Phillies vs Dodgers Baseball Picks
Philly saw their three game winning streak snapped against LA on Wednesday night, dropping them below .500 on the season.
Philadelphia Phillies (10-11) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (13-9)
Thursday April 24
Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
10:10PM
Probable Pitchers
PHI: Kyle Kendrick (R)
LAD: Dan Haren (R)
Moneyline: Los Angeles -180, Philadelphia 165
Total: 7.5
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Philadelphia
They have not gotten off to a terrible start but they have been very erratic when you look at their game scores, winning and losing by big margins without much in the way of rhyme or reason.
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Chase Utley has cooled but he is still hitting .384 while Ryan Howard sometimes looks like the slugger he was when he had 6 season of thirty or more homers in a row.
The question is how long can these two maintain those levels of performance.
If the Phillies are going to compete this season Kendrick is going to have to keep pitching well. He may not have his first victory but with a 3.60 ERA he is giving the Phillies pretty good opportunities to win out of the 4th starter slot.
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So far this season he has performed better on the road than at home. Being in the warm of L.A. and in a pitcher’s park is a nice combination for getting a good outing from him.
Los Angeles
The Dodgers are in first place even though they have only a 5-6 home record this season…interesting. They have a small lead over SF but this team has yet to hit its stride offensively, averaging just 4 runs per game despite an expensive roster.
OF Yasiel Puig has certainly not been the monster that we was last season and now there are all sorts of rumours about him which could be affecting others. He is not alone, as fellow OFs Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford have been pretty absent too.
When the Dodgers inked Dan Haren in the offseason I thought it was a brilliant addition of the back of their rotation. L.A. is certainly thinking so too at this point as Haren has been brilliant so far with a 3-0 record and sterling 2.16 ERA.
I know it is early but for the first time in three seasons he is not giving up more than hit per inning.
Combined with his low walk rate there are just not that many base runners make it it easy to stay out of trouble with the long ball.
I am not sure that Haren and Kendrick a capable of a traditional pitcher’s duel but I think this one will be low scoring. Go with the home and the under.
There is not a lot of value on the side so the total is the way to play it. L.A. is primed to go for a run at any moment it seems.
Total prediction: Under
Score prediction: Los Angeles 3 – Philadelphia 2
