New York’s stable of young pitchers get plenty of recognition, and rightfully so. But the Mets will face the best in the game when they try to dent lefty Clayton Kershaw on Sunday. The Dodgers ace blanked New York on three hits just two weeks ago and has three shutouts in his last five outings.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Dodgers put things together during their recent home series, extending their winning streak to four games with a sweep of the Reds. Granted, the victories came against less than stellar competition, with the run starting last Sunday in San Diego. But, at this point, the Dodgers will take it. The level of competition spikes a notch with a four-game set in Chicago against the Cubs following the Mets series.
The teams split a four-game series in Los Angeles just over two weeks ago, and we get a rematch Sunday between Bartolo Colon and Clayton Kershaw, who squared off in the finale of that earlier set. As he’s been all season, Kershaw was brilliant in that outing, tossing a three-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts. The Dodgers are 9-1 in games started by Kershaw and they’ve cashed the under four times in his past five with the other a push.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 1.48 ERA) blanked the Reds on two hits for his third shutout of the year in a 1-0 Dodgers victory on Monday and needed just 102 pitches to do it. The ace lefty has been absolutely dominant this month, with all three shutouts in his five May starts where he yielded just three earned runs across 42 innings. He’s fanned 55 batters against just two walks in that span.
One of those shutouts was against the Mets in Dodger Stadium on May 12, when he allowed just three hits with a walk and 13 strikeouts. He’s gone at least seven innings in every start and owns a ridiculous 1.48 ERA, 0.66 WHIP and has fanned 95 batters in 79 innings.
Bartolo Colon (4-3, 3.44 ERA) was sharp in his last outing, bouncing back from a rough start against the Nationals by limiting them to just one run on five hits over seven innings to pick up a 7-1 win on Tuesday. It was his best showing in a month as he amassed a 6.06 ERA in his previous three starts.
The last time he faced the Dodgers, Colon posted his worst start of the season giving up five runs in five innings, including home runs to Yasmani Grandal and Chase Utley, in a 5-0 loss on May 12. He hasn’t surrendered a homer since. The rotund righty has struggled against L.A. during his career, losing six of his starts while posting a 5.54 ERA over 50.1 innings against them.
LIVE BETTING
It’s been a rather ho-hum season for Adrian Gonzalez to this point in the year. He enters the series with New York hitting .274 with four homers and 22 RBIs, and has been highly critical of his own play on the offensive side. But Gonzo enjoys facing the Mets, and in particular Colon. Gonzalez went 5 for 14 when the Mets were in Los Angeles earlier this month and owns a .319 career average with 13 homers and 37 RBIs in 207 at-bats against the Metropolitans.
Gonzalez has had plenty of success facing Colon, going for a .444 average with 12 hits in 27 lifetime at-bats Gonzalez has rapped out two doubles and two home runs among his hits, slugging .741 with a 1.185 OPS against Colon.
QUICK PICK
It’s hard to go against the Dodgers when Kershaw is on the hill. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was pissed he didn’t win another last season and he’s taking it out on the rest of the National League. Kershaw isn’t perfect. He has allowed runs, including a season-high five to, of all teams, the Marlins. But he’s tossed three shutouts in his last five starts and has not allowed a run – earned or unearned – in 40 percent of his starts.
Don’t expect the Mets to challenge his superior form. New York has had problems producing runs, but their imperfections on offense are masked by a nasty pitching staff. While a part of that staff, Colon isn’t the nastiest. The Dodgers got to him before and they will again. Besides, they won’t need much with their ace on the hill.
MLB Odds: Los Angeles 4, New York 1
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