Philadelphia (38-41) vs. Los Angeles (35-42)
For a moment it looked like the Philadelphia Phillies were going to start mounting a charge in the National League East. But with inconsistency in their everyday lineup and throughout the rotation (except for Cliff Lee) it just hasn’t happened.
Thursday June 27
Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
10:10PM
Probable Starters:
PHI: Jonathan Pettibone (R)
LAD: Zach Greinke (R)
Moneyline: Los Angeles -181, Philadelphia +166
O/U: 7.5
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Philadelphia
Philadelphia did take two of three from their road series against San Diego though and will be looking to continue their winning ways against Los Angeles, another sputtering team.
The Phils really need one of their veteran bats to come alive. OF Domonic Brown appears to have sorted a few things out at the plate this season but he has cooled of late.
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Rookie Jonathan Pettibone is on his first tour of the Majors and things are not going so great. His overall numbers are respectable but he has been getting hammered of late (ERA over 6 in last three starts) and he has been horrible on the road (again an ERA over 6).
There have been moments though that make you think he could live up to the standards set by other members of the Phillies rotation but they have been few and far between. It is going to take one of those for the Phillies to win on Thursday night in the opener.
Los Angeles
It just might be that the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally coming together. While the rest of the National League West is on losing streaks L.A. has won five in a row to close the gap to just 6 games behind Arizona. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
They are still a good week away from being a .500 team but in a division where 4 of the 5 teams are below that mark they appear to have as good a chance as anybody. OF Matt Kemp returned to the lineup this week and if he can refind his stroke and combine that with the hot bat of OF Yasiel Puig, who is getting All-Star buzz, the lineup could be formidable.
Starter Zach Greinke has not enjoyed a great first season with the Dodgers. He was out of the lineup for a month due to inury (from a brawl) and since then has struggled to get into a groove. When he is on he can be as good as any pitcher in baseball. Case in point, his last time out he struck out a season high 8 Padres in a commanding win.
If the Dodgers are going to ultimately get back into the race they are going to need a lot more of those kinds of performances from him and other members of the rotation.
Both teams are on winning streaks in this one so something has to give. It is hard not to like Greinke over the unproven Pettibone, especially at home. It feels like the Dodgers have lots of room to grow this streak (Blue Jays style) and it might take running into a command pitching performance to stop them right now.
I just don’t expect that from Pettibone at this stage, on the road, where he has struggled greatly.
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Los Angeles 5 – Philadelphia 2
