By: Willie Bee
MLB odds makers opened St. Louis in the -125 to -130 range, numbers that have held for the most part overnight. We'll call it -130 for a consensus. The total, which I've been sucking hind teat betting most of the schedule, started at 7-flat and was initially priced 20 cents to the high side before dropping to -115 at most of the online sportsbooks listed on SBRodds.com.
Los Angeles posted a mild upset in Monday's series opener, taking a 5-3 decision on a +130 line. Luis Cruz's second career homer proved to be the big hit early on to stake the Dodgers and Chad Billingsley to an early lead they never relinquished. The victory extended LA's recent dominance over St. Louis to eight straight games.
Kershaw, with a couple of exceptions, has been outstandingagainst the Cardinals during his brief career. That includes his performance in Game 2 of the 2009 NLDS when he faced Wainwright coincidentally. Wainwright actually had the better linescore in the contest, but was done in by Cardinals relievers and defense.
One thing we've come to expect when the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals get together is at least one top-notch pitching matchup. And that's certainly the case Tuesday night when the old National League rivals continue their series at Busch Stadium.
2011 NL Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw is on tap for the Dodgers, and he'll be opposed by Adam Wainwright with the initial MLB odds putting me firmly in LA's corner for the contest. Thought I'd mention that upfront for those of you who really don't want to read the rest of this preview. Anyone who wants to find out if I might change my mind in the next few hundred words will need to read on.
Kershaw, with a couple of exceptions, has been outstandingagainst the Cardinals during his brief career. That includes his performance in Game 2 of the 2009 NLDS when he faced Wainwright coincidentally. Wainwright actually had the better linescore in the contest, but was done in by Cardinals relievers and defense.
Kershaw's complete game shutout in Los Angeles back in May is also part of the mix. In fact, dating back to his six shutout innings against the Cards in St. Louis last August, he's working on a 15-inning string of zeroes vs. their lineup. About the only thing not to like about the port-sider is LA's 0-3 record in his last three assignments away from Chavez Ravine.
Wainwright hasn't been a hound's breakfast vs. the Dodgers himself. It has been more than two years since the big righthander last faced them, but eight career starts have produced five wins for the Redbirds while Wainwright fashioned a 3.10 ERA. One loss was the aforementioned '09 playoff game, and another was a complete-game effort in which St. Louis fell by a 2-1 count.
He has dropped his last two starts, the most recent due to poor glove work behind him, and the Cards are 3-6 in Wainwright's last nine assignments. Roughed up in his first four home starts (1-3, 9.77 ERA), Wainwright has since turned that around with a 2.70 ERA in his six subsequent outings at Busch.
A key to Monday's game was the Dodgers having enough of a cushion to get the ball to Kenley Jansen for the ninth inning. We discussed the LA bullpen situation in our preview for Game 1, and manager Don Mattingly revealed Monday just how desperate things had become for his team this past weekend in New York when he was about to bring in first baseman James Loney to pitch Sunday afternoon. Loney never got his chance as the Dodgers managed to beat the Mets with a big 12th inning to prevent Mattingly from having to resort to his big first sacker to make his pitching debut.
Mattingly should have both Javy Guerra and Josh Lindblom back to help bridge into the ninth, and he could even save Guerra for closing duties if he decides not to use Jansen for the fourth time in five days.
I'm going to stick with my first notion and make my pick on Kershaw and the Dodgers as underdogs.
My pick: Dodgers +120
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