Author: Roger

With a victory tonight over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be headed back to the World Series for the first time since 1988. Los Angeles will send southpaw Clayton Kershaw to the rubber and he will be opposed by another lefty, Chicago’s José Quintana. Kershaw, who was 18-4, with an ERA of 2.31 in the regular season, started Game 1 of the NLCS yielding 2 runs over 5 innings of work. Quintana, who faced Kershaw in the series opener, was 11-11, with an ERA of 4.15 in the regular season, and in Game 1, he also gave up 2 runs over 5 innings of work. Chicago’s ace closer, Wade Davis, tossed 48 pitches in relief last night for the Cubs and will not be available in Game 5 – and that is not good. Should Kershaw get in trouble, a well-rested Kenley Jansen will be ready. The Dodgers bullpen has been outstanding, pitching 20 consecutive scoreless innings and giving up just 3 hits in the series. Los Angeles is 6-1 in their last 7 meetings with Chicago and 6-1 in their last 7 playoff games. Dodgers move on.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The New York Yankees are living up to the name, the Bronx Bombers, and now have the momentum when they take on the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS in an early one today in the Bronx. Houston will send their ace, Dallas Keuchel, to the hill and he has been delivering. In his last 3 starts, he is 3-0, with an ERA of 0.96, and a WHIP of 0.91. The Yankees will counter with Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka has been delivering as well. In his last 3 outings, he is 2-1, with a 0.90 ERA, and a WHIP of just 0.60. New York has been dominant at home, going 18-3 in their last 21 and 5-0 in their last 5 home playoff games. Winning is contagious and Yankee stadium will be electric.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The New York Yankees find themselves down 0-2 to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series and could have easily won one or both of the first two in Houston, if not for some unlucky breaks and two major blunders by the third base coach. However, that was then and this is now, and tonight the series switches to Yankee Stadium. Two hurlers will oppose each other with similar numbers, with CC Sabathia tapping the rubber for the Bombers and Charlie Morton for the Astros. Morton is 14-7, with a 3.64 ERA, a WHIP of 1.22, and Houston is 6-2 in his last 8 road starts. The lefty Sabathia owns a record of 14-5, with an ERA of 3.69, and a WHIP of 1.26. New York is 5-1 in Sabathia’s last 6 starts and 13-3 in his last 16 starts in the Bronx. When Sabathia takes the hill following a loss, he has been lights out, going 9-0 with an ERA of just 1.71 in 10 regular season starts. It goes without saying but the crowd will be up for this one. The Yankees cannot go down 0-3 or they are in major trouble and they know it.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Los Angeles Dodgers are now 4-0 in post-season play after last night’s 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers will seek their fifth straight victory tonight and are expected to send the ex-Cub, Rich Hill, to the rubber. The well-rested veteran southpaw is 12-8, with a 3.35 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, and the Dodgers are 4-0 in his last 4 starts. The Cubs are expected to counter with another lefty, Jon Lester. Lester is 13-8, with a 4.21 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and will be going on just three days’ rest, after throwing 51 pitches on Wednesday in Game 4 of the NL Division Series. After last night’s loss, Chicago is now 0-4 in their last 4 trips to Chavez Ravine and for what it matters, the Cubs are 0-6 in Lester’s last 6 Sunday starts. Fatigue has to be affecting Chicago. They played Game 4 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday, had a tough game against the Nationals in Game 5 on Thursday, a grueling flight on Friday, then had to play on Saturday and now another game on Sunday. That’s tough to do. The Dodgers are hot – ride them ’til their not.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The National League Championship Series will kick off tonight at Chavez Ravine between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have a significant edge in this one and this is why. The Cubs spent everything they had on Thursday night to take Game 5 from the Washington Nationals and then they had to catch a flight to the West coast. To make matters worse, due to a passenger’s medical issue, they had to make an emergency stop in Albuquerque which brought them into Los Angeles at noon on Friday. This forced them to skip Friday’s workout so they could catch up on some much needed rest. The Cubs skipper, Joe Maddon, will start the lefty, José Quintana, who is 11-11, with an ERA of 4.15, a WHIP of 1.22, and this bodes well for Los Angeles because they are 24-6 in their last 30 games against lefties. Dave Roberts will send their ace to the hill, Clayton Kershaw. The southpaw is 19-4, with an ERA of 2.43, and a 1.25 WHIP. The Dodgers are 47-10 in Kershaw’s last 57 home starts and 5-1 in his last 6 home starts against the Cubs. Chicago is 2-6 in their last 8 meetings with Los Angeles and 1-4 in their last 5 trips to Dodger Stadium.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS