Can’t get enough baseball action? Well tonight’s your lucky night as the MLB has served up a pair of mouth-watering games that will definitely whet your sporting appetite. Kicking things off tonight is the much-anticipated National League clash between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs.
Then, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners lock horns in a titanic American League showdown. Who will emerge victorious in these two blockbuster matchups? Read on below for a quick breakdown of these two games and while you’re at it, you can check out our World Cup round of 16 previews of USA vs. Colombia and Japan vs. Netherlands.
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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs (8:05 PM ET)
Line: Los Angeles Dodgers (-170) at Chicago Cubs (+150) – view all MLB lines
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Chicago Cubs extended their winning streak to two games with an emphatic 8-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins yesterday. They will look to stretch their unbeaten to three games when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in their series opener tonight. Starting for the Cubs this evening is Tsuyoshi Wada (1-1, 3.68 ERA). He was superb in his last start, throwing seven shutout innings in Chicago’s 17-0 rout of the Cleveland Indians on June 17.
He will have his work cut out for him, though, later tonight as he will face the three-time Cy Young awardee Clayton Kershaw (5-4, 3.29 ERA). The Dodgers have won four of their last five games with Kershaw as their starter. He struggled in his last outing, though, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings of action in Los Angeles’ 5-3 defeat to the Texas Rangers on June 17.
Writer’s Prediction
The Dodgers win, 5-2.
Kansas City Royals vs. Seattle Mariners (10:10 PM ET)
Line: Kansas City Royals (+145) vs. Seattle Mariners (-160); total: 6.5 – view all MLB lines
The Kansas City Royals lost for the second time in the last three games as they suffered a humiliating 13-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox yesterday. The AL-Central leading Royals allowed a whopping 13 extra-base-hits in that game. They will look to get a much better pitching performance tonight from starter Joe Blanton (1-0, 1.80 ERA). He picked up his first win in nearly two years in his last start, limiting the Milwaukee Brewers to one run and five hits in a commanding 10-2 victory on Wednesday night.
Recording back-to-back wins will be a tall task for Blanton, though, as standing in his way tonight is Seattle ace Felix Hernandez (10-3, 3.08 ERA). King Felix was phenomenal in his last start for the Mariners, hurling eight shutout innings in Seattle’s 2-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on June 17.
