Now that the NCAA football betting future in Southern California is in doubt, the focus has shifted to the Dodgers. The Dodgers are 5-5 in their last 10 games, but they are riding a three game winning streak. They have closed the gap with San Diego by a couple of games, and the Dodgers have brought themselves to within two and a half games of the Giants, who lead the NL wild card race. To add insult to injury, the Dodgers won the first game of this series with the Padres.
The Padres have won seven of their last 10 but, as was mentioned, they were clipped by the Dodgers in game one of this series. The Padres continue to drop to the bottom of the NL in almost every hitting statistic. If it were not for their NL leading pitching staff with a staff ERA of 3.26, the Padres would not even be in this pennant dogfight.
The MLB betting crowd is not going to be too impressed with the Dodgers if they cannot start winning on the road. Their win over the Padres in the first game of this series still leaves them at 22-25 on the road, a full three games under .500. A team that cannot win on the road has no hope of going very far in the playoffs, especially when that team will not have any home field advantage in the playoffs. Of the three teams fighting it out for the NL West pennant, the Dodgers have the best home record at 32-21, but that road record needs to be remedied immediately.
The Dodgers are off to a good start in getting their road legs back, and for this game they send Vicente Padilla to the mound. Padilla has a 4-3 record and a respectable 3.41 ERA. He lost some time due to injury, but he is gaining his strength back and becoming the reliable pitcher that the Dodgers need.
The Padres send Mat Latos and his 11-4 record to the mound for this game. Latos is typical of the effectiveness of the Padres' starting rotation as he boasts a 2.48 ERA. Latos may be a little vulnerable for the Dodgers as he is just coming of a two week stint on the injured list. His first start back from injury was a seven strikeout win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was shaky in the beginning of the game, but as he warmed up he got much better.
The Dodgers need to get on Latos early and put some runs on the board. Padilla can hold off the woeful Padre bats and allow the Dodgers to pull away. Latos may be feeling better, but he may not be enough to win this one for the Padres.
Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2
