Heated Rivals
Despite being in a bit of a funk, the Los Angeles Dodgers open the final week of the season atop the NL West and very much in control of their fate.
The Dodgers look to bounce back from a disappointing series against one of the league’s worst teams when they open a three-game set against the last-place San Diego Padres on Tuesday.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Los Angeles -235 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 7.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 88% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles -235 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
NL West-leading Los Angeles (81-75) had a 4 1/2-game edge over second-place Arizona last Tuesday, but that lead is now two games. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the West for the first time since 2004 is five.
Los Angeles suffered a 1-0, 11-inning loss to San Francisco on Sunday, and has dropped three of five games since winning 14 of 16. The Dodgers scored 10 runs in Saturday’s win over the Giants, but plated one total run in losing the other two games of the series.
"We know what we have to do," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre told the team’s official Web site. "We’re not looking for any help. We assume we have to win our games to get the magic number to zip. We control our destiny and we want to earn it by doing it."
While Los Angeles has been struggling somewhat, it’s had plenty of success against the Padres (61-95) this month, taking five of six meetings.
That’s due in large part to Manny Ramirez, who has four homers and 10 RBIs against San Diego in August, and Andre Ethier, who batted .591 (13-for-22) with a homer, five RBIs and nine runs in the six contests. Ethier had two hits Sunday and is batting .442 with 14 RBIs in his last 13 games.
Chad Billingsley (15-10, 3.22 ERA) takes the ball in Tuesday’s opener looking to bounce back from his worst outing of the season. He’ll also try to help the Dodgers avoid consecutive losses for the first time since an eight-game slide Aug. 22-29.
Billingsley was reached for a career-high seven runs in 4 2-3 innings of a 15-8 loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday after posting a 1.86 ERA in winning his previous three outings. The right-hander had allowed three runs or less in each of his previous 12 games, going 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA in that span.
He’ll try to get back on track at home, as he’s 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA in his last six starts at Dodger Stadium.
Billingsley has yet to defeat lowly San Diego this season. He posted a 0.45 ERA in winning his three starts versus the Padres last year, but is 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts against them in 2008.
He didn’t received much support in those outings, however, with the Dodgers totaling one run in the two games.
The Padres are coming off a 6-2 win over Washington on Sunday, and outscored the Nationals 23-9 in their first three-game road sweep since July 24-26, 2006 at Dodger Stadium.
Adrian Gonzalez hit his 35th homer Sunday, and is batting .372 (16-for-43) with six home runs, 17 RBIs and 12 runs in his last 10 games. The All-Star first baseman, though, is 3-for-21 (.143) with a homer and two RBIs in the six games versus the Dodgers this month.
Despite being in the majors for less than three weeks, rookie Wade LeBlanc (1-1, 5.63) is scheduled to start against Los Angeles for the third time Tuesday.
After allowing five runs and eight hits in four innings in his major league debut, a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers on Sept. 3, LeBlanc gave up one run and five hits in six innings of San Diego’s 6-2 defeat to Los Angeles on Sept. 9.
In his only other start Sept. 15, the left-hander allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings of an 11-5 win over Colorado, his first career victory.
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