Dodgers (63-50) vs Cardinals (66-47)
It only took Los Angeles 2 pitches to knock Cardinals starter Shelby Miller out of the game last night – courtesy of a Carl Crawford liner to the elbow. After he was ready to go they absolutely drilled Jake Westbrook who was supposed to start today’s game and in hindsight was obviously not ready to go.
Thursday August 8
Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO
8:15PM
Probable Starters:
LAD: Hyun Jin Ryu (L)
STL: Carlos Martinez (R)
Moneyline: St. Louis -110, Los Angeles -110
O/U: 8.5
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Los Angeles
OF Andre Ethier and 2B Skip Schumacher were the big bats as they each drove in 4 runs while L.A. exploded for 13 runs in the victory. Los Angeles is certainly winning every which way these days and yesterday’s events set up a great chance to keep winning today as St. Louis scrambles for pitching.
I think it is safe to say that things are working out pretty well with import pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu.
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The Dodgers have won his last 7 starts as he has made major contributions to the team’s success over the last couple of months. That includes 4 road wins though his splits show that he is a stronger pitcher in the confines of Chavez Revine.
Ryu has never pitched against St. Louis which has been proving to have a boom or bust lineup of late. He can be deceptive the first time you see him so the advantage could be with the Dodgers here. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
St. Louis
At 19 games over .500 the Cardinals are hardly a hard luck team but last night’s events may have set them back for today. St. Louis is now hoping to exit the series with the Dodgers intact and with a split as they try and chase down Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
With a rookie hurler on the mound they would have liked to have C Yadier Molina behind the dish, both for defense and for his .330 average, but there is still more than enough firepower in the lineup, especially against a lefty like Ryu.
Carlos Martinez is getting his first start in the Big Leagues tonight. He has made 10 appearances with the club and while the overall results are not impressive if you look at the game logs you can see that he was burned by a couple of bad outings and a small sample size. St. Louis has a great track record of late with pitching prospects so they are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle once again.
At AAA he has a 1.76 ERA though 10 starts and it is that work that has earned him the spot today, though facing the Dodgers right now is not easy task.
I think the rookie Martinez will show just fine tonight but it won’t be quite enough.
The Dodgers are kind of magic right now and will emerge victorious in a game where lack of familiarity will keep both team’s bats from teeing off too much. Nice value on the Dodgers who have been cashing a lot of tickets lately. No reason not to stick with them tonight.
O/U Pick: Under Score
Prediction: Los Angeles 4 – St. Louis 3
