Houston Astros vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Non-divisional NL baseball betting action takes center stage at Bookmaker Sportsbook on Thursday night when the Houston Astros (44-44, +$87) invade Chavez Ravine to tango with the Los Angeles Dodgers (56-32, +$1937) in the first of four sport wagering match-ups from Dodgers Stadium. The Astros closed out their first half slate on a high winning three of four home games against the Washington Nationals to run their mark to 6-4 their L/10 games played (+$122).
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The solid home stand saw them leapfrog into a third place tie within the NL Central 3.5-games in back of the St. Louis Cardinals. Manger Cecil Cooper’s club feels another solid second half run is in the cards after they split their first 88 games right down the middle. Houston went 20-21 (+$240) on the road up until the break. The Dodgers were the best MLB bet in the “Bigs” throughout the first half of the season reeling in close to $2000 for their baseball betting backers.
Manager Joe Torre’s club did it both at home (28-13, +$880) and on the road (28-19, +$1057) throughout the first 88 games of their ’09 schedule. In doing so, the Dodgers hold a comfy seven-game lead over the San Francisco Giants for the top spot in the NL West. This will be these teams first meeting since way back in April when the Astros took two of three at Minute Maid Park.
A pair of southpaws will square off against one another in the series opener; Bookmaker Sportsbook currently has Randy Wolf and the Dodgers tagged as -143 home chalks over Wandy Rodriguez and the Astros with the game ‘total’ set at 8 under -120.
Rodriguez enters his 19th start of the season in excellent form garnering winning decisions in three of his L/4 starts. He dominated Pittsburgh his last time out limiting the Buccos to just five hits while striking out 11 and walking one in a complete game shutout. Since getting blasted at Texas in the middle of June, Wandy has surrendered just 21 hits and six ER’s through his L/29 innings of work. He was outdueled by Chad Billingsley in a 2-0 loss in his May start vs. LA, but held the Dodgers to just five hits and one ER through six innings. He’s 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA in six career appearances vs. the Dodgers.
Randy Wolf has proven to be an excellent free agent acquisition as the Dodgers have gone 12-7 in his 19 ’09 starts. He picked up his fourth win of the season his last time out against New York where he limited the Mets to seven hits and two ER’s through 6+ innings of work. He’s yet to scratch the win column at Dodgers Stadium where he’s 0-1 with a 4.04 ERA & 1.24 WHIP; LA is 7-2 in his nine home starts. He’s 4-4 with a 3.89 ERA in 12 career starts against the Houston Astros, and lost to them in May (6-5) allowing four runs through seven innings of work.
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The road team has surprisingly taken seven of the L/10 overall meetings between these clubs, and Houston is 6-2 its L/8 trips to Tinseltown. The Astros have made it a point to get off to a good start in a series winning the opener in four of their L/5, and they’re 4-1 the L/5 times they’ve taken on a left-handed starter. That said; the Dodgers have won the series opener in each of their L/6 series, and they’re 5-1 in Wolf’s L/6 home starts as a home favorite in the -110 to -150 range.
Will the Astros get off on the right foot to the second half of their season, or will the Dodgers continue to dominate their opposition like they did throughout the entirety of the first half?
