Chicago isn’t hitting on all cylinders quite yet but is dangerous. The Dodgers get these games at home and would love to win the series, but it figures to be a really good battle.
This series will be contested from Friday, May 26 through Sunday, May 28, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Friday and Sunday games are being shown on MLB Network while the Saturday matchup will be on FOX.
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Pitching Matchups
The Friday game will showcase Dodgers starter Alex Wood, who is 5-0 with a sparkling 1.88 ERA. He has struck out 52 batters and only walked 13 in 43 innings while holding opposing batters to an average under .200. He has been great and the peripheral numbers don’t suggest it is lucky. Jake Arrieta is also striking out better than a batter per inning, but the Cubs starter enters this game just 5-3 with a 4.80 ERA. He didn’t allow an earned run in six innings last time out and will aim to keep it rolling.
On Saturday, Los Angeles is slated to start Brandon McCarthy. He is solid when healthy but oft-injured. McCarthy is 4-1 on the season with a 3.76 ERA and should be able to put together a nice performance even against a potent Chicago lineup. The Cubs are scheduled to send out John Lackey, who is 4-4 with a 4.82 ERA. Like Arrieta, Lackey’s peripheral numbers portend a rebound.
The Sunday matchup is a titanic bout between a pair of aces. Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game and will get the ball for Los Angeles. He is 7-2 on the season with a 2.01 ERA, striking out 72 batters and walking only eight in 71.2 innings. The Cubs will counter with Jon Lester, who is 3-2 with a 3.19 ERA. Lester is striking out more than a batter per inning but has a WHIP of 1.24 and will need to be better to compete with the dominant Kershaw.
A Promising Future
The Dodgers currently sit in only third place in the National League West despite their impressive 27-20 record, as the Rockies and Diamondbacks have been even better in the earlygoing. However, Los Angeles seems likely to eventually ascend to the top spot.
They currently have a run-differential of plus-60, which is the best mark in the major leagues. The Dodgers have really solid starting pitching and are getting a nice offensive boost from a pair of top prospects who have come up to the majors in the past couple of years.
Shortstop Corey Seager is already one of the best players in the game, while Cody Bellinger was called up this season and has mashed ever since arriving. The team was pretty good without Bellinger but he adds another middle-of-the-order bat and should make a big difference the rest of the way. The Dodgers are the most talented team in the West and should prove it by the end of the year.
Past Matchup
These teams faced off at Wrigley Field in April and the Cubs came away with two wins in the three games, and all of them were low-scoring. Chicago won the opener, 3-2, as Anthony Rizzo sliced the game-winning hit to left field in the bottom of the ninth.
The Dodgers bounced back in the second game, claiming a 2-0 win as McCarthy was really good, holding Chicago to four hits over six shutout innings. That set up the rubber game, which the Cubs won, 4-0, behind a strong performance from starter Brett Anderson.
The teams didn’t score very much despite playing in a hitter-friendly ballpark, and it seems like runs could be at a premium once again going to a more pitcher-friendly venue, especially considering the quality of the starters scheduled to pitch in this series.
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