Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
9* LA Dodgers -132
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the home side:
Jason Hammel heads to the hill for the visitors; Hammel has gone 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA over his last six outings; he's now 2-6 with a 5.64 ERA in ten road contests after giving up four runs over seven frames in a 4-0 loss to the Mets on Thursday.
He's 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in five career appearances vs. LA.
And remember, Colorado is just 3-11 its last 14 on the road; 1-4 its last five vs. the Dodgers.
In the other dugout: Hiroki Kuroda gets the nod for the home side; Kuroda has endured bad luck; he's also been a victim of poor run support.
He's just 1-6 with a 4.05 ERA in his last eight starts, including 0-3 with a 3.75 ERA over the last four; he's received just five total runs of support over that span.
Kuroda yielded one run over seven innings at Atlanta on Friday in a 1-0 loss - his fifth defeat by shutout this year.
The Dodgers are 5-2 their last seven in front of the home town crowd; 13-6 (+4.7 units) as a home favorite in the -125 to -150 range; also 28-15 (+12.3 units) vs. division opponents; 46-38 (+3.8 units) vs. right handed starters.
Bottom line: While Colorado leads the majors with a .298 average at home, it owns the second-worst average on the road at .232.
I look for Kuroda to finally get some run support today as the LA DODGERS win big in front of the home town crowd.
SEABASS
150 Giants
100 Arizona
100 Cleveland
100 Baltimore "steam"
DEREK MANCINI
50 DIME Arizona Diamondbacks