Clayton Kershaw (4-3, 3.73 ERA) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (31-24) meet Jaime Garcia (1-2, 2.70 ERA) and the St. Louis Cardinals (37-18) in the third of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium. The Cardinals won the last game 2-1 and St. Louis leads the series 2-0. The game gets underway at 10:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jun. 6 and will air on FSN-MW and SportsNet LA.
Kershaw has a 3.46 ERA and a 5-5 record in his career against the Cardinals, and faces a strong St. Louis offense that’s hitting .267 on the year. Adrian Gonzalez (.338, 37 Rs, 11 HRs, 39 RBIs) went 1 for 2 yesterday. In his pitching opportunities against the Dodgers, Garcia is 2-1 with a 5.31 ERA. He meets a solid Los Angeles offense that’s batting .259. Jhonny Peralta (.317, 27 Rs, 8 HRs, 32 RBIs, 1 SB) went 1 for 4 yesterday.
Los Angeles is a heavy -190 favorite at home and the Over/Under (O/U) for this matchup is set at six runs. The Dodgers are 28-20 as the favorite and have an overall money line of -53. The Dodgers are a power hitting team with 74 home runs, one of the highest totals in the MLB. The Dodgers typically don’t swing at bad pitches, which has led to an NL-high 3.7 walks per game. As for the pitching staff, the Dodgers are fifth in the league in WHIP at 1.21. The have been extremely effective at striking opposing batters out at Dodger Stadium, leading the NL with 9.4 strikeouts per home game.
Moving on to the away team, the Cardinals come into this game with a win percentage of .438 when playing as the underdog (7-9) and an overall money line of +1,571. Over the last 10 games, they were unbeaten as the underdog with a perfect 1-0 record and 8-2 SU. The last 10 games have really brought the best out of the St. Louis pitchers. They’ve allowed 2.1 runs per game during that span, which is lower than their season average of 2.9.
The Cardinals are 4-1 against the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers will take on a left-hander (Garcia) in this game. They have struggled against left-handed starting pitchers this season, going 2-6. Taking the hill against the Cardinals will be the left-hander Kershaw. They sport a 6-5 record against southpaws.
Predictions: SU Winner – LAD, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after 7 innings, St. Louis is 13-4, while Los Angeles is 10-11.
Having scored one run in their last game, the Dodgers are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Cardinals have a 19-1 record in games where opponents scored that many runs or fewer.
It looks like the Cardinals have a slight leg up on the Dodgers, as the Cardinals have won their last four games while the Dodgers have lost their last three.
When they outhit their opponents, the Cardinals are 25-7. The Dodgers have a 23-5 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 17th in runs, St. Louis has earned 226 this season. Los Angeles ranks fifth with 246 runs.
Ranking 12th, St. Louis is in the top half of the league in walks, notching 174 this season. Los Angeles ranks in the top five at second with 202.
The Dodgers are 27-13 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Cardinals are 22-6 when they hit at least one homer.
