Fowler & Co. eyeing commanding series lead
During the regular season, the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks led the majors with a 2.13 ERA. So the sinkerballer wasn’t about to let a liner off the forearm jeopardize his availability for Game 2 of the NLCS.
Joe Maddon’s No. 2 hurler tackles the Dodgers tonight, with an 8:08 p.m. ET first pitch at Wrigley Field. Online sports book Bovada.lv actually gives Dave Roberts’ crew odds of -116 to prevail. Chicago, on the other hand, represents a +106 underdog. The over/under run total sits at 6.5.
Having officially cemented himself as a top-of-the-rotation presence throughout the summer, Hendricks endured a close call in the Division Series. Eight days ago, San Francisco’s Angel Pagan rocketed a drive right back at the 26-year-old. Hendricks had no chance of gloving the howitzer and Maddon subsequently yanked him from the contest.
All seems well entering this evening’s action, though. Hendricks will be opposed by Clayton Kershaw, whose NLDS heroics promise to go down in Los Angeles lore. Forty-eight hours after starting on short rest, the former National League MVP came in to close out the Nationals on the road. Yet Kershaw still owns a sub-.500 mark in 16 career playoff appearances.
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Look for Dexter Fowler to race to the batter’s box shortly. Chicago’s leadoff man took Joe Blanton deep in last night’s 8-4 triumph, and he boasts a .409 lifetime average vs. Kershaw. If only Maddon could comparable production out of Anthony Rizzo. The first baseman is hitting .043 over the past two weeks.
We see no reason as to why Hendricks can’t engage the Dodgers’ best in a premier duel. On June 2, the Newport Beach native limited the Boys in Blue to two runs on three hits in eight innings. Expect a similar effort here, albeit on a considerably bigger stage.
SUNDAY MLB FREE PICK: CUBS +1.5