Philadelphia Phillies at LA Dodgers Game 4 Preview & MLB Predictions
Written October 13, 2008 by Jack Jones
The Los Angeles Dodgers got themselves back into this playoff series last night when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Sunday night in an intense game that saw both benches cleared. Now they will turn the ball over to Derek Lowe once again to see if they can get the series evened up. The Dodgers are -177 favorites at Bookmaker.
This will only be the second time Lowe has pitched on short rest in the playoffs, but that was a memorable showing in Game 7 of the 2004 AL Championship Series when he threw six innings and allowed just one hit against the New York Yankees, giving the Red Sox the series on their way to their first World Series win in 86 years.
The decision was made to go with Lowe over Greg Maddux or Clayton Kershaw, partially because manage Joe Torre wants the option to use Lowe again on what would be full rest for a Game 7 matchup.
In Game 1, Lowe only made two real mistakes but they were costly. Two home runs, one by Chase Utley and then followed shortly after by Pat Burrell gave him the loss. Lowe was effective though in his appearance against the Cubs and now has a 3.32 ERA in 78 2/3 playoff innings. It also helps that he has had Philadelphia’s number, going 4-0 with a 2.58 ERA in his last six regular season starts. He also dominated at home with nine wins and a 2.30 ERA, not losing in front of the home faithful in 2 1/2 months.
Sunday’s win kept the home team streak alive. These home team has yet to lose when these two teams match up in 2008, now standing at 11-0. Of course that isn’t really a surprise for the Dodgers since they were 23-9 at home after the All-Star break.
The bench clearing incident happened when Hiroki Kuroda threw a pitch over Shane Victorino’s head, supposedly in retaliation for a pitch Brett Myers threw behind Manny Ramirez in Game 2. Both benches emptied and Ramirez needed to be held back by his teammates.
The Phillies will send Joe Blanton to the hill tonight, instead of going with their ace, Cole Hamels, on three days rest. Blanton won his first ever playoff start when he gave up one run and five hits over six innings at Milwaukee. He had solid control with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Blanton has gone 1-0 with a 3.32 ERA in three games against the Dodgers, but Ramirez and him have some history from their days in the American League. Ramirez is 14-for-25 overall and 6-for-13 with a home run and six RBI’s this year against him.
The good news last night was it appears Ryan Howard is getting back on track. He started out the postseason on a 2-for-19 slump, but last night managed a double on a 2-for-4 night.
Remember to take a look at the MLB picks offered by our handicappers to help you beat the baseball odds on this game and the other playoff game for Monday. We’ll help you close out this season of baseball betting on a winning note.
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