaw 110-120 favorites with the total down there at 6 ½. The total has held but the chalk on the Dodgers has dropped at most shops to a near pick 'em.
Dodgers bats dominated in a 12-4 win in Game 1 on Monday while it was all about the pitchers in Game 2. A scoreless game for the first 7 ½ innings, LA scraped across a run in the bottom of the eighth for a Game 2 triumph when Carpenter and the Cards were the 120-125 favorites.
The Cardinals start play Wednesday 33-26, tied atop the NL Central with Cincinnati and down nearly four units on the money line. The win last night gave Los Angeles a half-game lead in the NL West with a 35-24, up 4.7 units on the season.
Wainwright is coming off his first career shutout last Friday at home, an 8-0 whitewashing of the Brewers. The St. Louis righty allowed just two hits and a walk with the Cardinals prohibitive 220 favorites in that contest.
All but one of his dozen starting assignments this campaign have gone into the books as quality starts. Wainwright has worked at least seven innings in nine of the outings.
He last faced the Dodgers here in LA in Game 2 of the 2009 NLDS. Wainwright tossed eight innings and allowed just a run on three hits with seven strikeouts. In a virtual pick 'em contest at the window, Wainwright turned the game over to his bullpen in the ninth with St. Louis nursing a 2-1 lead.
The Dodgers rallied, thanks in large part to a Matt Holliday error, scoring twice in the final frame for a 3-2 win and 2-0 lead in the series. LA completed the NLDS sweep two days later in St. Louis.
Kershaw's ERA is almost exactly a run higher on the season as Wainwright's but the end results have been the same with LA winning eight of his 12 trips to the mound. Since a forgettable outing against the Brewers on May 4, the Dodgers have won five of the southpaw's six assignments with Kershaw sporting a 1.57 ERA over those 40 innings.
His last appearance against the Cards came in that same Game 2 of the NLDS that Wainwright pitched for St. Louis. Kershaw got knocked around giving up nine hits in his 6 2/3 innings of work, one of those hits a Holliday clout.
These two hurlers also faced each other one time in the '09 regular season, and it was also a 3-2 final at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 19 with St. Louis coming out on top. LA is 3-2 in Kershaw's five career starts against the Cards, including the NLDS battle last October.
Kerwin Danley has plate duty for this one, information that is useless to anyone looking for a totals trend. Danley's slight 7-6 lean to the 'under' includes a 1-1 deadlock when the number is eight or below.
Wednesday's forecast calls for clear skies, no chance of rain and a game-time temp in the upper-70s, maybe 70ºF on the dot. Winds are listed out of the southwest at 5-10 mph (3B on-deck circle out to right-center).
Both teams will have Thursday off before starting weekend series on Friday. The Dodgers remain at Chavez Ravine for a three-game Freeway Series with the Angels. St. Louis will continue its road trip with a series in Arizona over the weekend, the only non-interleague set for three days.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
