The Dodgers take baseball’s best record on the road for the first time in the second half as they send lefty Randy Wolf (5-4, 3.45 ERA) to the mound to face Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter (8-3, 2.26) in the first of four at Busch Stadium.
Los Angeles has won six of its last eight but fell to the Marlins on Sunday, 8-6. The Dodgers are on positive runs of 5-0 against the N.L. Central, 5-1 on Mondays, 7-2 in series openers, 5-2 on the road and 35-17 against right-handed starters.
The Cardinals lost two of three in Philly over the weekend, falling 14-6 on Saturday and 9-2 on Sunday. They are just 3-8 in their last 11 against southpaws. However they are 6-1 in their last seven series openers and 4-1 against N.L. West squads. Also, St. Louis has owned Los Angeles in recent years, going 41-20 in the last 61 meetings overall and 24-8 in the last 32 at Busch Stadium.
Wolf has allowed three earned runs or fewer in five straight starts, including Tuesday when he held the Reds to two runs in 7 1/3 innings of a 12-3 win in Los Angeles. The veteran lefty is a solid 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA on the road and gave up just two runs in 6 1/3 innings last time out on the highway, an 11-2 win over the Mets. With Wolf on the hill, the Dodgers are on runs of 10-4 overall, 7-2 in series openers, 8-2 against the N.L. Central and 4-0 on the road against winning teams.
Carpenter has been outstanding in his last four starts, going 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA as he’s allowed a total of six runs in 29 innings, including eight innings of shutout baseball against the Diamondbacks in his most recent home start. Including that victory, Carpenter is 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA in five outings at Busch Stadium. With Carpenter pitching, St. Louis is on positive streaks of 82-35 overall, 43-14 at home, 31-9 in series openers, 20-6 against the N.L. West and 4-0 lifetime against L.A.
Wolf is 3-4 with a 3.70 ERA in nine career starts versus the Redbirds, while Carpenter is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA against the Dodgers, including a no-decision last year when he scattered three hits in five scoreless innings, with St. Louis winning 6-4 in 11 innings.
The Dodgers are on “over” runs of 9-2 on the road, 11-5 against right-handed starters and 5-3 with Wolf working on the highway. With Carpenter on the hill, St. Louis is on “under” tears of 38-18-1 at home and 8-3-1 in series openers, while as a team, the Cardinals are on “under” streaks of 8-3 overall, 8-2 against southpaws, 4-0 in series openers, 5-0 at home and 5-0 against the N.L. West. Finally, the under has been the play in six of the last nine meetings in this rivalry.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N.Y. Yankees (60-38) at Tampa Bay (54-45)
The streaking Yankees head to Florida to open a three-game set against the Rays with right-hander A.J. Burnett (9-4, 3.74 ERA) on the mound opposite Tampa Bay righty James Shields (6-6, 3.70) at Tropicana Field.
New York capped a 9-1 homestand with Sunday’s 7-5 victory over the A’s. The Yankees have catapulted themselves into first place in the A.L. East by winning 45 of their last 66 overall. They are also on runs of 8-3 on the road, 14-2 against right-handed starters, 7-1 in series openers, 6-1 against A.L. East foes and 15-5 against teams with winning records.
Tampa took two of three in Toronto over the weekend, but lost Sunday 5-1. Despite that setback, the Rays carry several positive streaks into this series, including 88-35 at home, 5-1 against the A.L. East, 4-1 in series openers, 65-20 at home against right-handers and 19-7 at home against opponents with a winning road record.
These rivals have split eight meetings so far this year, with the road team winning five of the last seven.
Burnett is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA in his last three starts. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last 10 outings, and he’s turned in at least six innings in 14 of his last 15 trips to the hill. The Yankees have won five straight and eight of 10 behind Burnett, and the veteran right-hander is 5-3 with a 3.81 ERA in his nine road starts.
Burnett is 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA in 18 career starts against Tampa Bay, including 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in two contests this year. However, the Rays are 6-2 the last eight times they’ve seen Burnett going back to his days with Toronto.
Shields pitched well in Chicago on Wednesday, giving up two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but his bullpen couldn’t protect a 3-1 lead and Tampa Bay fell 4-3 to the White Sox. Still the Rays are on streaks behind Shields of 27-9 at home, 4-1 in series openers, 4-1 on Monday and 8-2 when pitching after a Rays loss.
The Rays are just 1-7 in Shields’ last eight starts against the Yankees, but the win came in September last season when the right-hander blanked them on five hits over eight innings in a 7-1 road victory. Prior to that triumph, Shields had been 1-5 with a 6.86 ERA in his first seven career starts versus New York.
With Burnett on the hill, the Yankees are on “under” runs of 6-0 overall, 6-1 in series openers, 5-0 against the A.L. East and 4-0 against teams with a winning record. As a team, New York has topped the total in four straight on the road, but stayed under the number in eight of 12 against the A.L. East and four straight against right-handed starters.
With Shields pitching, the Rays have stayed low in eight of 11 overall, six of his last eight at home and eight of his last 10 against the A.L. East. As a team, Tampa is on “under” runs of 8-1 overall, 6-1 in series openers, 9-2 against the A.L. East and 24-6-1 against right-handed starters.
Finally, in this rivalry, the over has been the play in five of the last six clashes at Tropicana Field.
Inside the lines 7/27
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