The Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates meet up tonight on Sunday Night Baseball. The game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the baseball odds for the game have the Dodgers favored in this close matchup on the road.
The Dodgers lost with Clayton Kershaw on Friday and suffered defeat under Mat Latos on Saturday. Can Alex Wood be the guy that leads them to a win tonight in Pittsburgh? The oddsmakers think so, making Los Angeles the favorite to get the job done on the road. Wood was traded from Atlanta in what many believed could have been a move to get a bigger piece for LA, but they ended up getting stuck with him and have said all the right things to make him part of the team.
Wood, the young lefty at just 24 years of age, is 7-7 this season with a 3.65 ERA. He's actually been a much better pitcher on the road in his 14 starts this season, holding a 3.03 ERA in 86 innings away from home. Earlier this year when he was still pitching for Atlanta, Wood threw 7 1/3 innings in Pittsburgh and allowed just five hits with no runs. He struck out eight in that game and picked up the victory for the Braves. Current Pirates are hitting .250 against him in 80 plate appearances. Only Michael Morse has taken Wood deep.
The Pirates counter with Charlie Morton tonight. He's 7-4 with a 4.19 ERA this season and has made 13 starts. Six of those have come at home, where he is 4-1 with a 2.86 ERA this year in 39 1/3 innings combined. Morton has been very good in holding opponents to a .233 average in those starts at home, as well.
Current Dodgers have had success against him, though. They're hitting .324 in 37 at bats, Andre Either has homered. Jimmy Rollins has seven base hits in just 11 at bats while Alberto Callaspo has two hits in five plate appearances. That's obviously not a big sample size, but those three have good numbers against Morton.
If Pittsburgh can pick up the sweep over the Dodgers, it proves they might be the best team in the National League. Both LA and St. Louis are in that upper echelon as well and there's no doubt they are the three best in the NL. A win here for Los Angeles could at least salvage the series.
Free Pick: Pirates
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