StatFox.com - Sports Handicapping Community

The Leader In Sports Handicapping

Cubs, Dodgers clash in LA Friday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 8/28/2015  at  9:35:00 AM
  Print This Article    

CHICAGO CUBS (73-53)

at LOS ANGELES DODGERS (70-56)

First pitch: Friday, 10:10 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -195, Chicago +182, Total: 6

A couple of National League clubs looking to extend their season into the playoffs, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, begin a series on Friday night.

It has been a quick turn-around for the Cubs as they went from being one of the worst teams in baseball to a force to be reckoned with in a tough division. They have gone on a recent tear, and since July 27th are 22-7 despite failing to win the last two games against the Giants. Over the three-game set they were outscored 18-11 and were manhandled by a score of 9-1 on Thursday when the offense managed a meager three hits and were just 1-for-4 with RISP. OF Kyle Schwarber (.273) has been huge since joining the big league club and already has 12 long balls in his 44 games with four of them coming in the last 10 contests. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 2.5 games over San Francisco despite going a poor 3-5 in their most recent eight-game road trip. They had lost each of the first five games on the trip, but salvaged some victories with a sweep of the Reds in which they outscored Cincinnati 13-5. They capped off the set with a 1-0 win on Thursday, going 2-for-10 with RISP and backing the outstanding effort (7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 9 K) from starter Zack Greinke. It will be interesting to see if OF Yasiel Puig (.256) is able to play as he is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak, going 13-for-38 (.342) with two homers, four RBIs and five runs during that time. A great pitching matchup will take place in this one as RHP Jason Hammel (7-5, 3.35 ERA) of Chicago goes against one of the true aces in the game; LHP Clayton Kershaw (10-6, 2.29 ERA). The Cubs have been a fantastic road team this year, going 35-27 (.565) when traveling as they go up against one of the best road teams in Los Angeles who are 42-20 (.677) at home. Since 2013, these two clubs have played each other 18 times with the Dodgers holding a 12-6 edge overall while going 3-3 at home during that time. They played a four-game series at Wrigley Field back in late June, and the teams split the four contests with L.A. outscoring the Cubs 11-7. Trends show that Chicago is 16-5 (.762) on the road when the total is seven or less this season as it is a meager 27-43 (.386) after having won five or six of its last seven contests in the past three years. There are plenty of injuries that could affect the outcome of this game with OF Dexter Fowler (Shin) questionable and OF Jorge Soler (Oblique) possibly shelved for Chicago while 1B Adrian Gonzalez (Knee) and OF Yasiel Puig (Hamstring) are questionable for the Dodgers with 2B Howie Kendrick (Hamstring) on the DL.

Hammel is in the midst of a career year and has been solid over the past few years, posting an ERA lower than 3.50 in two of the last three seasons. Only once during that time did he have double-digit wins as he failed to get more than 26 starts in both 2012 and 2013. One key factor for his success this year has been his career-best strikeout numbers (9.1 K/9) and control (1.9 BB/9). The one issue that the righty faces are homers (1.25 HR/9), but his numbers seem sustainable with a FIP (Fielder Independent Pitching) mark of 3.64. Hammel has failed to give his club many innings in recent starts, getting through at least six frames just twice in his last 10 outings, with his team going 5-5 in that time. The 32-year-old has had issues against the Dodgers in his career, going 2-4 (6-5 team record) with a 4.94 ERA (1.52 WHIP), but dominated them (7.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 6 K) in a winning effort back in June. OF Andre Ethier has pegged Hammel for nine hits in 27 at-bats (.333) and taken him yard twice (9 RBIs). On the other hand, SS Jimmy Rollins (3-for-17, 1 HR, 4 RBIs) and 1B Adrian Gonzalez (6-for-35, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 7 K) have each gone yard against him, but have struggled overall. The Chicago bullpen has gone 30-20 with a 3.55 ERA (1.26 WHIP) and they have gone 38-for-54 (70%) in save chances. Hector Rondon (1.55 ERA, 24 saves) has four blown saves on the year and has given up a mere 43 hits in 58 innings of work.

Kershaw has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball going back to the 2009 campaign and after a rough start to this year, has settled back in to his dominant self. Over his last nine starts he has given up a total of seven runs and is 5-0 as he posted five performances of at least eight innings and zero runs allowed during that stretch. In that time he also owned an 82:7 K/BB ratio in 70 innings of work. Overall he is striking out a career-high 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings and has continued to show amazing control (1.6 BB/9). Kershaw is also getting the opposition to hit it on the ground a career-best 52.6% of the time and that has aided him in once again doing a great job of keeping the ball in the park (0.61 HR/9). He’s been solid over seven starts against the Cubs, going 4-3 with a 2.36 ERA (1.14 WHIP), but failed to get the victory against them in June after going seven innings with three runs allowed on four hits. OF Dexter Fowler is questionable for this one, but if he is able to play he should give his team a boost as he is 17-for-40 (.425) with three extra-base hits against the lefty while the SS Starlin Castro and C Miguel Montero are a combined 8-for-49 (.163) with 16 strikeouts in the matchup. The Dodgers relievers have gone 23-23 with a 4.14 ERA (1.30 WHIP) and have successfully saved 34-of-53 (64%) games. Kenley Jansen (2.52 ERA, 25 saves) has 63 strikeouts with a mere 22 hits allowed over 35.2 innings of work.


FoxSheets.com
The FoxSheets - the most advanced sports handicapping information available on the internet.
Sign up for professional sports betting information including fantastic trends, and Free FoxSheets.
E-mail: