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The playoffs are rolling right along this Thursday with three games set to whet our betting appetite. Colorado and Philadelphia gear up for the second game of their National League Division Series. The Cards and Dodgers will be doing the same in the Senior Circuit as well. Meanwhile, the Halos welcome the Red Sox to Orange County to begin their American League Division Series.
Rockies at Phillies – 2:37 p.m. EDT
Philadelphia drew first blood with a 5-1 victory as a $1.30 home favorite on Wednesday afternoon. Cliff Lee scattered six hits and struck out five batters en route to his fourth complete game since being traded from Cleveland.
Colorado hand the starting duties for Game 2 over to right-hander Aaron Cook (11-6, 4.16 ERA). It’s going to be interesting to see which version Cook the Rockies will get on Thursday afternoon. Will they get the version that went 7-1 with a 1.91 earned run average in June and July or the Cook that posted a 1-3 mark from August 6 on? There’s reason to be hopeful after Cook pitched eight innings of four-hit ball on Oct. 1 against the Brewers. He is also 6-3 with a 4.82 ERA in 11 daytime starts this season.
Cole Hamels (10-11, 4.32 ERA) hasn’t had quite the season he wanted to after being World Series MVP. Elbow problems have plagued him for the entire year. And his last three starts won’t soothe the Phillies’ souls right now, giving up 13 earned runs in 16.2 innings of work – all three were losing efforts.
What could prove the Rockies’ undoing is the fact that they are 2-7 this season against left-handers in daytime road games.
Most sports books have installed Philadelphia as a heavy $1.60 home favorite with a total of 8 ½ .
Cardinals at Dodgers – 6:07 p.m. EDT
Joe Torre made the statement that he was not going to let the Dodgers pitch to Albert Pujols, opting to let Matt Holliday beat them instead. The gameplan worked on Wednesday night as Holliday went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts after Pujols was walked twice in LA's 5-3 victory. The only bad thing out of Game 1 for Los Angeles is the fact that they had to use five relievers after Randy Wolf lasted just 3.2 innings.
Despite the loss, the Cardinals are currently listed as $1.10 road faves with a total of eight for today's tilt.
St. Louis will send Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA) out to start Game 2 of this best-of-five series. The young righty has run into a spot of trouble recently on the mound, going 1-4 with a 2.89 ERA. Wainwright has done well against the Dodgers this season, however, as evidenced by a 1-0 record and 1.20 in two starts against them in 2009.
The Dodgers are banking on Clayton Kershaw (8-8, 2.79 ERA) to give them some momentum before heading to Busch Stadium. Los Angeles’s southpaw has been slowly ramping back up into the starting role since coming back from a shoulder injury from early September. His last two starts offered promise as he has tossed 10 innings, giving up two earned runs, 14 strikeouts and four walks. Kershaw is just 1-0 in four career starts against the Cards, but he’s held his own with a 1.82 ERA.
Red Sox at Angels – 9:37 p.m. EDT
Familiar playoff foes meet up in Anaheim with the Angels opening their division series with Boston on Thursday night. Los Angeles has enjoyed great success since Mike Scioscia took over as manager in 2000. The Halos have made the playoffs three straight years and six times in the last eight years. The Red Sox are in the postseason for the fifth time in Terry Francona’s six years as manager.
Los Angeles give the starting nod to John Lackey (11-8, 3.83 ERA) to start the series on a positive note. The Angels haven’t fared too well with their ace pitcher on the mound as they’ve lost three of his last four starts. However, that could be misleading with a two-inning performance Lackey had on Oct. 1 against Texas when there was nothing to gain from him pitching a standard outing. The Halos are just 3-14 in Lackey’s last 17 starts against the BoSox.
The Red Sox will send Jon Lester (15-8, 3.41 ERA) to start Game 1. He has earned this appearance by winning six of his last eight decisions with an ERA of 2.51 and 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. There is reason to be wary if you’re a Boston fan as Lester is just 1-1 with a 7.78 ERA in four career starts versus the Angels.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants listed the Red Sox as $1.30 series favorites (risk $130 to win $100). Needless to say that Boston is a $1.10 road “chalk” in Game 1 with a total of eight.
Los Angeles has won four of the six games the played against the Red Sox in Orange County this season.
You can reach Judd Hall via e-mail at judd@vegasinsider.com
