Dodgers vs Cardinals Baseball Picks
It took a while for the Dodgers to get going this season but they come out of the break having caught and passed San Francisco for the lead in the NL West.
Los Angeles Dodgers (54-43) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (52-44)
Friday July 18
Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO
8:15PM
Probable Pitchers:
LAD: Dan Haren (R)
STL: Lance Lynn (R)
Moneyline: St. Louis -121, Los Angeles +111
Total: 8.5
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Los Angeles
The pitching staff has been phenomenal and this team has been sharp on the road where there 29 wins leads the National League. To keep things going and win in the playoffs they need to get more offense from guys not named Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez.
If Matt Kemp could return to even 80% of what he used to be they could run away with the division.
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One of the reasons the pitching has been strong is that there are no weak spots in the rotation. Sure Dan Haren does not have the stuff or numbers of the others but he has 8 wins and is second on the team in innings because he takes the ball every turn. His bugaboo has been the long ball with 19 homers in 19 starts.
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Not so much a factor against a team like St. Louis but something he needs to clean up.
St. Louis
The Cards have been playing some inspired ball to get within a game of Milwaukee at the break. The challenge is so have the Reds and the Pirates who are nipping at their heels.
The pitching, though broken down at times, has been solid but the bats have disappeared. This has always been a team that could hit but they have really struggled in that area this season.
Matt Holiday looks like he has aged a ton since the World Series and there are maybe two player in the lineup who are contributing like you would expect. Halfway through the season this is more than just a slump.
Lance Lynn just keeps chugging along. On a staff with All-Star starter Adam Wainwright it is hard to get a lot of attention but Lynn is having another solid year with a 10-6 record.
He has been especially sharp at home where he is 6-2 with an ERA of just 2.83. He faced the Dodgers last month though and it wasn’t pretty. It was his shortest outing of the season as he gave up 9 hits and 6ER in just 2 innings.
Look for St. Louis to keep the good times rolling coming out of the break. These are two very good teams and this should be a fun series but the Cards will grab the upper hand on Friday night.
A fun thing to look at might be the series price on L.A. as they are lining up Zach Greinke and Clayton Kershaw.
Total prediction: Under
Score prediction: St. Louis 4 – Los Angeles 3
