The 10-5 (Road: 4-5) Los Angeles Dodgers take on the 6-9 (Home: 4-5) Houston Astros at 8:05 EST tonight as part of our Baseball Instinct Game of the day!
TV: Fox Sports Houston and Major League Baseball Network. On the Net – MLB.tv
Radio: Dodgers – KABC 790, KHJ 930, Astros – KTRH 740, KLAT 1010
Here’s a closer fantasy look at the game of the day!
Probable Dodgers starting pitcher: RHP Chad Billingsley (3-0, 2.84 ERA in 2009)
From Alan Ferguson, STATS writer – Los Angeles’ emerging ace, Billingsley (3-0, 2.84 ERA) has allowed six runs and 11 hits while striking out 21 in his first three starts. The 24-year-old right-hander allowed two unearned runs over eight innings in his last meeting with the Astros – a 5-2 road win July 3.
This season, Billingsley has benefited from a Los Angeles’ offense that’s batting a major league-leading .296 and has scored an NL-best 92 runs. The Dodgers were riding an eight-game win streak entering this series, but are now on the verge of their first three-game skid of the season.
Probable Giants starting pitcher: LHP Wandy Rodriguez (1-1, 1.89 ERA in 2009)
Rodriguez threw seven scoreless innings in Saturday’s 7-0 win over Cincinnati, but has struggled in his last two meetings with the Dodgers, going 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA. The left-hander gave up five runs in five innings in a July 1 home loss to Los Angeles.
2009 Fantasy hitting assets for the Dodgers: 2B Orlando Hudson is finding life in Hollywood to his liking. He’s one of the best players in the league right now, hitting .377 with 2 hr’s, 8 rbi’s, 14 runs, and 4 sb’s. The Dodgers outfield of Manny Ramirez, Andre Ethier, and Matt Kemp are all hitting over .320 and have combined to hit 12 home runs and have drove in 42 runs. Kemp has 4 stolen bases, while Manny and Ethier have combined for 27 walks while striking out 19 times.
Who’s hot: Manny has 9 hits in the last 5 games, 4 of which have been home runs.
Who’s not: C Russell Martin is hitting a mere .249 and hasn’t hit a hr this season yet.
Worth keeping an eye on: 3B Casey Blake. Despite hitting a sad .239, he’s got 4 hr’s and 10 rbi’s. You might be able to buy him low based on average alone.
2009 Fantasy hitting assets for the Astros: OF Hunter Pence is hitting .309 with 4 hr’s and 3 sb’s. OF Carlos Lee is hitting .289 with 3 hr’s and 10 rbi’s.
Who’s hot: 1B Lance Berkman has a couple hr’s in the last few games, giving him 4 on the season. While hes only hitting .216 on the season, big Puma is starting to come around.
Who’s not: 2B Kaz Matsui. He’s dealing with a couple injuries as evident by his .237 ba. He’s also been caught stealing twice out of 4 attempts.
Worth keeping an eye on: SS Miguel Tejada is hard to figure out. He’s hitting a sound .356, but only has 2 extra base hits and no hr’s. The 9 runs and 4 rbi’s just doesn’t cut it.
2009 Fantasy pitching assets for the Dodgers: Closer Jon Broxton has 11 k’s and 4 saves in 6 innings pitched to go along with his 1.35 era. Billingsley is 3-0 with 21 k’s in 19 innings. SP Eric Stults is 2-0 with 7 k’s in 10.1 innings and a 2.61 era
Who’s hot: Billingsley. He’s going for a league leading 4th win today.
Who’s not: RP Guillermo Mota has given up 4 runs and 6 walks while striking out none in 7 apperances.
Worth keeping an eye on: SP Clayton Kershaw struggled in his last outing. He has a 4.41 era in 16.1 innings. The good news is that he’s struck out 21 while walking only 7. He just 21 and has tons of talent, he’s well worth trying to buy low from your league foes.
2009 Fantasy pitching assets for the Astros: Rodriguez is 1-1 and has 18 k’s in 19 innings. RP Latroy Hawkins has 2 saves and 2 holds in 8 innings, holding steady with a 2.25 era.
Who’s hot: SP Felipe Paulino went 6 innings on April 19th. He struck out 6, walked 2, and gave up no runs.
Who’s not: SP Roy Oswalt 4 runs off of 3 hr’s vs the Dodgers yesterday. He’s given up 6 hr’s and has a 4.68 era on the season. Chances are he will get it turned around, but the long balls are concerning.
Worth keeping an eye on: Paulino. He’s going to get another start on Friday vs Milwaukee. If he does well, expect him to stay in the rotation.
KEY STAT: Dodgers are 5-5 after a loss and 6-4 on Thursday. Astros are 4-6 after a win and 3-7 playing on Thursday.
CONNECTIONS: Astros C Ivan Rodriguez and Dodgers OF Juan Pierre played together on the 2003 Florida Marlins. Astros RP Latroy Hawkins played with Dodgers 1B Doug Mientkiewicz from 1998 to 2003 on the Minnesota Twins. Astros SP Mike Hampton and Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal played on the 2003 to 2005 Atlanta Braves. Astros OF Jason Michaels and Dodgers SP Randy Wolf played together from 2001 to 2005 on the Philadelphia Phillies.
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