The Chicago Cubs will visit the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday night in the first of a three-game series. The Cubs are coming off of a road sweep of Arizona and have won four of their last five games. The Dodgers will hope to use this series to return to their winning ways at home in their final series before the All-Star break.
The Dodgers are heavily favored in MLB odds listed at -205 while the Cubs are +175. The total is 7 runs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (46-38, 25-17 home) were shut out at home on Wednesday against Florida. They have now lost seven of their last nine home games.
A visit from an NL Central team might be just what the Dodgers need to get back on track. They have been dominant against the NL Central at home this season, winning 9 of the 12 games they’ve played against teams from the Central division. They have won the last six straight by a combined score of 37-15.
The Chicago Cubs (38-47, 18-24 away) defeated Arizona 8-3 Wednesday to cap off an impressive sweep against the Diamondbacks. Aramis Ramirez had a pair of two-run homers on Tuesday and had a three-run homer in ninth. His team scored 23 runs in the three-game series.
The Cubs will have a harder time getting hits against LA starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (8-4. 3.02 ERA). He has won his last three home decisions and has a 2.25 ERA over his last five starts there.
Randy Wells (4-6, 4.67 ERA) will pitch for Chicago. He was tremendous in his last start, giving up one earned run in 7 2/3 innings last Saturday in a win against Cincinnati. He will be looking for his first win against Los Angeles after losing his first two starts. Don’t blame Wells for those losses, however, as he posted a 1.32 ERA over those two starts. His team managed just one run in each of those games.
