The reeling Los Angeles Dodgers welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks back to Dodger Stadium tonight for game two of their three game divisional set. This evening’s NL West battle, which features hurlers Zack Greinke and Ian Kennedy, is scheduled to get underway at 10:10pm ET. MLB Free Picks & Odds have Los Angeles listed as a -134 moneyline favorite ($134 wins $100) and the Over/Under set at seven runs (Under favored at -120 odds). The Diamondbacks are drawing +124 odds to win tonight’s game and thus the series.
Los Angeles dropped its third straight game last night, falling to 27-36 after the Diamondbacks took the series opener 5-4. The Dodgers, who have scored just eight runs in their last four games, tallied 14 hits and they carried a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning; however, Brandon League got lit up for four hits and four earned runs in the final frame to give the game to Arizona.
Los Angeles, which got seven strong innings out of Clayton Kershaw in last night’s loss, will look to end its skid tonight with Zack Greinke toeing the rubber. Greinke had a series of rough outing last month after returning from the DL, but he was brilliant in his last start, allowing just four hits and zero earned runs over seven innings in a 5-0 win against the Braves.
The 36-28 Diamondback, who own a two game lead in the NL West, will counter Greinke with 28 year old right hander Ian Kennedy.
Kennedy put together a near Cy Young season in 2011, but he has not been the same since, especially this year. Kennedy enters tonight’s game with a 3-4 record and 5.72 ERA and he is coming off one of the more horrendous performances baseball fans will ever witness.
Kennedy took the hill at Busch Stadium in St. Louis last Thursday, but after allowing 13 hits (three home runs) and 10 earned runs over four innings, he, no doubt, wished he’d stayed in the dugout.
Perhaps Kennedy can bounce back against the Dodgers tonight, despite a performance against L.A. earlier this season that would indicate otherwise. Kennedy, who allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in a 7-5 home loss to the Dodgers on April 13th, is 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA in nine career starts against Los Angeles.
Notable Trends: The Diamondbacks are 5-0 in their last five games as a road dog with a total of 6 and 7 runs.
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Odds:
Arizona Diamondbacks +1.5 (-185), Over 7 (+100), +124 (Moneyline)
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 (+160), Under 7 (-120), -134 (Moneyline)
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