Prizing:

1st Place: $25 Amazon gift card

2nd-5th Place: $10 Amazon gift card

Top 5 winners

Overview:

On Saturday, October 14th, the Chicago Cubs will be on the road to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in game one of the NLCS.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Dodgers 5.1 – Cubs 3.4 with an over/under of 8.5.

Starting Pitchers:

CHC: John Lackey (12-12, 4.59) or Jose Quintana (11-11, 4.15) vs LAD: Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.31)

Batting Stats:

Runs per game: Cubs 5.02 (7^th) > Dodgers 4.79 (12^th)

Batting Average: Cubs .255 (16^th) > Dodgers .249 (22^nd)

On Base Percentage: Cubs .338 (4^th) > Dodgers .343 (2^nd)

Total Bases: Cubs 2403 (10^th) > Dodgers 2362 (16^th)

Baserunning Stats:

Stolen Bases: Dodgers 77 (19^th) > Cubs 62 (24^th)

Pitching Stats:

Team Earned Run Average: Dodgers 3.38 (2^nd) > Cubs 3.95 (7^th)

Batting Average Against: Dodgers .228 (1^st) > Cubs .238 (4^th)

Walks/Hits Per Innings Pitched: Dodgers 1.15 (1^st) > Cubs 1.28 (9^th)

Strikeouts: Dodgers 1549 (4^th) > Cubs 1439 (8^th)

Saves: Dodgers 51 (3^rd) > Cubs 38 (16^th)

Fielding Stats:

Errors: Dodgers 88 (12^th) > Cubs 95 (18^th)

Summary:

The Dodgers enter the game 12^th in the league in runs per game (4.79) and 2^nd in team earned run average (3.38).  After winning 104 games in the regular season the Dodgers are a perfect (3-0) this postseason.  The Dodgers will have their ace Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.31) on the mound.  Kershaw’s postseason numbers (5-7, 4.63) are odd for the consensus best pitcher in baseball.  Cubs hitters are batting a combined .237 against Kershaw.  Anthony Rizzo, in particular, has had success against Kershaw batting .357 with two homers in 14 at-bats.  Kershaw was (9-2, 2.58) at home this season and (4-2, 2.74) after the All-Star break.

The Cubs rank 7^th in runs per game (5.02) and 7^th in team earned run average (3.95).   The Cubs will either start John Lackey (12-12, 4.59) or Jose Quintana (11-11, 4.15).  Lackey has held the Dodgers to a .222 average against but it’s .286 for Quintana.  Lackey was (8-6, 5.18 on the road this season and (7-3, 3.75) after the All-Star break.  Quintana was (5-7, 3.55) on the road and (7-3, 3.74) after the All-Star break.

Bottom Line:

The Dodgers have a huge advantage in this pitching match-up but Kershaw but he has not pitched well in the playoffs.  The Dodgers are (4-2) against the Cubs this season outscoring them 22-11 in those games.  This version of the Dodgers is much better than the team that was ousted by the Cubs in 2016.  I expect Kershaw to put his playoff struggles behind him and shut down the Cubs in game one.

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