This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
A Friday night layup. It's what dreams are made of. We're back for a nice follow up on Saturday to secure a big weekend profit on the MLB diamond. As Tiesto once said, "Let's get down, let's get down to business."
St. Louis Cardinals (+125) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (-150) | Over/Under 8
The nightcap features a heavyweight fight featuring two perennial powerhouses in the National League that have both been terrible. After the Dodgers erased a quick 2-0 deficit in the first inning last night, they never looked back en route to a strong 7-3 series-opening victory. Tonight, we see a battle between two surging southpaws. Can St. Louis even the score?
The Dodgers are 14-13 on the season, good enough for second place in an overall suffering NL West. I think most people would agree this is not the LAD team we've expected to see early on. One of the things that has made this franchise a powerhouse over the last decade or so is future first-ballot Hall of Famer, Clayton Kershaw. At the ancient age of 35, it's unclear whether Kershaw has been consulting Giselle Bundchen on witching activities or if he robbed Doc Brown at gunpoint for the keys to the DeLorean, but the guy has reclaimed the groove that won him three Cy Young Awards. With a 2.32 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and registering five consecutive quality starts, Kershaw looks back. That's not exactly what the Cardinals want to see, as they have been in a free fall, losing eight of their last 11 games.
On the other side, St. Louis is throwing Jordan Montgomery A.K.A. "J Mont or Monty." Outside of one disaster outing against Arizona, he's been really good this year, registering three quality starts in his last four tries. The good news on paper is the Dodgers have been BRUTAL against lefties this season. Batting .165 with a .629 OPS, it seems like a great spot for Montgomery to log another quality start. Despite the matchup status, this LA offense has been catching fire lately, scoring at least six runs in each of their last five wins.
Even with certain things maybe pointing to the Cardinals as a dog play, I'm going with my gut… and Clayton Kershaw. The Cardinals still have a lot of things to figure out, and I'm not going to interrupt them in their vision quest. Kershaw should stay pumping. And in order to take off some of the vig, let's bring it down to Dodgers -1.
Pick: Dodgers -1 (-105)
