The Los Angeles Dodgers’ ( 29-20, $81 ) lead in the NL West has shrunk, but Wednesday night is still a battle of the top versus the bottom in the division as Adrian Gonzalez and the Dodgers head to the Mile High city to take on the Colorado Rockies ( 22-26, -$98 ).
ODDS ANALYSIS
These two teams will face off in the series opener on Monday for what will already be their 10th head-to-head meeting of the season, making Wednesday’s four game series finale their 13th.
So far, the Dodgers have the clear upper hand, winning seven of the previous nine games.
While Los Angeles has the better record, both head to head and overall, they’ve had more struggles than Colorado of late. The Dodgers are just one for their last four while the Rockies have won four straight heading into their series against the Dodgers, and seven of their last eight. For them, it is all about the offense that is heating up with over five runs per game.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Mike Bolsinger will take the mound for Los Angeles in Wednesday’s series finale. He dominated the Rockies to close out their last series, going six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and walking two while striking out six.
Bolsinger has been a savior for this team who has already seen two starters go down for the season with injuries.
The 27-year old right-hander has made just five starts, but is 3-1 with a 1.15 ERA and 0.957 WHIP through 31 1/3 innings of work.
He’s worked into the sixth in all of his starts, having yet to surrender more than two runs in any game, though those two runs came in six innings against the Cardinals his last time out.
Bolsinger’s early success is actually a bit of a surprise as the youngster had a 1-6 record and 5.50 ERA for Arizona in 10 games last year, his first taste of the big leagues. It seems as though the Dodgers have helped him improve as he found similar success in the minors before being called up this year with a 1.42 ERA in 19 innings at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
On the other side, the Rockies have yet to announce their starter, but it lines up to be Chad Bettis’s spot.
The 26-year old right-hander has made just four starts, but has a 2.96 ERA and a 2-0 record in 27 1/3 innings. Before the promotion, he was 2-2 with 3.97 ERA and 1.412 WHIP over 34 innings in Triple-A Albuquerque.
QUOTE TO NOTE
Bolsinger actually lost his last outing, despite another strong performance as his team was shutout by the Cardinals. Regardless of the loss, manager Don Mattingly, once again sung the youngster’s praises, saying:
“He did a nice job. Didn’t look like he had a real good curveball tonight, but he hung in there, kept pitching, mixing. I though he did a nice job for us.”
The ability to keep your team in the game even without your best stuff is key and showing he could do that only helps build confidence.
LIVE/SITUATIONAL BETTING
Until Bolsinger starts to struggle it’s hard to pick against him and the Dodgers, after all, save for his last outing, Los Angeles has the offense to give him quality run support.
Even though they play in a much less offensive-friendly ballpark, the Dodgers have scored more runs this year than their opponents in this weekday series, though these two offenses are going in opposite directions with the Dodgers struggling a bit with 10 games of two runs or fewer in their last 15, including four shutouts.
Individually, the Dodgers still have very tough outs in Gonzalez ( .991 OPS ), Joc Pederson ( .933 OPS ), Andre Ethier ( .914 OPS ), Alex Guerrero ( .979 OPS ) and Justin Turner ( .915 OPS ). It is not often a team can boast five players with an OPS over .500.
The Rockies’ individual stats are nowhere near as impressive, aside from maybe Nolan Arenado ( .889 OPS ) who leads the team in home runs ( 12 ), RBIs ( 25 ), total bases ( 99 ) and several other categories.
Meanwhile, Troy Tulowitzki (94), Carlos Gonzalez (63) and Charlie Blackmon (99) all have an OPS+ under 100.
PROP TALK
Given Arenado’s early season success and that he is a career .295 hitter at home with a .509 slugging percentage; he’s one of the best bets to find success on Wednesday night.
In just five at bats against Bolsinger, Arenado has collected two hits and an RBI.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Overall, the Dodgers have the edge on the mound and at the plate, though their recent struggles with the bats allow the Rockies a chance. Still, it is hard not to hit in Coors, particularly with a team loaded with power.
Look for the Dodgers’ bats to get going again in such a hitter friendly park against a hitter friendly pitching staff. Meanwhile, bank on Bolsinger to continue his strong pitching before handing the lead over to a bullpen with the second best ERA (2.56) in the National League.
Los Angeles 7, Colorado 4
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the Colorado Rockies will commence Wednesday, June 3, 2015, at 8:10 p.m. ET at Coors Field. The matchup will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
