Cause for Celebration
Winning an interleague game on the road isn’t a cause for celebration. Forgive the Los Angeles Dodgers if they don’t feel that way.
The Dodgers look to win back-to-back interleague road games for the first time in nearly three years when they continue a three-game series Wednesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Oddsmakers have made Toronto -165 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for todays game, the over/under has been set at 8.5ov total runs (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 65% of bets for this game have been placed on oronto -165 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Brad Penny became the second nine-game winner in the NL and Russell Martin homered in his first major league game in his native Canada, leading the Dodgers to a 10-1 victory in Tuesday’s series opener.
Luis Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with four RBIs for Los Angeles (40-30), which scored a season high 10 runs for the fifth time this year.
"When you get contributions from the middle of the lineup like we did today, that’s a good sign," Gonzalez said.
The victory was only the second in 22 interleague road games for Los Angeles since the start of the 2005 season. The Dodgers had scored only six runs during a five-game road interleague skid – all against the Los Angeles Angels – before Tuesday.
They haven’t won consecutive road games against the AL since beating the Angels on July 3-4, 2004.
This series is something of a homecoming for Martin, who was born in Toronto, but grew up in Chelsea, Quebec.
"He shows us that day in and day out," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "To be able to show that to his people up here, that’s great."
Both teams got bad news about starting pitchers before Tuesday’s game. Dodgers right-hander Jason Schmidt will have shoulder surgery and is out indefinitely, while Blue Jays right-hander A.J. Burnett was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of pain in his shoulder.
Hong-Chih Kuo (1-1, 2.04 ERA) looks to give the Dodgers another strong outing when he makes his fourth start of the season Wednesday. The left-hander has been very good in his past two starts, allowing only two runs and eight hits over 13 innings while walking five and striking out 12.
Kuo limited the New York Mets to one run in seven innings on June 12 in a 4-1 victory. He also became the first player born in Taiwan to homer in a big-league game.
Kuo has never faced the Blue Jays.
Toronto (33-36) has scored three runs in its last two games – both losses – after scoring 21 during a three-game win streak.
Roy Halladay (7-2, 4.37) tries to stretch his personal win streak to four when he faces the Dodgers for the second time this month. The Toronto ace is 3-0 with a 4.38 ERA in four starts after missing 18 games because of an appendectomy. He gave up two runs and seven hits over 7 1-3 innings, striking out six and walking one Friday in a 7-2 victory over Washington.
"You’re always looking for ways to improve, things to get better at," Halladay said. "Its always been important for me not to get on that roller coaster of when things are going bad or things are going good. There’s always going to be things you want to fix, you want to improve."
One of Halladay’s wins during his current streak came against the Dodgers on June 10, when he allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings in an 11-5 victory. He is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in two career starts against them.
These teams have split four meetings this season.
by: Dave Michaels – thespread.com – Email Us
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