This weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park for a three-game series that promises a lot of great matchups. The series line favors the Dodgers -115 and the comeback on the pirates was at –105 on Thursday.
On Friday the opener will feature a gem for pitching lovers as Clayton Kershaw (9-6) and Gerrit Cole (14-5) take the mound. For this game the early Dodgers line was at –135, while the comeback on the Pirates was +125 and the total was 6 under –115.
Then on Saturday the recently acquired Mat Latos (4-7) and Charlie Morton (7-4) will square off. Latos goes for his first win as a Dodger and Morton tries to get back-to-back wins for the first time since June.
For the closing match another recent acquisition will pitch for the Dodgers as Alex Wood (7-7) goes against Francisco Liriano (7-6). Wood is also looking for his first victory as a Dodger and will try to redeem himself after allowing four runs in 6.1 innings and taking the loss. The last victory for the former Braves pitcher was precisely against his current team on July 21 at Turner Field.
Liriano is looking for his third straight victory in as many starts. Even though he has taken the win only in three of his last six starts the Pirates have not lost any of those games with him on the mound. That will undoubtedly help them against a team that ranks among the best in on-base percentage, home runs and slugging percentage.
Part of the reason the Dodgers are thriving at those categories is the exceptional season of Adrian Gonzalez, who made his first All-Star game appearance in four years. As of August 4 Gonzalez was batting .295, with 21 home runs, 61 RBIs and an OBP of .371, but more importantly was batting .305 against the Pirates.
As for the Pirates they can expect a lot of help offensively from Andrew McCutchen who leads the team in almost all batting categories. As of August 4 McCutchen was batting .290, with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs. Even though his slugging percentage of .489 and his OBP of .388 have been vital this season the key will be his .316 career average against Kershaw, a match-up that will go a long way in determining which team wins the opener of the series.
