Apparently Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is upset about not winning last year’s NL Cy Young Award. His two year run ended in 2015 and the lefty has been pitching like he wants the hardware again. The Braves have never beaten him and it’ll be difficult this time around.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Dodgers venture outside the state of California for the first time this season for their series with the Braves. L.A. throws its ace at Atlanta to close the series and Clayton Kershaw has been just that. The Dodgers have won each of Kershaw’s three starts this season and dating back to last year they are 10-1 in the past 11 regular season games starter by their left-hander. Kershaw has never lost to the Braves going 2-0 in six career starts against them.
Atlanta started the season with nine consecutive losses but posted a surprising three-game sweep at Miami, a successful weekend fueled by strong bullpen work. Braves relievers gave up only two runs in 13 innings against the Marlins with three saves, including Matt Wisler’s first career save, just three days before he opposes the Dodgers in the series finale.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 1.64 ERA) has performed to his usual standards in his first three starts, with just four earned runs allowed, 20 strikeouts, and a 0.55 WHIP across 22.0 innings. The Dodgers ace allowed five hits and two earned runs over 7.0 innings, outdueling Madison Bumgarner to pick up the win Friday night.
Kershaw has never lost to the Braves in six career starts and owns a 1.79 ERA in 45.1 innings against them, his third-best mark against NL teams. Opponents are hitting just .130 off Kershaw this season and the Braves enter the series with the second-lowest team batting average in the majors.
Matt Wisler (0-1, 4.61 ERA) was originally schedule to start the series opener but had his outing pushed back to Thursday after tossing a perfect six-pitch 10th inning to complete Sunday’s win over the Marlins. The young right-hander hasn’t allowed a run in 11 of the 14 innings he’s pitched this year.
Wisler won his only start against the Dodgers when he beat them last July 20. He surrendered eight hits and four runs in 6.0 innings but came away with the 7-5 victory.
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Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen was called on to get a five-out save on Apr. 13. It was not a move that showed confidence in the rest of the bullpen, but it’s one that worked out. In four games after that, the Dodgers’ beleaguered bullpen threw 12 consecutive scoreless innings with every member of the eight-man crew, except Louis Coleman, contributing at least one inning to the streak.
The group combined to throw five scoreless innings Saturday and manager Dave Roberts says he has plenty of confidence in his relievers. But despite the recent results, Roberts indicated that he would still consider using Jansen in a multi-inning role if he thought the situation called for it.
QUICK PICK
The Braves weren’t going to lose them all, though it seemed like it after the first nine games. Atlanta went winless in that span to open the MLB season before breaking through over the weekend in Miami. Still, things don’t look too good for the Braves as they continue their rebuilding phase.
Atlanta enters this series with the second-lowest team batting average and the second-highest staff ERA, so the failures are all around. And trying to knock off Kershaw is a monumental task, and it’s one the Braves will not be successful at accomplishing.
MLB Odds: Los Angeles 4, Atlanta 0
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