The Dodgers, who continue to own baseball’s best record, send out red-hot left-hander Clayton Kershaw (8-5, 2.96 ERA) for the third game of a four-game set at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals and Joel Pineiro (9-9, 2.95).
St. Louis continued its domination of the Dodgers with a 10-0 rout on Tuesday, which followed Monday’s 6-1 victory. The Cardinals are now 43-20 in the last 63 meetings with Los Angeles and 26-8 in the last 34 at Busch Stadium. Tony LaRussa’s squad is on additional positive surges of 6-1 at home, 6-1 against the N.L. West and 17-4 against teams with a winning percentage above .600.
L.A. has now lost three in a row and four of its last five. On the bright side, it is still 5-2 in its last seven against the N.L. Central and 10-6 in its last 16 against righty starters.
The Dodgers are 7-1 in Kershaw’s last eight starts, with the lone defeat coming last Friday at home against Florida. In that contest, Kershaw allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits and three walks in six innings of a 6-3 setback. The southpaw had previously surrendered a total of three earned runs over a seven-start stretch that covered 42 2/3 innings (0.63 ERA), and he wasn’t scored on in five of those contests.
Kershaw is 5-3 with a 4.41 ERA in nine road starts this season, and he’s 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two career starts against St. Louis. L.A. has won five straight road games behind Kershaw and is on further runs behind the lefty of 7-1 against N.L. Central foes and 5-1 against winning teams.
The Cardinals have won four in a row and five of six backing Pineiro, including an 8-1 rout at Philadelphia last Friday, in which the righty threw six shutout innings of four-hit ball, walking just one. Pineiro is 4-1 with a 1.37 ERA over his last six starts, including a pair of complete games.
Pineiro is 4-4 with a 2.40 ERA in eight home starts this season, and he’s won both of his two career starts against Los Angeles, despite a 4.72 ERA. His current 4-1 upswing followed a stretch in which he took the loss in five consecutive starts and eight out of nine.
The Dodgers are on “over” runs of 5-2-1 overall, 10-3 on the road and 12-6 against right-handed starters. On the flip side, the Cardinals are on “under” streaks of 9-4 overall, 20-9 at home (6-1 in their last seven) and 6-1 against the N.L. West, and the total has stayed low in five of Pineiro’s last six starts, including the last three in a row.
Finally, the under has been the play in seven of the last 11 meetings in this rivalry.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N.Y. Yankees (61-39) at Tampa Bay (55-46)
Right-hander Joba Chamberlain (6-2, 3.86 ERA) leads the torrid Yankees into the finale of a three-game set against the A.L. East rival Rays, who will counter with fellow righty Matt Garza (7-7, 3.68) at Tropicana Field.
After getting drubbed 11-4 in Monday’s opener, Tampa Bay came back and evened this series with Tuesday’s 6-2 victory. The Rays are on a lengthy 89-36 streak at home dating to last season and are on further upticks of 6-2 in division play and 20-8 at the Trop against teams with a winning road record.
The Yankees have still won 10 of their last 12 and are on additional surges of 46-22 overall, 9-4 on the road, 7-2 in division play and 16-6 against winning teams.
These rivals have now split 10 meetings this season, but the visitor has won six of the last nine. Also, New York has won four in a row against Garza.
The Yankees are 11-3 in Chamberlain’s last 14 starts, including an 8-3 home rout of Oakland last Friday when the 23-year-old yielded just one run on two hits and three walks over seven innings, striking out six. Chamberlain hasn’t been dealt a loss on the road this year, going 4-0 with a 3.26 ERA in eight outings, though New York is only 4-4 in those contests.
Chamberlain has just one start against Tampa in his eight appearances (0-0, 1.88 ERA), and that was a 4-3 home win on June 7 in which he allowed all three runs on five hits and a walk in six innings, getting a no-decision. New York is 5-1 in Chamberlain’s last six outings overall, but the Yanks are 1-4 behind the righty on the road against opponents with a winning record.
The Rays are 4-2 in Garza’s last six trips to the mound, including 2-0 in the last two. On Friday at Toronto, the 25-year-old pitched a complete-game five-hitter, matching Roy Halladay, who also went nine innings, and Tampa scored twice in the 10th for a 4-2 victory. Tampa Bay is 8-3 in Garza’s last 11 division starts and 6-2 in his last eight home outings.
Garza is 4-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 10 home outings this year, and he’s 1-2 with a 3.79 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) against New York. He was opposite Chamberlain in the June 7 contest, allowing one run on four hits and two walks in five innings but got a no-decision in the Rays’ loss.
The under for New York is on runs of 8-3-1 overall and 9-4-1 against A.L. East foes, but otherwise the team is on “over” streaks of 5-1 on the road, 6-3 on artificial turf and 5-1 with Chamberlain on the mound. For Tampa, the under is on stretches of 36-17-1 overall, 10-3 in division play, 24-7-1 against righty starters, 13-3-1 behind Garza and 5-0 with Garza facing a winning team.
Finally the over has hit in six of the last eight Yanks-Rays clashes at Tropicana Field.
Inside the lines 7/29
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