Lowe Faces Padres
Chris Young and Derek Lowe have already turned in one pitcher’s duel this season in the Southern California rivalry between the San Diego Padres (6-5) and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Six days later, the two starters will try to do it again Saturday night when the NL West rivals continue their weekend series at Dodger Stadium.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Los Angeles -126 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 56% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles -126 (View MLB Bet Percentages). Bet this game.
Young (1-0, 2.13 ERA) and Lowe (0-0, 2.25) met at Petco Park on Sunday last weekend as Los Angeles (4-6) won the decisive game of that series, 3-2.
Both starters pitched well in that game, but neither received a decision. Young gave up two runs and five hits over seven innings, but he had trouble with the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier.
Ethier hit a leadoff homer in the second inning for the first run of the game. Then, with Young trying to protect a 2-1 lead, Ethier led off with a single in the seventh, stole second and scored on Russell Martin’s double.
"The pitch to Ethier I didn’t locate very well," said Young, who struck out eight. "Then in the seventh, he had a tough at-bat and I thought I had him struck out. But he fouled off the ball. He was able to get a hit, you have to give him credit."
Lowe pitched six innings for Los Angeles, allowing two runs and five hits. He finished with six strikeouts and one walk.
"When you face (Jake) Peavy and Young, you know runs are hard to come by, and you know you have to bear down," Lowe told the Dodgers’ official Web site.
Young is making his first road start after going just 4-5 with a 4.52 ERA in 17 such outings in 2007. He went 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two outings last season at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers have won seven of Lowe’s last 10 starts, including both in 2008.
This is the second straight good pitching matchup in this series, but Peavy and the Dodgers’ Brad Penny weren’t at their best Friday. Peavy won by giving up three runs and nine hits despite striking out only four over six innings in a 7-5 victory.
Penny took the loss, throwing 119 pitches and allowing four runs and 10 hits. Peavy also beat him last weekend in San Diego.
Kevin Kouzmanoff had three of San Diego’s season-high 16 hits as the Padres broke out after managing a total of only two runs in their two previous games.
Closer Trevor Hoffman also bounced back after he lost Sunday’s game by allowing Chin-lung Hu’s RBI single in the ninth inning. On Friday, the Dodgers scored a run in the ninth off Hoffman, who regrouped and struck out Jeff Kent with the bases loaded to end the game.
Here are some top trends for tonight’s matchup:
-LOWE is 15-23 (-16.3 Units) against the money line when playing on Saturday since 1997. (Team’s Record)
-SAN DIEGO is 69-54 (+17.6 Units) against the money line in road games against right-handed starters over the last 3 seasons.
by: Dave Michaels – thespread.com – Email Us
More MLB Baseball coverage from theSpread.com
– MLB news wire
– Current MLB Injuries
– 2007 MLB standings
– 2007 MLB schedule
– 2007 MLB Umpire sheet
– 2007 MLB stats
– MLB scoreboard
– Expert MLB picks
– Accuscore predictions
– Comments and discussion
– Signup for theSpread.com daily newsletter
– MLB home
