MLB Betting Preview: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers

Added on Sep 21, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

We’ll look at the other team involved in the NL West race as the San Diego Padres make the short road trip north to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The Padres have stabalized somewhat from their August nosedive that made the NL West a competitive race once again, but they’re still not in good form. The Dodgers are just playing out the string at this point and are 11 games off the pace.

San Diego Padres (Richard) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Billingsley)
September 21, 2010 7:10 PM Pacific

Neither team has done much lately, with the Dodgers losing 6 of 10 and 8 of 12. Along with Arizona the Dodgers are the only team in the NL West *not* still in the hunt for the title. Padres treading water, losing 6 of 10 and trying to stay in the mix atop the division. Currently they’re in 2nd place–the Giants hold a 1/2 game lead and the Colorado Rockies are 1 game back of San Diego. This could be a matchup where they get a much needed win as they send their talented lefthander Clayton Richard to the mound. Richard was roughed up in his last start at Colorado (8 ER in 3 innings) but has otherwise been very sharp in August and September with 7 ER in the six starts before his bad outing in Denver. He hasn’t received much help from the Padres’ offense–San Diego has lost his last four starts but with the exception of his aforementioned outing against Colorado he’s allowed a total of only 4 ER in the other 3 games.

Chad Billingsley is in a similar situation for the Dodgers–he’s pitched well but not getting any help. L.A. has lost 2 of his last 3 starts despite good work from Billingsley (2.21 ERA in that stretch). Dodgers have been awful against LHP pitching this season (21-24 -9.9 units) and with Richard pitching well of late (his last start notwithstanding) we’ll look for him to give his team a much needed victory here. We’re getting the Padres as a small underdog and in a good situational spot.

Bet San Diego Padres (Richard) +110 over Los Angeles Dodgers (Billingsley)