MLB Betting: Dodgers, Cubs finish first half

Lou Piniella’s Cubs are floundering well below .500 on the season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs meet on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball in the final game before the All-Star break.

The Dodgers (48-38) got some bad news on Friday. Seattle spurned their offer for left-hander Cliff Lee and dealt him to Texas instead. Los Angeles is looking for a dominant No. 1 starter to take the pressure off youngsters Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.

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Los Angeles won the first two games of this series (3-2, 9-7) with Kershaw and Billingsley getting the wins. Saturday’s Game 3 is still pending. L.A. is 8-3 in its last 11 games and just two games behind San Diego in the NL West.

Vicente Padilla (3-2, 4.72 ERA) will pitch the series finale. He started out slowly in April (6.65 ERA) before missing two months with a forearm issue. Padilla has made four starts since his return, with quality starts in his last three. He surrendered two runs over 6 2/3 innings in a 7-3 home win over Florida on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old righty has an impressive 9.06 strikeout rate and batters are hitting just .246 off him. His big problem is home runs (10 total), allowing at least one in every game.

Padilla is 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA in three home starts. The Dodgers are 5-2 in his home starts since he joined the team from Texas last August. The ‘over’ is 6-2 in his starts this year.
He’s 3-4 with a 4.79 lifetime ERA against the Cubs. The last time he faced them was 2007.

Chicago’s Carlos Silva (9-2, 2.96 ERA) is dealing with a sore right calf, but is still scheduled to start. Mitch Atkins would make his first career start if he can’t go.

Silva has been one of the best stories in baseball after being acquired for malcontent Milton Bradley. Silva was a salary dump for Seattle, but he’s made seven quality starts in a row and 13 of 16 overall.

His last start was Tuesday at Arizona. He allowed two earned runs over six innings in a 6-4 win. The Cubs had lost his previous four starts, scoring just 2.75 runs per game. Chicago is 11-5 overall in his starts this season.

The 31-year-old righty has similar ERAs at home (2.90) and away (3.05). He’s 5-0 away and 4-2 at home. The ‘under’ is 7-2-1 in his last 10 starts.

Silva is 3-0 with a 4.08 lifetime ERA against the Dodgers. He hasn’t seen them since 2006. The Cubs (38-49) are 10.5 games back in the NL Central and will likely extend their 1908 World Series curse another year. They’re 18-26 on the road.

Baseball Betting Odds

Manager Lou Piniella is in the final year of his contract, but he swears he’ll last the season. Dealing with suspended players like Carlos Zambrano could push him closer to early retirement.

The Cubs swept a three-game series at Arizona (scoring 23 runs) before coming to Los Angeles. The ‘over’ is 5-1 in their last six games. However, hitting has been a problem this year, ranked 14th in the NL in runs scored (4.05 per game).

Chicago is 1-6 in the last seven meetings in Los Angeles. The ‘under’ is 1-1 this series and 6-1-1 in the last eight in L.A.

Chicago left fielder Alfonso Soriano (.893 OPS) is dealing with an elbow injury. L.A. left fielder Manny Ramirez (hamstring) is on the DL.

Umpire Jerry Layne will call balls and strikes. The home team is 9-2 in his last 11 games behind home plate.

First pitch will be 5:05 p.m. (PT). Weather should beautiful, clear and in the upper 60s.