Both Dodgers And Rockies Favored In Saturday's NLDS Games

NFL News - October 10th, 2009 - Written by John

The Los Angeles Dodgers hit the Cardinals in the gut in more ways than one Thursday night. Now they go for the knockout blow on Saturday, hoping to sweep the NL Central champions in St. Louis.

The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the series largely because of a late-inning gaffe by left fielder Matt Holliday. Holding a 2-1 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Franklin delivered what seemed to be the final out of the game. But James Loney's liner was lost in the air by Holliday and the ball crashed into his abdomen and fell to the ground, allowing Loney to scamper to second base. The Dodgers would eventually tie the game on a Ronnie Belliard single, and Mark Loretta won it with a line drive single to center field.

It more than ripped the heart out of the Cardinals, who had only lost once all year with Adam Wainwright on the mound following a Chris Carpenter loss.

"Until that last out, nobody ever gives up," Loretta said on Yahoo! Sports. "That's been our modus this year. We started off 13-0, we had a bunch of these last-minute wins, so it obviously give us some confidence in that situation."

Now, the upstart Dodgers, one of baseball's best young teams, have the momentum and the odds to finish the series on Saturday. BetUS has labeled them as 1 1/2 run favorites for Game Three, with a moneyline return of +145.

To do it, they will have to get by Joel Pineiro, who has been a pleasant surprise since he joined the team over three years ago. Pineiro was signed by the club in 2007 and is having one of his best years to-date. He is 15-12 with a 3.49 ERA in 32 starts and is tied for third in the National League with three compete games. One thing that the Cardinals can count on him for is control He only walked 27 batters this year, something that plagued the team in the last inning Thursday night. He is 8-3 since the All-Star break and saw a decline in hits and runs allowed in the span.

The Dodgers will throw out Vicente Padilla, who was signed in early September after being released to the waiver wire by Texas. He seems to have transitioned well, going 4-0 since joining the club, and had his best start of the season last time out. He struck out 10 in five innings against the Rockies in the season finale.

In the other NL series, both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies are simply hoping to take a one-game advantage. The Phillies won the first game of the series on a complete-game performance by Cliff Lee, but bombed in the second game when Cole Hamels was roughed up in a 5-4 loss. Other than Yorvit Torrealba's two-run homer, the Rockies used small-ball to get in the win column, twice needing sacrifice flies from Dexter Fowler.

The Rockies get the edge at home, says DSI Sportsbook. They hold a typical minus-1 1/2-run line with a payout of +175 if they cover.

Pedro Martinez will be right where Philadelphia envisioned him when they signed him in August -- starting a crucial Game Three in hopes of resurrecting some of his playoff magic. He was named the starter on Friday over Joe Blanton, partially because he was signed to pitch in the playoffs, partially because Blanton was used in relief on Thursday. He will face Jason Hammel, who just joined the team this year and went 10-8.

There is very little history to go on in this match-up. The Phillies have only faced Colorado one other time in the playoffs, in 2007, and didn't win a single game. They are already in uncharted water with a win, but will desperately need to take the lead in a tough Denver atmosphere. The Phillies have never won a Game Three in the ALDS since the extra opening round started in 1995, losing to the Rockies in '07 before losing to Milwaukee last year.

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