Basketball Betting

Dodgers welcome Brewers to Chavez Ravine

Baseball Betting Lines

05/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers aim to build off their first three-game winning streak of the 2010 campaign when the reigning National League West champions begin a three-game series with the slumping Milwaukee Brewers this evening at Dodger Stadium.

Los Angeles appears to have gotten back on course after an undesired 8-14 start to this season, which included a string of five consecutive defeats from April 25-29. The club hasn't lost since that slide, however, and had its offense firing on all cylinders in its most recent outing, a 9-3 triumph over Pittsburgh in which the Dodgers banged out 16 hits, seven of which went for extra bases.

Andre Ethier went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBI to lead the way, with Blake DeWitt delivering a 4-for-4, three-RBI performance for the Dodgers. James Loney had a big day at the plate as well, with the first baseman collecting three hits and knocking in a pair of runs.

Ethier has been on fire during Los Angeles' recent surge, having gone 7-for-13 with four homers and nine RBI over the course of the last three wins. The standout outfielder leads all NL players with 26 RBI this season, while his nine long balls are tied for tops in the league.

"I've been going good and hitting the ball well," Ethier said. "You dial it up a little more when there are runners on base."

Starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda also did his part in Sunday's triumph, limiting the Pirates to one run and five hits over eight strong innings to run his season record to 3-1.

Clayton Kershaw would love for his club to come through with a similar offensive outburst as Sunday's display when the hard-luck hurler toes the rubber for the Dodgers tonight. The talented southpaw has pitched at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last three starts, but has a loss and two no-decisions to show for those efforts. Los Angeles has scored only three runs during his time on the mound in those games.

Kershaw was dealt a 2-0 setback by the Pirates this past Thursday after being touched for a pair of runs over 6 1/3 innings of work. The former first-round draft choice did strike out seven and surrendered just three hits on the night.

The 22-year-old, who's 1-1 with a 2.81 earned run average in three previous appearances against the Brewers, owns an excellent 2.47 ERA over 30 career starts at Dodger Stadium and has been tough to hit in his home park once again this season. Opponents are batting a mere .156 off Kershaw through his first three assignments at Chavez Ravine in 2010, although he's only 1-1 over that span.

Kershaw will be taking on a Brewers squad that's really slumping offensively at the moment. Milwaukee has mustered a paltry 12 runs over its last 10 tilts, losing eight of those tests, and was shut out three times during a four-game series in San Diego that concluded with Sunday's 8-0 blanking by the Padres.

The Brewers managed only three hits -- all singles -- against Jon Garland and two San Diego relievers and stranded 10 baserunners for the game.

Milwaukee also received a subpar start out of Randy Wolf (2-2), with the ex- Dodger issuing six walks and serving up a pair of homers while surrendering four runs over the first five innings.

"When you walk that many guys you're going to lose some effectiveness on pitches," Wolf said afterward. "You never want to throw 100 pitches in five innings. That's not what you're supposed to do."

Chris Narveson will attempt to give Milwaukee a sharper effort when he opposes Kershaw in tonight's opener. The southpaw makes his second start of 2010 after pitching nine times out of the bullpen to begin the season.

Narveson had a decent showing in his first start of the year, striking out six batters while permitting three runs in a five-inning no-decision against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. He's taking the rotation spot of Jeff Suppan, who was banished to the bullpen last week after a couple of ineffective outings.

The 28-year-old Narveson is 1-0 with a 6.60 ERA over 15 innings pitched for the season and will be taking on the Dodgers for the first time in his career.

Milwaukee has gone just 4-8 at Dodger Stadium since the start of the 2006 season but did take two of three from Los Angeles on the road last August.