Los Angeles Dodgers @ Houston Astros: Spread
Free Pick: Los Angeles -1.5
The Los Angeles Dodgers ride into Houston fresh off of a perfect six-game home stand and the owners of an eight-game winning streak. They lead all of baseball in run differential, posting a +42 through their first 13 games. The amazing thing is that they’ve done the majority of their damage without much help from Manny Ramirez, who until a two home run performance Saturday was homerless to start the year.
The Dodgers will start youngster Clayton Kershaw, who hopes to build upon a great performance in his last time out. He used a live fastball and strong changeup to limit San Francisco to only one hit and one run in seven innings of work. Kershaw struck out 13 Giants, but was left with a no-decision after the bullpen temporarily relinquished the lead.
Kershaw, who turned 21 during spring training, should have a clear advantage in the pitching matchup over Houston’s Russ Ortiz, who comes into the game sporting a robust 6.23 ERA. He’s yet to make it through five innings in any of his three starts, all of which have come after more than a year’s worth of time in the minor leagues. Ortiz has surrendered six walks in his 8.2 innings pitched, an indicator of his poor control thus far.
After losing two of three to the Cincinnati Reds, the Astros will be looking for their first home series win of the season. Wins will come tough against the left-hander Kershaw, though, as lefties this season have held the Astros to a .222 batting average. The last time Houston faced a southpaw was April 13th, when much maligned Zach Duke of the Pittsburgh Pirates tossed a complete game shutout.
The Dodgers are the play here, on the run line. They should get to Ortiz early and often, which spells trouble for a bullpen that’s been taxed early in the season. Meanwhile, Kershaw should have no trouble with this uncharacteristically weak hitting lineup on his way to a relatively easy victory.
Pick: LA Dodgers (Kershaw must pitch) -1.5 +115
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