Game Preview: Kershaw Takes Hill as Dodgers Continue Player’s Weekend
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers
Time: 6:10 PM PT
Venue: Dodger Stadium
San Diego Record: 50-81
Los Angeles Record: 68-61
How are the Dodgers Doing?
The Dodgers opened their series with the Padres with a scoring barrage. They scored in each of the first five innings en route to an 11-1 victory. Rich Hill provided six scoreless innings as he allowed just two hits and struck out eight.
Why is this Game Important?
Los Angeles will need to recreate what happened on Friday night. They won, while both the Diamondbacks and Rockies lost. This pushed the Dodgers just 3.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Pitching Matchup
Clayton Kershaw (6-5, 2.40 ERA) vs Brett Kennedy (0-2, 8.36 ERA)
Clayton “KERSH” Kershaw makes the start as the newest member of the 150-win club. He has proved his case as the ace of the rotation once again with his second half performance. He has a 1.77 ERA since the All-Star break and has not surrendered a home run in his last three starts. Kershaw has also thrown at least six innings in each start since the beginning of July.
Rookie Brett “KENNEDY” Kennedy makes his fourth career start on Saturday. He allowed a total of 20 hits and 11 runs over his first two starts. He settled down in his last start, giving up two runs in five innings against the Diamondbacks. Kennedy has allowed a home run in each of hit first three starts.
Matchup of the Day
Justin Turner vs Brett Kennedy
Brett Kennedy has been roughed around in every which direction, with righties batting .500 with two home runs and lefties batting .333 with three home runs against him. Taking the hottest Dodger bat, Justin “REDTURN2” Turner has 10 multi-hit games in August. He entered the month with a .259 batting average and is now up to .300 for the season.
Vegas Odds
Odds Sharks
Predicted Score
Dodgers: 8.3
Padres: 1.2
Moneyline Consensus
Dodgers: -395
Padres: +350
FiveThirtyEight
Dodgers: 72% chance of winning
Padres: 28% chance of winning
Fun Fact
The last time Clayton Kershaw lost to the Padres was on June 21, 2013. Since that game, he is 10-0 with a 1.09 ERA in 13 starts against San Diego.
