MLB Betting – Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Los Angeles Dodgers (-170, 6.5 o/u) at Chicago Cubs (+160)
It hasn’t been a great start of the season for reigning NL Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw (5-4, 3.29 ERA). The usually untouchable lefty will look for his first win in his last three starts when the Los Angeles Dodgers (39-31, 12-18 Away) visit the Chicago Cubs (37-30, 18-13 Home) tonight at Wrigley Field (8:05 PM Eastern Time).
Kershaw struggled a bit as the Dodgers bowed out of the postseason in 2014 and that downward trend has carried over into 2015. That said, he looked solid – if not spectacular – two starts ago, allowing just four hits and one run over 6.2 innings of work against the Padres (and leaving with a no-decision). But he was hit hard by the Texas Rangers last time out, giving up four runs over 6.0 innings and taking the loss.
“This is probably the most frustrating game that I’ve pitched in a long time, all things considered,” Kershaw said to the Associated Press after the loss. “It was just a lot of frustration built up, for sure.”
As a team, the Dodgers are just 4-6 in their last ten, but still sit atop the NL West, a game and a half clear of the Giants.
The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, come into tonight after taking two straight from the Minnesota Twins. They’ll answer Kershaw with lefty Tsuyoshi Wada (1-1, 3.68 ERA); Wada is a 34-year-old veteran from the Japanese league, but is playing just his second season in North America. He picked up his first win of the year in the Cubs’ 17-0 embarrassment of the Indians last week, pitching seven strong and allowing just four hits while striking out six.
In the trends, the Dodgers have won four of Kershaw’s six career starts against the Cubs, while five of those games have stayed under the total. After his worst outing of the season, according to his standards, Kershaw will be eager to deliver a win for his team this Monday. Look for the once dominant lefty to get back on track.
Pick: Dodgers (-170) and UNDER (6.5).Â
(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA (Clayton Kershaw  Uploaded by Muboshgu) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
