The St. Louis Cardinals hope to continue their late season surge as they embark on a six-game road trip beginning with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers which starts on Monday at Dodger Stadium.
The Cardinals have won 10 out of their last 12 games and have scored 13 runs in their last three games and at least four runs in 10 out of their last 11 outings. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to get back on track after losing 7 of their last 11 games. They get a chance to do that against the Cardinals at home.
Alex Wood will open on the hill for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 27-year-old Georgia product has started 23 games this season and has a record of 7-6 with an ERA of 3.51 and a WHIP of 1.15. The left-hander ranks 8th in the National League in WHIP and 10th in ERA.
He did not factor in the decision during Tuesday’s 1-2 loss to the Giants where he allowed one run on three hits and one walk while fanning six across five innings of work. Wood has allowed one earned run or fewer in his last three starts and has a very good 2.43 ERA in his last 10 starts. Wood has a 3-3 record at Dodger Stadium this season with an ERA of 3.42 while allowing opponents a batting average of .248. He also has a 2-1 in daytime games.
Max Muncy leads the Dodgers with 28 home runs this season. The 27 year old first baseman from Baylor is batting .250 for the month of August. He has 10 hits, including 4 home runs with 7 RBIs this month for the Dodgers. Matt Kemp’s 69 RBIs leads Los Angeles this season. Kemp went 2-4 including a two run home run and two runs scored during the Dodgers’ 11-1 romp over Seattle last Friday.
For the Cardinals, it will be Austin Gomber who will start on top of the mound. The 24-year-old from Florida Atlantic has started four games this season but has appeared in 21 contests. He has a record of 3-0 with an ERA of 2.89 and a WHIP of 1.29.
Gomber has gotten the win in three of the last four games he has pitched. In his most recent outing where he got his third win of the season, the rookie pitched six scoreless innings while allowing three hits and four walks with six strikeouts during a 4-2 win over Washington on 8/15/18. Gomber is 1-0 on the road with an ERA of 3.79 across 19 innings pitched. This will be the first time he will be pitching at Dodger Stadium.
Matt Carpenter leads the Cardinals with 33 home runs this season. The 32-year-old first baseman is batting just .219 in the month of August. He has 14 hits in 64 at bats with 11 RBIs this month. Meanwhile, Jose Martinez leads the Cardinals with 69 RBIs this season. Martinez ranks 7th in the National League in batting average with his .308 averaged but he was out of the lineup with a hip issue during Sunday’s 7-2 win over the Brewers.
There are only three Cardinals’ players who have at least six at bats against Wood. Marcell Ozuna is 6-22, Dexter Fowler is 2-7 including a double and Jedd Gyorko is 1-6.
The Dodgers are 32-30 at Dodger Stadium while the Cardinals are 34-29 on the road. Los Angeles has a record of 60-55 when it is the betting favorite while St. Louis is only 17-22 as the underdog. The Dodgers are 20-6 in their last 26 first games of a series, 5-2 in their last 7 games played on a Monday and 7-3 in their last 10 games against teams from the National League Central.
Gomber has been very solid as he has not given up a run in his last 11 innings pitched and has helped his team win five out of the last six games he’s pitched in. Wood meanwhile has showed that he is 100% coming off the disabled list as he threw 92 pitches in his last outing. Both pitchers are playing well as of late but I’ll take a healthy Alex Wood over Austin Gomber who is making his first start at Dodger Stadium. Between the Dodgers’ offense and the Cardinals on the road, we’re siding with the former. We’re picking the Los Angeles Dodgers to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on 8/20/18.
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