The NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers (18-7) already have one sweep this weekend at Wrigley Field, and on Sunday, they go for another. After Friday’s day game was rained out, the Dodgers swept a Saturday doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs (9-17). The hosts look to avoid being swept on national TV as the Sunday finale is set for 7:08 p.m. ET on ESPN from Wrigley Field.
The Dodgers send RHP Walker Buehler (3-1, 2.12) to the hill against Cubs RHP Marcus Stroman (1-3, 5.13) on Sunday. The Cubs took the season series 4-3 last year with a 3-1 record in Chicago. The teams will meet again in Los Angeles with a four-game series in July.
Dodgers Streaking Through NL
The Dodgers are 8-5 on the road this season and 10-6 against right-handed pitching. They are batting .239 as a team and lead the National League with a team ERA of 2.20. The Dodgers have hit 25 home runs and allowed just 15 while ranking fifth in the NL with 127 runs scored.
In Saturday’s doubleheader, Mookie Betts had three hits and five RBI, all in game two, as he had a bases-clearing double and a two-run homer. Freddie Freeman had three doubles in game one while Austin Barnes homered and drove in three. Trea Turner also had two hits and a RBI in the first game, while Justin Turner drove in two more.
Freeman is batting .316 on the season while Chris Taylor is hitting .278. Trea Turner leads the team with 20 RBI, and Betts has 13 after his big Saturday. He also leads the team with five homers, one more than Cody Bellinger.
Buehler has not allowed a run in his last two starts, including a complete-game shutout at Arizona on April 25. Last Sunday, he threw five shutout innings and struck out five in a win at Detroit. On the season, he has 26 strikeouts to just seven walks in 29 ⅔ innings of work, and he is 2-0 on the road.
Buehler is 0-1 with four no-decisions in his last five starts against the Cubs while striking out 21 in 24 ⅔ innings. He has only faced six current Cubs players, with Jayson Hayward going 2-for-10 and Willson Contreras going 2-for-9 with a home run. Jonathan Villar is 2-for-7, Ian Happ is 1-for-1, and all others are hitless against Buehler.
Cubs Offense Stalling in May
The Cubs are 4-10 at home this season, 5-13 against RHP, and 1-7 in their last eight games. They rank 12th in the NL with 20 home runs and have allowed 32 dingers, the second-most in the league. The Cubs are batting .240 with 102 runs scored and rank 12th in the NL with a team ERA of 4.23.
In Saturday’s opener, the Cubs had five hits, all singles. Contreras has a triple, homer, and a single in game two, while Nico Hoerner was 3-for-8 in the doubleheader. The Cubs struck out 16 times in the two games, 11 in game two after being shutout by Clayton Kershaw in the opener.
Hoerner leads the Cubs with a .289 average, and Happ is batting .280. Patrick Wisdom has a team-leading five homers and 15 RBI, while rookie Seiya Suzuki has four homers and 15 RBI. The Japanese product started hot but is just 3-for-30 in the last eight games.
Stroman is off to a slow start in his Cubs career with a 1-3 overall record and a 0-1 home record. He had his best start of the season last Sunday in Milwaukee, allowing just two hits over seven shutout innings while striking out nine. He has allowed eight runs on ten hits in 9 ⅓ innings at Wrigley Field this season.
Stroman is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers, striking out 14 batters in 13 innings. He’s never allowed a home run to a current Dodgers batter. Betts faced him in their AL days, going 8-for-37 while the Turners are a combined 4-for-14 and Freeman is 1-for-8.
Betting Analysis
- Los Angeles Dodgers -200 Moneyline
- Chicago Cubs +170 Moneyline
The Dodgers have won five in a row and have only allowed more than three runs in a game once in the last eight contests. The Cubs have scored a total of 11 runs in the last eight games, and the offense is really struggling to do anything consistently. Los Angeles has the better pitching and hitting in this one and should get the series sweep before heading to Pittsburgh.
Betting Pick: Dodgers to win 5-2
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